Inspiring story about a homeless man who became a viral sensation the moment he spoke

By Rebelander Basilan

Dec 26, 2018

07:50 P.M.

In January 2011, Ted Williams stood in the cold at a busy intersection holding a sign that read, “God given gift of voice.”

A Columbus Dispatch reporter noticed his sign, and that’s when the miracle Williams had been praying for happened, as reported by NBC News.

“Broke, homeless, standing on a corner, addiction kicking my butt. My family had all given up on me," Williams recalled.

Five years after the fateful meeting with a reporter, Williams is paying it forward by doling out socks to homeless people.

A former radio announcer, Williams hit rock bottom after abusing drugs and alcohol.

After spotting him on the street, the reporter filmed him with his deep, baritone voice. Posted online, the video quickly went viral. He came to be known as “the man with the golden voice.”

BIG-TIME JOB OFFERS

He received job offers, including voicing commercials for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

Williams, now 58, managed to piece his life back together. He landed a $300,000 book deal – “A Golden Voice: How Faith, Hard Work and Humility Brought Me from the Streets to Salvation. The book came out in 2012.

Five years after the fateful meeting with a reporter, Williams is paying it forward by doling out socks to homeless people.

“A lot of homeless people, if they were like me ... went to jail a lot. And there's nothing worse than being incarcerated and not having socks, let alone being bothered by the elements, the cold weather and all. So I go out and I give packages of socks,” Williams said.

He had been behind bars several times himself.

He now dreams of opening up a homeless laundromat. “A lot of times, homeless people discard clothes, or they walk down the street with millions of clothes, and they're never in the most presentable shape,” he said.

In this laundromat, volunteer attendants would wash and dry homeless people's clothes, so they have a shot at getting back to work.

ANOTHER HEARTWARMING STORY OF A HOMELESS MAN

Williams’ story is similar to that of a homeless man named Eric. Rahat Hossain, a YouTube prankster, helped Eric by raising money online.

He had surprised Eric with a fake lottery ticket for $1,000 in March 2014. Rahat had gone on earlier to place the money behind a store counter and instructed the attendant to give Eric the money when he presents the ticket.

Eric can be seen in the video weeping for joy, touching many viewers, who were moved to do more. Rahat was able to raise $44,000.