We’ve Just Learned the Identity of the Woman Who Paid for Hotel Rooms for Chicago’s Homeless During the Deep Freeze
If it’s too cold for mail carriers to deliver mail, just imagine how unsafe it is for homeless people to sleep outside all night in this dangerously cold weather. In Chicago, some homeless people were using a propane tank as a heat source to try to stay warm, but that plan backfired when the propane tank exploded.
One Chicago resident, Candice Payne, wanted to do something to help the homeless during this cold weather, so she spontaneously decided to put 20 hotel rooms on her American Express card. She turned to social media in hopes that other people would help her pay for even more hotel rooms as well as food and other necessities.
In a Facebook post, she wrote, “It’s freezingly cold deathly weather. 15 homeless people have froze to death already! I have bought 39 rooms for the homeless I need help to do more! If you want to help donate a room and a meal it’s only $70.00.”
The comments on this post and her follow-up posts were all very positive and led more people to donate to the cause. CBS reported that volunteers were able to pay for 60 hotel rooms plus a lot of food. The volunteers even turned a hotel bathroom into a makeshift kitchen to prepare meals for the homeless.
Two of the homeless men who jumped at the offer to get out of the freezing cold weather for a few nights, Jermaine and Robert, call Candice their angel. Robert said, “I really want to thank y’all for looking out for our people.”
The volunteers didn’t know each other before working together to help the homeless, but they’re quickly becoming friends. Even though they’ve already helped about 80 homeless people escape the cold for 3 nights, they’re hoping to do more and to find a long-term solution.
Watch the video below for more details about this inspirational story.
