Homeless Vet's Makeover Turns His Life Around
A Michigan filmmaker has given a homeless veteran a dramatic, life-changing makeover in the hopes that people will "stop ignoring and start adoring" homeless people.
Since receiving the new 'do, 54-year-old Jim Wolf has applied for veterans housing to get off the streets and has started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, according to filmmaker Rob Bliss.
A video of Wolf's makeover has been viewed nearly 700,000 times since Bliss posted the time lapse video on YouTube Wednesday.
Wolf, an Army veteran who has lived on the streets and in the shelters around Grand Rapids, Mich., for decades, has long struggled with alcoholism, Bliss told ABCNews.com.
The makeover, which included a haircut, beard trim, dye job and a designer suit, was meant to inspire Wolf, from the outside in.
"It's more than just a haircut and clothing. To see yourself look like that is to see that potential. There are things inside implied by the way you look outside - stability and peace of mind," Bliss said.
Degage Ministries, a local charity that helps the homeless, helped put Wolf and Bliss in touch with each other, and arranged for the makeover.
"Jim is someone people would have ignored. Now he looks like someone on cover of GQ," Bliss said.