REAL PEOPLE/GUARDIAN ANGEL
The Moving Man Who Doesn’t Charge
A fateful encounter inspired Adonis Williams to help women escape domestic violence
Williams started a business to support his charitable work.
ALL I WANTED was to go home. But I couldn’t leave her behind. When the doors of the 6 train opened at the last stop in the Bronx that night in 2003, everyone began to shuffle out except for one lady who sat crying. She had two kids with her, so I asked her what was wrong. She told me they had been living in a shelter and had returned from work and school that afternoon to find all of their belongings in garbage bags. Their time at the shelter was up. They were trying to move to a new shelter, but she’d had to leave all of their clothes on another train, because she couldn’t carry them and her kids at the same time.
I was coming from a 10-hour shift as a TSA agent at LaGuardia Airport, and I showed her my badge from the Department of Homeland Security and invited them to sleep on my sofa. The next morning, we took my van to get their belongings from the subway lost and found. The woman called some relatives to help her, and I said goodbye at a pizza place, after buying the kids pizza and Hawaiian Punch.
I felt really bad for those kids, and about others in their situation. It’s hard enough losing your home without having to figure out how to hang on to your stuff and get it to the next place. The following day, I put an ad on Craigslist offering to move New Yorkers out of domestic-violence shelters for free, and I made flyers and took those around to the local shelters. People on Craigslist posted that it must be a scam, so I didn’t get any calls that way, but slowly I started getting calls from the shelters. I’d park my van around the corner because men aren’t allowed at domestic-violence shelters, and the women came to me. Eventually I started moving all sorts of people out of shelters, and then doing regular moves for pay. Within three years, I was having to take days off from my TSA job to meet demand, so I resigned.
I never set out to start a moving company, but I have one now with six employees. We charge for normal moves, but I still move people experiencing domestic violence for no charge. I don’t think much about it. If someone wants to get herself and her kids out of a dangerous situation, it’s an honor to help make that happen.
When I was a kid, the other kids at school made fun of me because my clothes weren’t stylish and I got free meals. I know what it feels like to have nothing. But I’ve never been hungry since I started helping people for free. —As told to Jaimie Seaton
Adonis Williams, 55, is the owner of Adonis NYC Movers.
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To watch our video about Williams, visit aarp.org/movingman.