A police officer in South Carolina has helped reunite a homeless man with his family who lived in another state. Lieutenant Conroy, who works with the Greenville Police Department, connects with homeless individuals in the community and offers help, the department said in a statement on Wednesday.
While working, he met a man known as Mr. Bryant who had been homeless in Greenville for two years. After interacting with Mr. Bryant, Lieutenant Conroy was able to locate his family in Virginia. The Greenville Police Department said the man’s family were overjoyed to know that he had been found and they traveled to South Carolina to pick him up.
“It’s heartwarming to see the positive impact of such efforts,” the department shared on Facebook. More than 500,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness and that is about 18 per 10,000 people in the U.S., according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The police and other bodies have been working to help these homeless individuals reunite with their families.
Recently, a homeless man was reunited with his family after more than 20 years, thanks to the kindness of two New Jersey police officers. Jose Lopez lost touch with his family after he moved to Florida, where he later became homeless after suffering several strokes. He hugged his daughters and grandchildren after officers helped him locate them in New Jersey.
The Hillsboro Police Department also helped one homeless man from Arizona reunite with his family three years ago. “Scooter, pictured here and this story shared with his permission, found himself encountering some challenging times, which resulted in him experiencing homelessness,” Hillsboro police wrote on Facebook. “He connected with one of our crisis intervention team officers a few months ago looking for help finding his family.”
“Even with the pandemic making certain aspects of this challenging, we’re thrilled to report Scooter is now happily reunited with his brother and living with him safely in Arizona,” the department wrote in August 2020.