Millionaire opens the doors of his $4M mansion to homeless couple living across the street

For over a decade, Greg Dunston and his partner, Marie Mckinzie, were among the thousands facing homelessness in Oakland. Their situation seemed unchanging—until 2019, when millionaire real estate developer Terry McGrath made a life-changing offer: he invited the couple to live in his nearly $4 million home in Piedmont, one of the Bay Area’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

McGrath first learned about the couple from the San Francisco Chronicle. When journalist Otis R. Taylor Jr. asked him why he would open his home to people experiencing homelessness, McGrath offered a deeply personal response. "It’s helped bring me back to my roots as a young kid," he explained to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I cannot avoid the responsibility I have to live around me. I have a personal obligation to take responsibility when I see injustices. And to me, this is a clear injustice."

McGrath’s generosity is a powerful reminder of how acts of compassion can challenge systemic inequality, offering real solutions to real people in need.

McGrath hopes society will see people living on the streets as human beings before anything else. "I don't think there's any other issue that is more symbolic about who we are as a society than this issue," McGrath said. "It's an absolute reflection of us. There is no other way to see it. Just because it's there doesn't make it right or make it acceptable."

After moving into the mansion, the couple faced scrutiny, with neighbors even calling the police. One person, who was unaware of the situation, told dispatchers, "I just pulled into the driveway and there are some strange folks hanging around the house," according to ABC News. Another called Piedmont Police and Fire Dispatch, saying, "I just wanted to notify you that this woman is sitting at Lexford and Hampton. She's smoking a cigarette -- could be drugs."

Taylor shared that despite their lifelong hardships, the couple, now in their 50s and 60s, remained remarkably positive. "They were still engaged with meeting people and they still had a love for each other through it all that bond," he said, highlighting that the duo had what he called a "vibrancy of life." McGrath echoed the sentiments. "The thing that struck me and got me right away was the love between Greg and Marie and how it was able to survive in probably one of the harshest environments on earth," McGrath explained. "I could feel it."

The divorced founder of McGrath Properties met with the couple and the journalist at a café, and their story deeply moved him. "There was no decision, there was no thought, there was no judgment. I was just like 'this is done,'" Taylor recalled. "I didn't vet them. These are human beings and they're not serial killers. They want to get in out of the weather. They want a roof over their head. They want to be warm." This story is a reminder that individual acts of kindness go a long way.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on 7.21.23. It has since been updated.