Photos: Homeless hero

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Assigned to photograph Joel Hartman during his stay at the Omni Hotel last year, Curtis Compton realized this guy’s life was changing right before his eyes. He documented those changes in these photos, following Hartman's travels from Atlanta to South Carolina to Indiana.

112513 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman, the "Homeless Hero" that returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover food, has his new look revealed to him by hair and makeup artist Nesha Lewis on Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, in Atlanta. The makeover is compliments of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center where his is a guest through Thanksgiving thanks to a hotel staff that searched tirelessly to find him. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Back at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center stepmother Deanna Rodecki presents Joel Hartman gifts including family photo albums for him to keep on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Atlanta. Rodecki has been searching for Hartman for more than a decade catching wind of him only to find he had moved on. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120213 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman goes through what a nurse describes as "a pretty horrible detox, hopefully we will get it before it gets him" at Emory University Hospital Midtown after seeking help for drug addiction and a bone infection in his foot on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, in Atlanta. In what a nurse called a really good sign, Hartman totally relinquished himself to the process. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

122813 ATLANTA: A travel'n, broke, and hungry sign used by Joel Hartman for pan handling sits beside one of his packs on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013. Hartman flies a sign for funds to buy food, clothing, tobacco, and other supplies while traveling as well as working odd jobs along the way. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Reunited with his family on Thanksgiving, Joel Hartman (from left), the homeless man who returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover meal, leaves Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport with his stepmother Deanna Rodecki, and brothers Andrew Rodecki and Erick Hordos for the Omni Hotel at CNN Center and a Thanksgiving Day meal on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman gets reunited with his stepmother Deanna Rodecki over a Thanksgiving Day meal at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Atlanta. His stepmother has been searching for Hartman for more than a decade catching wind of him only to find he had moved on. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman embraces his stepmother Deanna Rodecki in their room at the Omni Hotel the day after their Thanksgiving Day reunion on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Atlanta. Rodecki has spent more than a decade trying to find Hartman catching wind of him only to find he moved on. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman gets a farewell kiss on the cheek from his stepmother Deanna Rodecki at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman sees his new found brothers Andrew Rodecki (left) and Erick Hordos (right) off at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Andrew Rodecki (from left), Erick Hordos, and Joel Hartman stand together for stepmother Deanna Rodecki to take their picture at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Atlanta. The brothers were reunited the day before on Thanksgiving after a decade long search for the homeless Hartman. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Homeless man Don Wilson shakes Joel Hartman's hand after receiving a new sleeping bag from him on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Hartman, the "Homeless Hero" that returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover food, spent the morning handing out sleeping bags to the needy that were donated to him by well wishers at the Omin Hotel at CNN Center following his good deed. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Tony Golden, a homeless man, embraces his new sleeping bag from Joel Hartman on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Hartman spent his morning handing out about a dozen bags to other homeless that were donated to him by well wishers following his good deed. "I just know if this helps other homeless people it would be awesome. I want to help change stereotypes," Hartman said. Many of the clothes and food items Hartman received he passed along to others living on the street. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman hands out a sleeping bag to a man in need passing by on the street on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Hartman, the "Homeless Hero" that returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover food, spent the morning handing out sleeping bags to the homeless that were donated to him by well wishers to the Omin Hotel at CNN Center following his good deed. Hartman is sharing what he has and is advocating for the needs of the homeless. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Tony Golden salutes Joel Hartman for his new sleeping bag as he leaves on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Don Wilson packs away his new sleeping bag from Joel Hartman on his cart, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Benjamin Story (right), 24, who says he has been homeless in Atlanta for 7 months, sits on a bench outside the Omni Hotel at CNN Center with a new sleeping bag from Joel Hartman on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Story said "the bag sleeps real snug. I did have one but it got stolen. It's hard to stash stuff for too long. This one is amazing." CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman walks the streets handing out sleeping bags to homeless men on Marietta Street on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Hartman, the "Homeless Hero" that returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover food, spent the morning handing out sleeping bags to the needy that were donated to him by well wishers to the Omin Hotel at CNN Center following his good deed. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman spends his final night alone in his room at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center before seeking medical attention on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. Hartman asked staff photographer Curtis Compton to help him get clean. "I need help getting into detox. I want to wait until my family is gone today. I need to go to detox really bad. I just got my family back. I'm not going to throw that away. Life has been really bad since I lost my significant other. It's been all drugs and booze. I don't want to end up dead. I don't want to live like that anymore. I don't think of myself as a hero. That's an awful big label to live up to. Just because you are out on the street homeless doesn't mean you lost your ability to know right from wrong," Hartman told Compton. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120113 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman spends his final night in his room at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center before seeking medical attention on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

052314 ELKHART, INDIANA: Joel Hartman and his traveling companion Morgan Hopkins, and her dog Padme dig through a dumpster for food and supplies behind a Dollar Tree store to provide for their needs on Friday, May 23, 2014, in Elkhart, Indiana. The couple perform odd jobs, fly signs to pan handle for money, and live out of dumpsters as they travel Westward by hopping trains on their way to California. Hartman and Hopkins met with his relatives for dinner and a family reunion lunch at a park, but the pair choose to live their own lifestyle and provide for their own needs. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman embraces his stepmother Deanna Rodecki, who has been searching for him for more than a decade, at Hartsfield Jackson Airport for for Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

112813 ATLANTA: Stepmother Deanna Rodecki (from left) and his brothers Andrew Rodecki and Erick Hordos smother Joel Hartman, the homeless man who returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover meal, with love as they are reunited for Thanksgiving at Hartsfield Jackson Airport on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Atlanta. His stepmother Deanna Rodecki has been searching for Hartman for more than a decade catching wind of him only to find he had moved on. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

120213 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman rides the elevator down from his room quietly leaving the Omni Hotel at CNN Center after a week of reprieve from living on the streets on Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, in Atlanta. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

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112513 ATLANTA: Joel Hartman, the "Homeless Hero" that returned a woman's wallet he found digging through trash hoping to find someone's leftover food, has his new look revealed to him by hair and makeup artist Nesha Lewis on Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, in Atlanta. The makeover is compliments of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center where his is a guest through Thanksgiving thanks to a hotel staff that searched tirelessly to find him. CURTIS COMPTON /staff CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

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