Older people often talk about feeling invisible. People like Jim Wolf, a homeless vet who’s been struggling for decades with poverty and alcoholism, feel more than invisible. Wolf is the guy whom others try not to see, with devastating consequences for his sense of his own worth.

Dégagé Ministries, a Michigan organization that helps homeless and disadvantaged people, offered to make Jim Wolf visible. With a small team of stylists and a camera crew, Dégagé filmed his transformation.

Just over a week after this viral video was posted to the web in time for Veteran’s Day, more than 1o million people have seen Wolf and been amazed. The video shows what can happen when an invisible person who has given up on himself is offered the chance to redefine himself. Wolf’s problems aren’t over, but he’s been given a chance.

As the ministry says on its website, “Often, it is the simplest of gestures that brings the most powerful results.”

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