Some people come into our lives and touch our hearts in a way we never could have expected.

Dawn Gieber and her husband Jodi would often see James, a homeless man in their Little Rock, AR community, often on her way into the courthouse or Jodi seeing him while he patrolled.

James has been homeless and living on the streets of Little Rock for the past 15 years, until one day when Dawn decided to ask him one specific question, “Why are you homeless?”

Most people would initially think of James as a very angry, mean person, but that’s not actually the case at all. James was just hungry, and had been finding his meals by eating out of dumpsters. Dawn and Jodi just knew they had to do something to help James.

Dawn says, “I just treated him like a human — we all have a story.”

Turns out, James lost his way and contact with his family had been cut off. He eventually did try finding them again, but didn’t really know how, nor did he have the resources.

Dawn, a records specialist at the Pulaski County Circuit Court included her husband in on the efforts to help James and started the hunt for connecting with his family.

After searching, Jodi was able to find some contact info and made countless calls, left voicemails, sent emails . . . and finally received a response.

It was just James’ niece who said his family had been looking for him at one time but thought he was dead.

Dawn and Jodi arranged for James to speak with him family, and seeing how emotional he was and hearing it in his family members’ voices, the duo knew there job helping James wasn’t finished.

Dawn explains, “I turned to my husband and said ‘Road trip.” The husband-wife team didn’t even think twice before Jodi went to get James some clothes before bringing him back to their house.

There was a minor hiccup before they could make their way to James’ family, though . . . turns out, James had a few outstanding warrants in Little Rock.

Because of Dawn and Jodi’s jobs, they had to be very careful of the situation. They went before a judge and told them James’ situation and explained that they were willing to pay all his fees, and the judge dismissed all charges.

The couple packed up their car with James in tow and started their road trip to Illinois, driving nearly 600 miles.

Dawn shares, “Seeing James reunite with his family was so rewarding. It was just the right thing to do — he’s a person and [he] matters.”

According to his brother, James is now back living with his family in Illinois and doing very well.

(KARK)