Strangers raise more than $44,000 for homeless woman after her selfless gesture goes viral

A woman living on the streets who won the hearts of thousands of people online has been rewarded for her generosity after a TikTok creator’s interaction with her went viral.

In his video Jimmy Darts films himself asking Linda, a woman who had been living on the streets for food for almost ten years.

In response, the 76-year-old woman offers Jimmy most of her food, insisting he take it without asking for anything in return.

After Linda, who lives on the streets in Costa Mesa, California, gives him a pile of food, she assures the 28-year-old that she still has something to eat

“I have $1,000 for you,” Jimmy tells a stunned Linda. “I just helped the first person who helped me.”

Linda, who becomes emotional in the video, responds tearfully by saying she would use the money to sleep in a motel for a night instead of the tent she had been sleeping in – even in stormy weather.

Overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to her cause through a GoFundMe pageinitially aiming to raise more than $30,000 for her – a goal that was surpassed.

Jimmy reunited with Linda to share the news and documented her reaction in a TikTok, which was viewed more than 7.2 million times.

“I can get a van,” she said emotionally. “That’s my next step to get off the streets.

‘I need a van where I can sleep, work, take care of myself, be mobile.’

“I know which one I’ll take,” she added. “I know which one, I looked at one.”

In a follow-up video, Jimmy added that $44,000 was eventually raised through the GoFundMe page, which allowed Linda to move into her own home and buy a van.

“The only word I can think of – but it’s not big enough – is humbled that I’m in this group, that you helped,” she gushed.

Overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to her charity via a GoFundMe page, which she said she used to buy a new van.

On the GoFundMe page for Linda, Jimmy shared more of her story.

“She told me she has been homeless since 2015 and she became homeless so she could help them understand and help them better,” he said.

“Her mission is to help the homeless in a deeper way and help them get the real sustainable help they need.”

“I love that this is her mission and I want her to have more than enough to help the homeless,” he wrote sympathetically.

“Let’s make sure she’s taken care of and more, and if she ever wants to stay in a hotel or find a place of her own to come in and out of.”

“Linda is my hero,” he concluded on the GoFundMe page.

According to figures from 2023 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Homeless Assessment Report, California accounted for 49 percent of all unsheltered people in the country, which amounts to about 123,423 people.

This is almost eight times the number of unsheltered people in Florida, the state with the second highest number.

Additionally, California had the second highest percentage of homeless people staying in unsheltered locations at 75 percent.