Many of us will never experience homelessness and the hopelessness and loss that comes with it. We may not even know someone who has personally experienced homeless. The most contact we may ever have with a homeless person is either giving them some cash or food as we pass by. Kevin Adler has a different story that inspired his organization Miracle Messages.
Adler’s Uncle Mark was, according to Adler, the most family-oriented of his extended family. He even remembered every single birthday. Mark was also homeless. He suffered from schizophrenia and was homeless for the majority of 30 years. Despite this, his family wanted him commemorated so they pooled their money and purchased a gravesite that the family could go and visit. Adler visited the gravesite in 2013 and had a breakthrough moment. He and his family were blessed to have kept in touch with their homeless family member, many others may have lost total contact with their family members.
Many people who are homeless suffer from diseases and mental illness or just had a few bad moments in their lives that had landed them on the streets. Despite all of this they still have families that love and care for them and often wonder where they are. Inspired by the relationship he and his family had with his Uncle, he decided he wanted to help them. According to his article on Huffington Post, Adler started Miracle Messages to make people aware of what it’s like to live on the streets. He wanted to use the technology that we use every day to show people that the homeless are not just nameless faces, but real people with real families.
It started with one person and the name Homeless GoPro. He equipped homeless volunteers with GoPro cameras to record messages. From there it evolved into Miracle Messages. He realized that while there might be many reasons for homelessness, i.e., sickness, addiction, and domestic violence, that the root of homelessness is truly the loss of family or any social connection. When someone is dealing with these debilitating issues, coupled with not having the money for the normal technology we use to connect with people, makes staying in touch very challenging.
So, how is Adler’s organization helping the homelessness? Three years ago, he walked through a street in San Francisco and decided to ask homeless people if they wanted to record a holiday message for loved ones on his phone. One man said yes. The video was shared on Facebook, then quickly proceeded to go viral and within 20 minutes the man’s sister had been tagged. Several weeks later the man was reunited with his family. He had been away from them for 22 years and deemed a missing person for 12 years. Wondering if this was a fluke, he had someone else record a video, and the same thing happened again. Within weeks he was reunited with his family after being gone for 33 years.
Miracle Messages has helped many homeless people find their families again. So far 40% of reunions have led to the stable housing and 90% have resulted in positive reunions. The organization’s goal is to help 1% of the world’s homeless population reunite with family or friends by 2021. Simply by using the technology, we use every day for texting or watching videos.
Watch His Amazing Story Below!
Please Share With Your Friends and Family!
Source: Huffington Post and Kevin F. Adler
Connect with us