Homeless Portland man records emotional video message in hopes of reuniting with sister

The Portland Police Department posted a note on its Facebook page from the founder of the organization Miracle Messages, which is traveling the country recording short video messages of homeless people seeking to reunite with estranged loved ones.

The group circulates the messages on social media in hopes of finding those family members and re-establishing those lost connections, and founder Kevin Adler told Portland police he’s recently helped some homeless individuals in San Francisco reunite with family after decades apart.

In the video above — and shared on the police Facebook page — a Portland homeless man named Luke becomes emotional before he can finish his message to his sisters.

According to Miracle Messages, Luke has been living on the streets for five months, has only stayed in a shelter one night during that time, and was recently hit by a car while riding his bike.

During the video, a plane can be heard flying in the distance, and Luke says, “I wish I was on that. … It’s going to get cold here soon.”

The group notes that Luke’s message is directed toward his two sisters — one of whom he hasn’t spoken with in more than a year.

His message to her — which didn’t make it into the video, but which the organization apparently recorded offline — is: “I love you, I miss you, I think about you everyday, and I’m sorry.”

“We use [social media] to help identify people, solve crimes, public service announcements and for humor, but once in a while we get messages that we share that can directly impact a person’s life,” the police post reads, in part.

Click here to see the original Portland police Facebook post, which includes more details about Miracle Messages and Luke’s family.

This isn’t the first time Portland police have attracted attention for their Facebook activity.

Last month, the department posted a poignant letter from a recovering heroin addict who was deeply touched by a positive run-in with a local officer and said he’s been clean ever since.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.