Homeless Veteran Gets Extreme Makeover; Reminds Us To Notice People We Don't Normally Notice

Just in time for Veteran's Day, which is Monday, we get a time lapse video of a makeover done on a guy named Jim Wolf in Michigan.

Jim Wolf before....

Here's why we should care: Wolf is a U.S. Army veteran who for years has struggled with homelessness and alcoholism.

You've seen people like him: Scraggly hair, scraggly beard. Maybe you feel a little pity, but you don't linger, You want to get away.

In Wolf's case a Grand Rapids, Michigan charity called Degage Ministries took him in to help him out. There, a filmmaker named Rob Bliss decided to do a time lapse video as a local stylist and production team transformed Wolf.

Bliss said he wanted to show that a physical transformation doesn't necessarily cover up who they are, but instead can reveal who they can be.   

As you can see in the surprisingly moving video at the bottom of this post, Wolf goes from looking like a guy in a downward spiral to an On-Top-Of-His Game GQ model.

As almost everyone who has commented on this stunt has observed, a makeover won't solve deep, long seated problems like homelessness, joblessness and alcoholism.  But it does remind all of us that almost everyone is not a hopeless case, as we often dismissively think when we see a homeless guy on the street.

Jim Wolf after. Watch the moving video
below to see how this happened.  

In the video, Wolf could not see how the transformation was progressing because there was no mirror near him. But when it was done, they put a full length mirror in front of him. The reaction is priceless.

Latest reports are that Wolf is now attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Things are looking up for him. We wish Wolf, and every veteran the best, and we thank them deeply for their service. We are totally indebted.

Here's the video: