Inspiring Christmas story in December's readers digest

at least in the canadian edition.

Winnipeg, 1959

a woman who has recently left her husband is living in a substandards
tenement in a bad neighborhood with her five children. She talks to
noone because they are all "bad" people. But her kids are outside
playing lots, they talk to people.. that's what kids do.

Christmas Eve
The "prostitute" from upstairs shows up at their door. She offers to
watch the children so that the mother can attend Midnight Mass. Mom is
flabbergasted, but grateful and agrees.

Mom is at church, but she doesn't feel quite right about having left her
children with a stranger, especially one of such loose morals. She sits
for a while, but finally the worry takes over and she decides to go
home, fearing what situation she might find there..

She arrives home and is shocked to see that the meager one present
apiece she had been able to afford to buy had been supplemented by a
great many more gifts and iirc, food laid out.

Turns out that all the junkies and drunks and other folks that the
mother wouldn't associate with had all chipped in to make a wonderful
christmas for her family. The woman was humbled and grateful and the
family moved on to bigger and better things.

Kristy
who cried her eyes out reading that story.