Homelessness is a big problem, but sometimes it feels like most people ignore their community members who are sleeping on the streets.
But when two women in a Philadelphia suburb saw a 70-year old woman living out of her car with her two dogs, they decided to act.
In stepping up to help out this woman, they brought the whole community together.
Living life in a car.
A woman had been living in her car for 2 years after a sudden turn of events in her life. Lynn Schutzman had been working as a pharmacist, with a good education, and a loving marriage.
Then, her longtime husband suddenly died.
At age 70, with medical bills pouring in, she couldn’t keep up with it. Lynn had no choice but to live out of her car with her two dogs.
Finally, her circumstances changed, thanks to concerned neighbors paying attention to her. Two women in the neighborhood noticed what was going on with her.
Jennifer Husband-Elsier and her friend Melissa Akacha saw that Lynn was living out of her car in a store parking lot.
Jennifer decided to write on the app Nextdoor about it, and see if anyone else in the area knew what was going on. Jennifer wrote:
“Does anyone know anything about the elderly woman with 2 dogs that has recently been living in her car under the covered part of the Target parking lot? I spoke to the police and they said she’s been living like this for over 2 years in different areas of [King of Prussia]. … It’s an awful scenario. Really, really upsetting.”
The friends motivated the community to help.
After they first posted about Lynn’s situation, people who saw the post started reaching out to Lynn, giving her meals and offering help.
But Melissa and Jennifer took it a step further.
They started a GoFundMe.
Within days, they had raised enough money to rent Lynn a studio apartment and pay for it for two years.
They went about securing the lease and then various other community members volunteered to help decorate and set up the space for Lynn to move in.
Like walking into a fairytale.
When she first walked in the door she was beside herself.
When Lynn and her dogs first entered the home, they got to see all that the volunteers had done.
All Lynn could do was cry.
She sat down and dried her eyes. Holding onto her dog’s leashes, she took the scene in. She kept repeating:
“Thank you so much, you have no idea.”
Lynn’s life has dramatically changed twice.
Now, she has these words to keep in mind.
“It wouldn’t have happened without these angels,” she says. “I just want people to realize that this can happen to anybody. … I had a good job. I had good retirement but I got sick and health insurance only covers so much. … I have no children. I have no family. .. I had nowhere to turn. Sometimes, you know, just the kindness of strangers just makes all the difference in someone’s life.”
But the love didn’t stop there.
Jennifer Husband-Elsier even invited Lynn to Thanksgiving with her family.
Lynn gets invited to neighborhood events now, and neighbors bring her over warm dinners and check up on her. Sometimes, they even walk her dogs.
Lynn did not just get a house, she got a community.
See Lynn step in her apartment for the first time in the video below!
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