Homeless Mom Mistakenly Sends Message Asking for Prayers, Finds Shelter and a New Life for Her Family Instead

Desperate for help, a homeless mother-of-three logged in to Facebook to message a friend and mistakenly sent it to a stranger. Little did she know that reaching the wrong person on Facebook would set her life in the right direction.

Amy Rickel had moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, with her children to be close to their father. She thought moving there would make things easy for her, but fate had other plans.

She was living at a hotel with her kids when suddenly her car broke down, and she didn’t have enough money to pay the hotel bills. She even lost her job and ultimately became homeless in no time.

The Facebook Message

Living without a roof over her head with three children wasn’t part of her plan. She felt helpless and decided to send a message to her friend on Facebook.

Rickel typed a heartfelt message, asking for prayers and help during the most challenging phase of her life. However, she had no idea she was typing the message in the wrong chat until she pressed the button to send it.

When she looked at the recipient’s name after sending her message, she realized it was not her friend. Instead, she sent a cry for help to Brian Van Boxtel, whose name was similar to her friend’s.

The Stranger’s Response

“Oops! Wrong message!” Rickel said to the stranger, unaware that her mistake would change her life forever. While she was crying her eyes out, thinking about what to do, she got a message from Boxtel.

She thanked people in advance for helping her, but she wasn’t aware that her appeal would go viral in no time.

Feeling hopeless, Rickel checked her messages and learned that Boxtel was willing to help her despite not knowing who she was. He thought God had made her message him for a reason―to help her.

His Unconditional Support

After reading Rickel’s message, Boxtel immediately decided to pay for her hotel. “What would Jesus do?” Boxtel wondered before telling the homeless mother that he was coming to her with the money.

Rickel had never imagined that a stranger would help her on a cold day in December 2016. After reading his response, she was surprised but also felt grateful for his unconditional support.

Paying for her hotel wasn’t the only thing Boxtel did. He also convinced Rickel to set up an online fundraiser on GoFundMe, so other people could help her get her life back on track.

The Online Fundraiser

Rickel wasn’t sure what the outcome of the GoFundMe page would be, but she just accepted Boxtel’s advice and honestly described her situation in the description box. She said:

“We have been staying at a hotel we can no longer afford, and all of the shelters that accept kids have long waiting lists.”

The helpless mother needed help for the safety of her children. She thanked people in advance for helping her, but she wasn’t aware that her appeal would go viral in no time.

The Unexpected Response

Kathy Schumann came across the online fundraiser and felt terrible for Rickel and her children. Schumann immediately offered her minivan to Rickel and later cleaned one of the rooms in her house and asked the family of four to stay over there.

Another kind soul, Chad Morack, stumbled across the GoFundMe page and decided to help Rickel. When he learned she was a licensed nurse, he used his network and connected her to a recruiter, Alexandria Witkowski.

Witkowski thought Rickel had an impressive profile, so she worked hard to get her a job. Soon, the mother-of-three got invited for an interview and began working on January 3, 2017. Rickel said:

“[I’m] Pretty amazed. I still kind of find it unbelievable.”

The GoFundMe page has raised more than $4,000 that Rickel could use to give her children a better life. One wrong message changed Rickel’s life for the better and introduced people into her life that became her close friends.

What happened with Rickel restored her faith in humanity and God. Share her story with your friends and family to motivate them.

Click here to read another story about a poor father who had nothing to buy his kids for Christmas. He stopped feeling hopeless when a kind stranger gave the family everything he had.