Man homeless for 6 years wins lottery, wants to reconnect with daughter
Michael Engfors has not had the easiest six years. After suffering from alcoholism, a failed business venture and a divorce, the now 60-year-old man found himself homeless.
That is -- until he won $500,000 on a lottery ticket this past Friday.
SEE ALSO: Virginia Beach man wins lottery with losing ticket
Engfors only scratched one square off of the winning ticket that he bought at a gas station in Aspen, Colorado.
"I don't think he normally spends $10 a day on a lottery ticket," said Jeremy Kowalis, an employee at the Aspen Homeless Shelter, where Engfors spend much of his time. "But he did that day, and it sure paid off."
Michael Engfors, un SDF du Colorado, gagne 500 000 dollars à la loteriehttps://t.co/xnGmCkoXlSpic.twitter.com/5MJvj8Y4nJ
— franceinfo plus (@franceinfoplus) December 8, 2015
The splurge on the lottery ticket was certainly worth what little Engfors had to his name -- and little did he know, it would catapult him out of the dark place in which he had been living for the better part of a decade.
%shareLinks-quote="Michael has seen a bottom that pushed him right to the edge. But Michael never gave up. He knew that if he kept pushing on, eventually his luck would change." type="quote" author="Jeremy Kowalis" authordesc="" isquoteoftheday="false"%
Engfors plans to take this opportunity for a fresh start seriously, starting with reconnecting with some of the family with whom he has lost touch:
"I asked him what he was gonna do, and he said he wanted to get some skis and he really wanted to connect with his daughter who he hadn't seen in over 20 years," Kowalis said. "He's interested in trying to find out how to go about reaching her and reconnecting with her, now that he's got a little bit more means to do so."
The lottery winner spent one final weekend sleeping on the floor at Saint Mary Catholic Church before he began the new chapter of his life.
Check out how this previously homeless man gave back after hitting it big:
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