Chicago Woman Rented Hotel Rooms for the Homeless During Dangerous Weather

Candice Payne, woman who rented rooms for Chicago’s homeless

Chicago, IL — When temperatures were dangerously cold in Chicago, Candice Payne, a 34-year old real estate broker, decided to save the lives of some of the homeless people in the area. She started renting hotel rooms to keep them warm, and motivated others to help as well.

Last week, Candice made a spur-of-the-moment decision to rent 30 hotel rooms at $70 each at the Amber Inn Hotel using her own credit card when she learned that at least 70 people without homes didn’t have any source of heat during the historic sub-zero temperatures in Chicago.

Apparently, those living in “tent city” were forced to evacuate due to a fire caused by a propane tank explosion. The Chicago Fire Department subsequently warned people from using propane tanks as it posed fire threats.

Candice posted about the situation on social media to ask for help in transporting them to the hotel. Later on, there were cars and vans with volunteer drivers.

Donations of money from several good Samaritans kept on coming as well. They used it to book more rooms to accommodate more people. Donations of food, clothes, winter gears, and more also flooded in.

“Maybe they didn’t know how to or where to start to help, so I’m glad that I was able to be that vehicle,” she told CBS News.

With Candice and other volunteers’ help, they were able to book a total of 60 rooms to cover three nights for approximately 100 people.

She told CNN she was glad to be able to help in such a way. She said, “What inspired me was my current blessings, so I was just trying to give back.”

She has also launched a GoFundMe page to help fund her efforts. So far, the page has already raised more than $14,000.