Woman Won $200 on a Scratch-Off Ticket — She Was Excited Until She ‘Looked Up and Met Glenn’

Sofia Andrade, a single mother of three from Massachusetts, was ecstatic when she learned that she had won $200 from her scratch-off lottery ticket Saturday, according to the New York Daily News. But as she was sitting in her car at a stop sign in New Bedford, she "looked up and met Glenn" Williams, a homeless man shivering violently outside in the freezing cold crying has he held up a sign that read, "Anything Would Help." Taking pity on him, Andrade called Williams over to her car and asked if she could take him to a coffee shop.

“He was so overwhelmed by just the generosity of a coffee that he just couldn’t stop crying," Andrade told WCVB-TV.

As she talked to him, Andrade discovered that Williams had been homeless for three years. She then called all the local homeless shelters only to discover that there were no available beds for Williams to use for the night, according to WCVB. It was then that Andrade knew what she should do.

“I knew that the money never really belonged to me,” Andrade told WCVB. “This money was meant to help him.”

Using her lottery winnings, Andrade rented a motel room for Williams near her home in Wareham for a two-night stay while she continued to look out for more suitable housing options, according to the Daily News. Then she set up a GoFundMe page for Williams to help him pursue a second chance in life. At the time of this article's publication, the page had raised nearly $5,500. Andrade also publicized Williams' plight through her Facebook page where she told of her encounter with the man "who has touched [her] heart in so many ways."

“I have honestly been so overwhelmed with the generosity of people coming together to help a man who has touched my heart in so many ways,” Lorena told the Daily News, adding that her friends had helped by sending food and clothing Williams' way, a barber had volunteered to give Williams a haircut, and a child made the homeless man a Valentine's Day card that said, "Know that you are loved this Valentine’s Day!”

For his part, Williams could not believe how compassionate and generous Andrade had been towards him.

“I couldn’t believe there’s somebody like her. She deserves a lot of the credit for where I am right now," Williams told WCVB. "There’s a lot of good people in this world. I’m overwhelmed with all the help, and I just want to thank everybody.”

—

Follow Kathryn Blackhurst (@kablackhurst) on Twitter

—

Front-page image via Shutterstock