MiracleMessages

Kevin: One of my new favorites is unfolding right now... an Aztec Indian man named Jose Ruiz who was sold into slavery at age 8 in Zacatecas, Mexico, escaped, ended up in Corpus Christi, Texas, has been on the streets for 40+ years, hasn't seen his family in decades. The post was shared over 200 times, and a Univision reporter drove 6 hours into the mountains, located the farm where he grew up, and was able to find his family.

And literally just a few minutes ago, Jose Ruiz showed up at our partner's site in Corpus Christi, Texas, as we had previously scheduled. We showed him the video from his brothers, and I just watched his reaction. Wow.

Here's the original post, and the others in my feed tell the rest of the story: https://www.facebook.com/kfadler/posts/10100332500767736

Beverly (Kevin typing): Jesse Florence. I just took to him. He had seven siblings. I couldn't find him. I was driving you crazy. Jessica crazy. Brian and I was getting into it. When I found him, and the moment became a reality, I wouldn't let him hide. He almost fainted when he saw me. It just broke my heart. He got a chance to reconnect with his family. And they know he is alive and well. He quit drinking. I had a part of that. It made me feel good. For weeks and weeks I was looking, everywhere: Glide, the Ferry Building. I was losing sleep. But it was worth it. To see his face, that's why I do what I do. He's looking good.

Beverly: we need more mental health facilities: more psychiatrists, more therapists, more drug programs. They should invest in some mental facilities for these people. Stop putting the bandaids on it.

Brian: If they added more housing in the city, that would be a blessing for the homeless.

Jess: In addition to both of those, every housed person in San Francisco should have a conversation with one person who is experiencing homelessness. For many people in San Francisco, the issue of homelessness is faceless. People care more about helping the people that they know. I think that would make a big difference.

Brian (Kevin typing): We were doing outreach back on the Embarcadero with a company (Talent International). When we met Greg, he was drunk, he was hurting. I saw the pain in his eye. He wanted to be back with his niece. We all walked down to the Greyhound station. The ticket was too expensive – it was $200. So I gave him $5, and I said, "I hope this helps you out for today. Let's meet tomorrow and see if we can get you home to Iowa on Homeward Bound." We met the next day. He got on a bus back to Iowa. He quit drinking. He quit drugging. He's doing real well with his family. He made us laugh. He had that gorilla mask. He was fun. We kept in touch for a few months after that. "I'm doing better. I'm doing better."

Jess (Kevin typing): What I remember from that story is I showed up and we went for coffee. We pulled out our "Neighbor" key from Giving Keys, which has the word Neighbor on it. We gave one to him. Brian showed his key. Then Greg showed his key from the first time we met him. And they started to cry. It was emotional.

Beverly (Kevin typing): I cried like a baby when he got on that bus.

Beverly: also, people need to learn how to reintegrate into society. A lot of these people don't know.