Florida man was homeless, then he made US$10,000 from YouTube

Barnes, better known as Lionel B, poses for a portrait in his home studio in Tampa, Florida. After getting laid off and trying to figure out how to come up with some money, he remembered his old Google Adsense account. — Tampa Bay Times via AP

TAMPA, Florida: Things were looking down for Lionel Barnes in late 2018. He’d been let go from his information technology job in Plant City, Florida. A rocky relationship had ended. He was soon sleeping in his 20-year-old Mercedes with his teenage son, Lionel Jr.

He’d park in front of fast food restaurants in Tampa and use the free Internet to apply for jobs.