Twitter reunites homeless man with daughter

NEW YORK -- A program that provides cell phones to the homeless celebrated a success story Friday, when one of the phone recipients used it to find his daughter on Twitter. After not seeing each other for 11 years, the two were reunited.
It was all smiles and hugs for Danny Morales and his daughter, Sarah Rivera.
The two haven't seen each other in more than a decade, reuniting Friday for the first time.
"A great moment for myself,” Morales said. “I feel rejoice."
"I get to find my dad after 11 years,” Rivera said. “I don't even know how to feel right now. I'm very, very happy."
The two lost contact when Rivera moved from Puerto Rico to the US with her mom in 2000.
That all changed several weeks ago, when Morales discovered twitter, and sent a tweet into cyberspace that he was looking for his daughter.
A stranger saw it and reached out to her on facebook.
"A woman I never heard of, my father never heard of,” Rivera said. “And I saw a picture of my father, and I just got the number."
"See my grandson, and my granddaughter, it's awesome," Morales said.
Morales was able to access twitter using a prepaid cell phone, donated to him by a group called Underheard In New York.
He was one of four homeless men chosen to tell the world through twitter what it's like to be homeless.
"Danny actually said that he always wanted to tell his story, but he never thought anyone would listen to it,” Rosemary Melchier, of Underheard In new York, said. “And I had said someone's out there. Someone will want to hear it."
"It's amazing that this social network holds a purpose,” Rivera said. “And that purpose is you can instantly find anybody. And it's amazing."
Dad and daughter both said their lives have been changed forever.
"I'm gonna have them in my life, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep them near me," Morales said.
And as they rekindle their relationship, Morales said he'll keep on tweeting.
(Copyright (c) 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)



