The family of a 4-month-old Philadelphia infant will be able to search for a safer place to live after a GoFundMe set up to help her family find a home to rent exceeded its fundraising goal.
The campaign smashed its $2,000 goal, with 701 people contributing a whopping $23,215 as of Tuesday morning over a mere three days. It was definitely the season of giving for some people.
According to the New York Daily News, the mother of little Journi Black, Ashley Rodgers, said that she never expected the overwhelming love and support that she’s received since the attack.
Journi was dragged out of her bed by the vicious raccoon and is now facing at least a year in recovery after going through a four-hour surgery that resulted in 65 stitches across her face and head.
Rodgers; her 6-year-old son, Jordan; and Journi had only recently moved into the residence where the attack occurred. Rodgers, who is a security guard, said that it was the only place she could afford at $375 a month.
“We are just taking it one day at a time,” Journi’s father, Sam Black, said. “My focus is getting my daughter back to full strength and making sure her scars and everything is healed so she can live the rest of her life beautiful.”
Other tenants living at the residence had voiced complaints of a raccoon infestation, and on the day the attack occurred, Rodgers said, she had told her landlord she’d seen one of the animals.
The owner of the property was written up on a zoning violation and ordered to obtain a rental license and to repair damages to the building to better keep out pests.
As for Journi, it is still not clear when she’ll be able to be discharged from the hospital, but the family is taking it one day at a time.
“As long as it takes,” her father said, “we’ll be here for her.”
Read more at the New York Daily News.