Woman Was Facing Eviction — But Then Strangers Raised $230,000 for Her

"This campaign was created solely upon desperation. I literally tried almost everything to earn income while taking care of my family, prior to creating this," Dasha Kelly wrote on her donation page

Just as Dasha Kelly was on the verge of being evicted from her Las Vegas apartment, thousands of donors stepped in to help.

Kelly was recently featured in a CNN story about the end of the federal eviction moratorium, which has since been extended to cover about 90% of renters through Oct. 3, and she recounted the difficulties she's faced since losing her job as a card dealer amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 32-year-old woman has since clarified that she is not the mother of the three girls who appeared on CNN with her, but rather helps raise them with her boyfriend David Allison, who is the girls' father, and their mother, Shadia Hilo, CNN reported.

However, "she says she originally described herself to CNN as a mother because she considers herself to be like one to them," the outlet added.

Kelly said she received a 24-hour eviction notice on July 24 after owing more than $1,900 to her landlord. Since losing her job, Kelly resorted to selling her blood plasma for money, she told CNN.

To help support the girls — Sharron, 8, Kia, 6, and Imani, 5 — Kelly started a GoFundMe campaign.

"We were maintaining just fine before this pandemic hit. Now we are suffering," Kelly wrote on the page. "We do have EBT for food, and also applied for Chap. However, they do not assist immediately. We owe $1,900 for rent alone, not including utilities."

"I will figure out utilities by pawning a few things," she added. "As you all know, it is entirely still [too] hot to be homeless. My daughters are aged 5, 6, and 8. Please help with anything you can."

While her goal was to raise $2,000, the campaign blew past that, having amassed nearly $230,000 as of Friday afternoon.

"This campaign was solely created upon desperation," Kelly said in an update after the flurry of support from strangers across the country. "I literally tried almost everything to earn income while taking care of my family prior to creating this. Never in my life did I think CNN would reach out to us when we posted. The first month being posted on here we didn't receive one donation."

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"Our bills will be paid now, and the landlord that has been so great to us will be now be paid off for the entire lease," she added, in part. "We can now finish the house back. My family can afford a vehicle again, which will allow me to return to work."

Kelly also said she plans to "pay it forward" and help another family in "dire" need. She won't have trouble finding one. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11.4 million adult renters in the U.S. were behind on rent as of July 29.