Andre K. Haney ran errands, washed cars and swept up leaves for the residents of a secluded block in the city's Harwood neighborhood. The residents - many of them elderly women who have lived in their homes for decades - gave him money and food, and brought him inside for holiday meals.

At night, he slept on the porch of a vacant house.

"He was our homeless man," said Elnora Barnes, 73. "We all fed him. If it was raining or cold, we'd say, 'Andre, why don't you come inside?' But he always said he wanted to stay outside."

One morning last week, neighbors awoke to find that Haney was not perched on his usual spot on the porch next to Barnes' home. They later learned that the 47-year-old had died; the circumstances are unclear.

The residents of the 500 block of 26th St., a tight-knit bunch known as the "26ers," are accustomed to working together. They created a park on an adjacent stretch of Greenmount Avenue and sought help from the city to renovate the abandoned homes on their block. When drug dealers started loitering on the corner, they barraged the police with calls until officers drove the dealers away.

Although many of the residents of the block live on fixed incomes, they gave what they could to Haney.