H.O.W. Inc. breaking down developmental disability barriers

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Antrone Juice Williams or “Juice” wears many hats. One of those: a Special Olympian for Lucas County.

“September 26, 2012, I had a brain hemorrhage stroke, a massive brain hemorrhage stroke, that had me in an induced coma for 10 days and the hospital for 2 months,” said Williams. “I had a 50/50 chance of living and nothing but god. I couldn’t walk I couldn’t talk. I had to relearn everything over again.”

In the midst of regaining his strength and doing different types of therapy, his dream of being his own boss unwavered.

“I said to my mom I wasn’t going to work for anybody but myself, I said I’m going to have my own business,” said Williams. “I didn’t know how, but 6-7 years later, look where I am, when I met Mr. Johnson.”

By Mr. Johnson, he means Erik Johnson, his mentor, and the President and Founder of the Ivy Entrepreneur Institute, in the Ohio Building. That’s the place Williams walked into that turned the Help Others Win Inc., or H.O.W. Inc., vision into a reality.

“We connected and had him come in for an initial consultation to see what he wanted to do and validated his idea and moved forward with the development of his business model and his business plan and then moved into implementation from there,” said Johnson.

Williams’ goal with H.O.W Inc. was to impact those with developmental disabilities. The Toledo-based, non-profit organization assists low-income individuals with developmental disabilities with basics such as health, housing, transportation, finances and technology. In the future, Williams plans to have H.O.W. Inc. based out of the Beyond Expectations building on 1725 S. Arlington Ave. Williams said anyone with developmental disabilities is welcome.

”The value of H.O.W. Inc. is that he is focusing on improving the quality of lives of individuals with developmental disabilities,” said Johnson. “Just because you have a developmental disability, you do have some limitations, but there are a lot of things that you can do.”

If you’re interested in supporting the organization, it is holding it’s first fundraiser called “Bowling Down Barriers” bowling fundraiser on June 10 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Miracle Lanes. Williams says he plans to put that money towards computers at the South Arlington Avenue location for his clients.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2023 WTVG. All rights reserved.