strangers-step-up-to-help-homeless-woman

Strangers step up to help homeless woman

Lifestyle

A Milwaukee woman experiencing homelessness with her young daughter made a plea for help to the world and in just a few days got a life-changing response.”I went through some things for this last… for a while,” Ashley Lagoo-McKinnie said. Even a low-budget hotel room is a major improvement for Milwaukee’s Ashley Lagoo-Mckinnie and her 3-year-old daughter, Leanna. They’ve been without a home since November when she left a bad relationship.”They gave me two shelters. One shelter was not handicapped accessible. The second shelter was closed,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.She said her battle with depression reached a low point five years ago when jumped from the 35th Street bridge. She now uses a wheelchair. “It took a toll on me, and I probably should’ve gone and gotten help, but I didn’t,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.With no shelters in Milwaukee able to accommodate her disability, and her daughter, she accepted a spot at the Salvation Army shelter in Sheboygan. Feeling isolated, she reached out on GoFundMe asking for help.Ashley said she was grateful to the shelter to have a place to spend the night, but like at a lot of shelters, the residents have to go elsewhere during the day. She would spend her days out on the streets in Sheboygan or inside at the public library.At times, she and Leanna felt like it was them against the world. After a few weeks alone and feeling isolated, she reached out to GoFundMe for help. And then, the world showed them they’re not alone.”I was just happy for $200. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m getting support, and then when I looked on it and it was $13,000, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God. I cried a little, and then it’s like, it’s overwhelming and you can’t believe it. Like I’m still in shock because it’s only been a few days,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.The GoFundMe total is now more than $83,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.”If I bought a house, she would be set. If something happened to me, she would have a place. She would have a forever home,” Lagoo-McKinnie said. “And faced with this good fortune. Praying that nothing goes bad, or like everything, I just want everything to be good, where I have a simple life.”She said an agency in Sheboygan is assisting her in finding employment, and now that she knows she’s staying there, enrolling Leanna in school. Lagoo-McKinnie told WISN 12 she’s working with a real estate agent in Sheboygan but doesn’t want to make any sudden decisions.She can now afford to take her time.

MILWAUKEE —

A Milwaukee woman experiencing homelessness with her young daughter made a plea for help to the world and in just a few days got a life-changing response.

“I went through some things for this last… for a while,” Ashley Lagoo-McKinnie said.

Even a low-budget hotel room is a major improvement for Milwaukee’s Ashley Lagoo-Mckinnie and her 3-year-old daughter, Leanna.

They’ve been without a home since November when she left a bad relationship.

“They gave me two shelters. One shelter was not handicapped accessible. The second shelter was closed,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.

She said her battle with depression reached a low point five years ago when jumped from the 35th Street bridge.

She now uses a wheelchair.

“It took a toll on me, and I probably should’ve gone and gotten help, but I didn’t,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.

With no shelters in Milwaukee able to accommodate her disability, and her daughter, she accepted a spot at the Salvation Army shelter in Sheboygan.

Feeling isolated, she reached out on GoFundMe asking for help.

Ashley said she was grateful to the shelter to have a place to spend the night, but like at a lot of shelters, the residents have to go elsewhere during the day.

She would spend her days out on the streets in Sheboygan or inside at the public library.

At times, she and Leanna felt like it was them against the world.

After a few weeks alone and feeling isolated, she reached out to GoFundMe for help.

And then, the world showed them they’re not alone.

“I was just happy for $200. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m getting support, and then when I looked on it and it was $13,000, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God. I cried a little, and then it’s like, it’s overwhelming and you can’t believe it. Like I’m still in shock because it’s only been a few days,” Lagoo-McKinnie said.

The GoFundMe total is now more than $83,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

“If I bought a house, she would be set. If something happened to me, she would have a place. She would have a forever home,” Lagoo-McKinnie said. “And faced with this good fortune. Praying that nothing goes bad, or like everything, I just want everything to be good, where I have a simple life.”

She said an agency in Sheboygan is assisting her in finding employment, and now that she knows she’s staying there, enrolling Leanna in school.

Lagoo-McKinnie told WISN 12 she’s working with a real estate agent in Sheboygan but doesn’t want to make any sudden decisions.

She can now afford to take her time.