A woman from Georgia learned how cruel words shared on social media can be.
She also learned that something good can come out of hate.
Luann Cofield was in McDonald’s when she noticed an employee sleeping on a bench inside the restaurant.
She then took a photo and shared it on Facebook with a caption, “Just another reason for me to leave Fayetteville.”
Cofield continued: “I was in the McDonald’s in the middle of town and I saw this guy sleeping in the booth. I go and tell an employee that someone is asleep in their booth and her response was ‘oh yeah we know hee hee, it’s ok’ and I said ‘not really but whatever.’”
Her post immediately went viral but not the way she expected.
The way the community responded changed the homeless man’s life. They started to work together to get the help the McDonald’s employee needed.
WSBTV identified the man as Simon Childs. He was a homeless 21-year-old dad who was sleeping inside the fast-food restaurant between his shifts.
According to WLNY, he said: “I’ve been going through a hard time with my mom passing.”
The community donated clean clothes, hotel rooms, a new haircut and also helped him get a new job.
The owners of a local restaurant, Fusion Chef Eatery, allowed Simon to use their second car.
They told Liftable, “We saw the post on Fabulous of Fayetteville, after reading and learning more about Simon and his situation it just touched our hearts. I have an extra vehicle at home, so I thought one way we can help Simon out besides food was my secondary vehicle.”
Someone also invited Childs to live with them until he finds a new home.
The photo that was shared online out of misunderstanding ended up being a huge blessing for Childs.
“I’m not homeless, not now, thanks to her,” he told WSBTV.
Cofield reached out to WSBTV so she could apologize to Childs in person. “I didn’t want to hurt him. And I’m sorry,” she expressed.
“I do want to thank you,” Childs told her. “Not for the post per se, but for helping me pick my life up off the ground.”
Cofield said that she has learned something from what happened. “I would handle it differently,” she added. “Maybe talk to somebody, talk to them and see what the situation is.”
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