Ted Williams with Golden Voice and the Myths About Homelessness (Links)

Ted Williams, the homeless gentleman who was blessed with golden pipes and a perfect baritone pitch, has gone from destitution to receiving job offers and appearing on national television in just three short days. Williams, 53, became an internet celebrity when a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch read William's panhandling sign boasting his vocal ability.

Apparently, the reporter asked Williams to prove his vocal ability and was so moved by the man's ability that he posted a You-Tube video that has garnered at least 12 million hits since January 3, a mere three days ago.

While that particular video of Ted Williams is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Zieger, Tigges (litigation attorneys in Columbus, Ohio), the following video link to Williams's guest stint on the Today Show is.

Click here to view the video link.

Williams has been offered a job from the Cleveland Cavaliers along with a house as he told a local radio station.

"The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house! A house! A house!," said Williams who is a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn native.

Williams had studied broadcasting earlier in his life but became homeless as he made undesirable choices of excessive use of alcohol and cocaine later in his life.

The story of Ted Williams while itself is a magnificent one and is almost fairy-tale like, offering hope to a hopeless nation in which the economic injury has been compared to the Great Depression and even the Panic of 1873 which lasted until nearly the 20^th century.

In fact, while what's happened is incredible for Ted Williams, the more important lesson to be learned perhaps is that Williams has proven that joblessness and homelessness do not in themselves equate to some worn-out myths many of us hold about the homeless.

For example, according to a report by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty many people in our culture believe that homeless people commit "more violent crimes than housed people" when in fact, they commit fewer crimes than the latter.

Another myth many hold is that single men make up the majority of homeless people while in fact, many families "comprise 38% of the urban homeless population."

Perhaps the biggest myth out there, however, is that homeless people do not work and receive any monies they get via public assistance. Many of the homeless do work and "39% of homeless people interviewed had worked for some time during the previous month" according to a study done in Chicago.

For more on the National Law Center On Homelessness and Poverty report, click here.

The bottom line in all of this is that Ted Williams with a God-given talent was given another chance and while there are those who may not view it that way, there are also many more who do.

Sources: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/homeless_man_with_golden_radio_voice_91PQ3yMBa58vOf1n4MuToJ#ixzz1AHUw6Pxghttp://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/01/video-ted-williams-homeless-man-with-golden-voice-has-9-kids-0,http://www.nhchc.org/Curriculum/module1/module1D/H3MythsandFactsaboutHomelessness.pdf,