How 2 women and one lottery ticket changed this homeless man's life.
When Sofia Andrade saw Glenn Williams panhandling out in the cold, she had just received one of the happiest surprises of her life.
The Wareham, Massachusetts, resident and single mom of three had just won $200 on a lottery ticket she had scratched off while waiting at a stop sign. “I don’t really buy them often because I don’t have the extra money, so when I won, I was just, like, super ecstatic,” Andrade told Upworthy.
Meanwhile, Williams was asking passing cars for loose change on one of the coldest nights of the year. The temperature would eventually hit -12 degrees in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he lived in a sleeping bag and tent, according to Andrade.
Andrade said she rolled down her window and offered to take him somewhere warm.
"She didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, and she bought me coffee," Williams told Upworthy.
Andrade and Williams. Photo by Sofia Andrade/GoFundMe, used with permission.
They went to Dunkin' Donuts. Andrede said she called around to local homeless shelters, but they were all full, and Williams insisted he'd be fine back out on the street.
"I was like, 'I can’t let you go home. I can’t let you go back to the street. My soul won’t let me do that. Please let me do something for you,'" Andrade said.
Andrade drove Williams to the Rosewood Motel in Wareham, where she used her $200 lottery winnings to put him up for three nights.
According to Andrade, It was money she didn't really have to spare.
"I help as many people as I can, but as far as financially, my situation is very tight right now. I don’t have very much," Andrade said.
Wareham, Massachusetts, where Williams spent the weekend. Photo by T.S. Custadio/Wikimedia Commons.
But having recently struggled with addiction herself, Andrade related to how it felt to be looked down on, cast off, and ignored — and how hard it is to ask for help.
"You have to show everybody compassion. It doesn’t matter what their background is. Everybody deserves respect."
Upworthy spoke to a manager at the Rosewood Motel, who confirmed that Williams stayed for three nights.
Andrade posted about her encounter with Williams on Facebook. After her post went viral, the motel was inundated with donations of food, clothing, and blankets from people in the area — too much, even, for Williams to carry.
Elizabeth Arone, a local barber and friend of Andrade's, volunteered to give Williams a haircut.
Arone, cutting Williams' hair. Photo by Elizabeth Arone, used with permission.
"He was just so grateful, and it was just a very emotional, intimate moment for both of us,” Arone told Upworthy.
Arone, who spent several months in her early 20s living in her car, has been donating haircuts to the homeless for several years. She said she felt an immediate kinship with Williams.
"I got out of the hole because of the tools I had acquired along the way," Arone said. "I knew what to do, and I knew how to do it. And I feel like a lot of people just don’t know that there’s help out there for them."
Arone took Williams to the Registry of Motor Vehicles for an ID and to a local hospital to sign up for Medicaid, and the two women launched a GoFundMe campaign with the intent to use the money to move Williams into stable housing. As of Feb. 17, 2016, they had raised over $15,000 from donors across the country.
“I’ve had messages from people in Texas, from Florida, from California, it’s insane. It’s so crazy," Andrede said.
Andrede and Arone say they plan to remain part of Williams' support system going forward, and they now consider him a friend.
Arone and Williams, post-haircut. Photo by Elizabeth Arone, used with permission.
"He’s the sweetest person to my kids. My 1-year-old, who is standoffish with everybody, just walks up to him and gives him hugs," Andrede said.
As survivors of difficult times themselves, both women were adamant that helping can be as simple as acknowledging someone's humanity — and that it doesn't matter how much cash you have on hand.
"Sometimes the people that have the least are the ones that are the most willing to help," Andrade said.
Williams insisted that while he's grateful for the donations and the fundraiser, he's not the only one who needs assistance getting back on his feet.
"There’s a lot of people [that people] don’t even know. They need help," Williams said.
He hopes that some of the money being raised on his behalf will go to help others in need.
Update 3/29/2016: Shortly after meeting Andrede and Arone, Williams was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender. According to an ABC News report, Williams was initially charged with indecent assault on a minor in 1994. On Facebook, Andrede wrote that despite not knowing about the charges, she doesn't regret assisting Williams: "We did not discriminate when helping another human in need." She said she planned to donate money raised on Williams' behalf to local homeless charities.
Williams maintains his innocence in a letter Arone submitted to South Coast Today on his behalf.
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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."