Billy Ray, once a homeless guy who resided in Kansas City and begged for some change from people walking by, had a dramatic improvement in the quality of his life as a direct result of a single act of kindness.

Sarah Darling, a lady who was walking by at the time, put some change in the cup that the guy who was then 55 years old was holding, however, she did manage to lose her engagement ring along with the money when she fumbled and dropped it.

A few days later, Harris made the decision to give the ring back to the lady, despite the fact that he had considered selling the ring in order to make some more income. The valuation he was given for the ring was in the amount of $4,000 dollars.

Harris had this to say about the kind act: “I am not trying to claim that I am a saint, but i am not the devil either.”

Darling and her husband, Bill Krejci, organized a benefit for Harris with the intention of assisting him in regaining his financial footing as a way of expressing their gratitude for his assistance.

As Darling explained it: “We decided that our objective should be one thousand dollars, so we organized it after hearing from a number of individuals whose hearts had been touched by the story and expressing a desire to assist Billy Ray.”

The fundraising event received a tremendous amount of support, eventually bringing in more than $190,000 in little under three months.

When Harris first got his hands on the money, he immediately sought the advice of an attorney, who assisted him in putting the money into a trust.

Since then, Harris has been in a position to buy a vehicle and even put down money on a down payment on a home.

And that’s not all: His family members, who had not been able to locate him for 16 years and had heard reports that he had passed, were able to track him  after he appeared on TV.

They were joyfully reunited, and Harris is now working on his connection with them; this includes his bond with his nieces and nephews, whose existence he was completely unaware of. He said, “When I think about the past, i’m just thankful that it’s gone. What I mean is, I finally feel like a person.”