Hungry and lonely, walking unfamiliar D.C. streets on a Wednesday afternoon in January, Sanai Graden fired up her TikTok account.
The man, who said his name was Alonzo, soon confided to her that he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Their brief interaction stretched into an all-day saga: She decided to pay for his medication at CVS, then got him a hotel room for the night. Graden, 21, filmed as the pair walked the city, slowed by Alonzo’s pained steps. She started calling him “Unc” as a sign of affection.
The saga has shown how quickly a viral fairy tale can slam into reality and how even seemingly good intentions can be vilified in a quick-trigger backlash online. But it also underscores how anything — particularly a social issue as layered as America’s homelessness crisis — is never as simple as it looks through social media.Since going live in 2010, GoFundMe has raised $30 billion from 150 million donors, becoming an easy and alternative route for help outside of traditional channels.
she had posted more than 20 follow-up videos, showing her buying him a phone and checking him into a hotel for a week. She said she was determined to get Alonzo the money — even though she was uncertain how to get funds to a man without a bank account or government ID. “No progress has been made, and that’s because of GoFundMe,” she said. “I feel as though I am being targeted because I am African American and he’s African American, as well, and his criminal history,” she said.
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