A Crisis outreach officer has reunited a homeless man with his two daughters after twenty years of separation.
Jose Lopez, now 61, lost contact with his family when he split up from his wife and moved from New Jersey to Florida with his mother.
Lopez tried to reconnect with his daughters a few years ago, but ran into trouble after he suffered from a series of strokes, which left him homeless, according to CBS.
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Lopez recently became determined to track down his daughters and used his Social Security money, which is similar to a WINZ benefit, to travel back to New Jersey.
The homeless man made it to Secaucus Junction, a train station close to New Jersey's airport, but needed to find a way to make it down to the town of Bradley Beach where his daughters lived.
It was here that Lopez was spotted by a New Jersey Transit Officer, who asked if he needed assistance. Lopez explained that he needed to find his family.
Crisis outreach officer Sean Pfeifer was alerted to Lopez's case and took the 61-year-old under his wing.
"Mr Lopez was intent on finding his family, and I wanted to make sure that I was there to help him with doing that," Pfeifer told CBS.
Pfeifer called dozens of possible family members until he tracked down Lopez's daughters.
Angela Viviani, one of Lopez's daughters, told CBS she thought the phone call was "a scam".
"I was actually in the parking lot when I checked my voicemail. I was like - is this a scam or something?" she said.
Angela was aged 10 when she last saw her father, and her older sister Kristy Viviani was aged 17.
Pfeifer made sure Lopez was ready for the big reunion, arranging for him to have a shave and a haircut before he saw his family. He also set him up with some new clothes.
CBS captured the emotional meeting, which left all those involved in tears.
The footage shows Lopez giving each of his daughters a huge bear hug, and meeting his grandchildren for the first time.
"To feel their emotion, behind the camera I was tearing up," Pfefier told CBS.
Kristy told CBS she remembered her father's eyes, despite being apart for 20 years.
"I saw on his face, you know, I remembered the eyes… it's just very nerve-wracking," she said.
Lopez said he was in heaven.
"I'm thinking, I'm in heaven. I've got my two best girls. I got a good friend," he said, referring to Pfeifer.
Pfefier said he was grateful that Lopez had accepted his help, and the reunion was the highlight of his career.
Lopez is now receiving treatment for his mental health, and looking forward to many family barbeques.
Newshub.
