Hollywood’s “Brown Bag Lady” serves up fresh food and friendship to the unhoused communities of Los Angeles

Compassion, served.
Compassion comes in many forms. Sometimes it looks like stopping to jumpstart a stranger’s car. Other times it’s volunteering time or donating. For Jacqueline Norvell, compassion looks like a delicious prepared lunch served in a brown paper bag.
Since 2014, Norvell, aka “Brown Bag Lady,” has arrived on the first Sunday of every month to hand out food and supplies to the homeless communities of Skid Row. Without fail.
Yes, even with the pandemic, she and her team have never missed a Sunday. During the first few months of COVID-19, everyone showed up in hazmat suits to serve.
The idea for Brown Bag Lady was sparked when Norvell was leaving a basketball game in Downtown Los Angeles. She took a wrong turn, putting her on Skid Row–one of L.A.’s biggest “tent cities” with a population estimated at 8,000 people.
This was around Christmas time, in the dead of winter. Los Angeles might be known for never-ending sunshine, but its winter nights are not forgiving. People were huddled together just trying to keep warm. Norvell, compelled to help after what she saw, used the holiday bonus from her corporate job, made 70 meals, and came back. The food was gone in five minutes.
What started out as a random act of kindness during the holiday season became a year-round cause. As an official nonprofit organization, Brown Bag Lady has helped feed more than 75,000 people, partnered with major brands including Vans and Lay’s, and has garnered the attention of Kelly Clarkson and Ellen Degeneres.
They even have a fully decked-out camo minivan with a mission statement painted along its sides: “Feeding the Body….Nourishing the Soul.”
Norvell credits social media as a major contributor to the nonprofit’s now enormous presence.
“Through Facebook and Instagram, we have been able to promote what we do by telling our story through pictures and video,” she explained. “We hope that all of our efforts and all of our hard work are relayed with compassion and love. I do not have a professional social media person. Every photo and every video that is posted, I tell the story myself.”
She added that thanks to the two platforms, items are purchased from all over the country and sent to BBL’s headquarters in Los Angeles. Plus many invitations for news appearances have come straight from her DMs. Like she said, no professional needed. Just letting social media work its magic.
Though Brown Bag Lady is becoming a widespread phenomenon throughout California, the personal touch is ever-present.
Each brown bag still features a lovely inspirational quote to deliver some hope along with sustenance.
Barbers stand for hours cutting hair for free, offering people that priceless feeling of self esteem.
Underserved schools receive backpacks full of important supplies, personally delivered.
Toiletry bags get filled with soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner and distributed along with food. (Considering hygiene is identified as a contributor to mental health for unhoused individuals, this is a big one.)
And don’t let the name fool you. The food is not your typical brown bag lunch with cold PB&J sandwiches. Nothing is ever canned or frozen. There’s a strict rule of “always fresh, always delicious.”
Norvell is also not some distant caregiver. “I try to fulfill as many needs as possible,” she told Upworthy. “If someone requests something specific I go buy it, and then I put their photo on the bag so I remember the next time that I see them.”
Below is an example of what her dining room looks like.
Coming to the same street corner year after year has allowed her to forge actual friendships with those she helps—many even have her cellphone number. To this day, she still credits this as being the best part of what she and her team does.
The more her organization grows, the bigger Norvell's aspirations get. The ultimate goal, she says, is to own a building with a commercial sized kitchen to allow for weekly meals, in addition to more space so that mental health services can be provided.
In the meantime, Brown Bag Lady’s latest project is reuniting foster siblings for a one-week sleep-away summer camp. It’s a perfect example of how social media can help bring people together to bring a big vision to life.
By posting photos to the Brown Bag Lady Instagram and Facebook page, more than 11,000 followers were made aware of a special Amazon wish list that includes items such as pillows, sleeping bags and hygiene kits for potential campers. Not only did this make it possible to spread the word, but people near and far could be part of the movement virtually. So far, the collective efforts have raised close to $30,000. Wow.
It seems like no dream is impossible for Norvell and the Brown Bag Lady crew. Just like their van promises, the team is serving up some true nourishment for the soul.
If you’d like to follow along the Brown Bag Lady journey, check out the Facebook and Instagram pages here and here.- A group gave 105 homeless people disposable cameras. These are ... ›
- Jennifer Garner's tip to help the homeless - Upworthy ›
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- A group gave 105 homeless people disposable cameras. These are the photos they took. - Upworthy ›
- A group gave 105 homeless people disposable cameras. These are the photos they took. - Upworthy ›
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."