A family that fled Hurricane Matthew found a couple on Airbnb who took them in for free.
With Hurricane Matthew bearing down on their home in Hollywood, Florida, Elizabeth and Chris Rodriguez packed their belongings and their 12-year-old daughter Kurisma in a car and fled west.
Hurricane Matthew hits Titusville, Florida. Photo by Bruce Weaver/AFP/Getty Images.
24 hours later, they were sitting at a neatly appointed breakfast table, enjoying orange juice, coffee, and a basket of croissants.
"We started looking for a place to go, and we found Bob and Juan," Elizabeth said.
The Rodriguez family currently occupies two bedrooms in the home of Juan Maldonado and Bob Leibensperger, a married couple in Kissimmee, who registered for an Airbnb's Disaster Response Tool, which allows hosts to offer their rooms, free of charge, to people displaced by natural or manmade disasters.
With no hotels available, the tool was a godsend for the East Coast family, who raced to send a request when they saw Maldonado and Leibensperger's posting, fearing they would be late.
"It was relief, being that we had no options other than a shelter. It eased our minds because we knew were going central, away from the coasts," Elizabeth said.
Airbnb launched the tool in 2013, inspired by the generosity of its hosts — many of whom tried, unsuccessfully, to open their homes through the room-sharing service during Superstorm Sandy.
"Our system wasn’t set up to support free emergency housing, so we worked to make the necessary changes to help our community support people in need," company founder Nathan Blecharczyk said in a press release.
Tampa Airbnb host Danielle Ferrari, who took in a couple from South Florida, said she didn't really think about "why" before signing up to assist.
Danielle Ferrari's home in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Danielle Ferrari.
"I'm used to opening my doors to strangers, why not a stranger in need," she wrote. "Aren't they the best guest you could have? And the most rewarding."
In June, Maldonado and Leibensperger hosted two sets of families who traveled to Orlando to attend funerals for the victims of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub.
"It was uplifting being able to be there with them and give them a few words of support and give them kind of a safe haven," Maldonado said.
That experience, he explained, influenced the couple's decision to register for the program.
With the storm traveling north, the Rodriguezes hope to be able to head home soon.
The Rodriguez family with Maldonado and Leibensperger at breakfast. Photo by Juan Maldonado.
"We're all grateful and kind of celebrating now that things didn't get as bad as TV made it to look," Maldonado said.
The Rodriguez family's current landlord, also an Airbnb host, plans to return today to assess the damage. In the meantime, they're enjoying their temporary accommodations and spending time with Maldonado and Leibensperger's two chihuahuas.
Maldonado said that, for him, the storm is an opportunity to be "grateful for the things you have."
"The fact that you get to meet great people that you would never have met if it wasn't for the terrible circumstances is the good side of any tragedy, I guess."
If you're stranded by the storm and need shelter, visit Airbnb's Disaster Response Tool here.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."