REUNITED: Jodi and Dawn Gieber with their friend James (second from left) at reunion with his brother (far right). KARK

Want to feel good? Here’s a story I spotted yesterday on Jason Lee’s Facebook page, with this followup and photo from KARK. A familiar downtown figure is homeless no more.

It’s the story of a homeless man, a familiar figure downtown, befriended by a Little Rock couple. They cleared up James’ court problems, helped him clean up with new clothes, found his family and drove him to a reunion with them in Illinois. They hadn’t seen him for 15 years. They thought he was dead.

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So far, the news of his relocation is good. From KARK:

It’s not every day you get to change someone’s life.

However, for Jodi and his wife, Dawn Gieber, they did the unthinkable.

“People would say James was very angry. James was a mean person. He wasn’t. James was just hungry,” says Dawn. “He was cold. He was eating out of dumpsters. James just had no resources and my husband and I just felt that there was something we needed to do to help him.”

James, a homeless man, had been living on the streets of downtown Little Rock for the past 15 years.

“I would see him as I went into the courthouse,” explains Dawn. “My husband would also see him as he patrolled.”

Dawn, a records specialist at the Pulaski County Circuit Court, decided to ask James a question no one had ever asked.

“One day I just asked him, ‘Why are you homeless?” explains Dawn. “I treated him like a human – we all have a story.”

James revealed he had lost his way and lost contact with this family. He had tried finding them, but didn’t know how. 

The Giebers took over.

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More on the story and video of the reunion at KTHV.