Homeless Man Gets Life-Changing Reward After Returning Woman's Lost Wallet

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KPIX-TV) -- A recent good deed by a homeless man in Northern California set off a chain reaction of kindness that is now helping turn his life around.

Sean Curry is a 57-year-old homeless man who stays in Marin County. Last month he came across a wallet in a Dumpster by the Kamson Coffee Shop in San Rafael and returned it to its rightful owner with its contents intact.

That was when his life changed.

Currey is currently living in his Chevy Tahoe. "I don't really want to show you the mess, to tell you the truth," he said. "It's been my home, yeah, and I love it. It's a good Chevy."

Currey found the lost wallet that was owned by a Kamson Coffee Shop regular, 80-year-old Mill Valley grandmother Evelyn Topper. "She comes here like, almost every day," said the coffee shop's owner and namesake Lina Kamson.

On the day she lost her wallet, surveillance video showed Topper putting her wallet away after picking up her drinks, but she accidentally dropped it after leaving. "I came home and looked for my little purse, my wallet. It was gone!" she exclaimed.

It contained everything: her ID card, her driver's license, cash, her medical insurance cards. Luckily, it also contained her contact information.

"I found Evelyn's wallet. She was ecstatic to get it back," said Currey.

This is where the good Samaritan story gets real. Evelyn's daughter Vanessa and granddaughter Mikayla were impressed and grateful for his honesty. They started a GoFundMe campaign to not only get him off the street, but to raise money so Currey can use his construction skills "to create a sustainable row of tiny houses for the San Rafael homeless community at large."

So far the campaign has raised more than $30,000.

KPIX-TV cameras were there when Sean and Evelyn reunited for the first time in weeks Thursday. "Do you remember me?" he asked as they embraced and Evelyn greeted him with laughter.

"You have made so many people happy," she told him.

"It just shows that there are good people out there, and that being homeless doesn't have to put a mark on you for being a bad person," Currey told KPIX.

Currey's actions and the payback he is receiving just go to show that honesty and good character still count.