Less than seven months after launching an online fundraiser to get herself a service dog, ‘Teen Mom’ kid Ali Simms has reached her goal and will soon receive a four-legged friend through the company 4 Paws for Ability.
As fans of ‘Teen Mom’ know, Ali– the 16-year-old daughter of Leah Messer and ex-husband Corey Simms– was diagnosed with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy in 2014, which has required her to use a wheelchair at times to help with her mobility. In January, Ali announced on social media that she was hoping to raise $20,000 to get a service dog that would be able to assist her when she begins college in a couple of years.
On Sunday, Ali shared that she had officially reached her fundraising goal, while promising followers that she will keep them posted on the next steps of obtaining her service dog.
“This means the whole wide world to me, truly I’m at a loss of words,” Ali wrote. “I’m beyond grateful and am in total shock. I want to say my biggest thank you to you all.”
In her post, Ali acknowledged the backlash she received after announcing her fundraiser earlier this year, before assuring people (again) that she “worked very hard” to meet her goal.
“Of course I knew there would be some controversy when sharing my journey about my Service Dog,” she wrote. “But there was also a lot of kindness, encouragement, and help without all of you this wouldn’t be possible. This is something I’ve worked very hard on making work out. Even when it was most difficult I never gave up on my one goal … .”
As you may recall, Ali defended her decision to accept monetary donations back in February after some critics online said they felt that Ali’s parents should be paying for the service dog, or using the money that Ali earned from appearing on ‘Teen Mom,’ rather than asking fans to contribute. Ali assured fans at the time that she was not “begging” for money and was actively saving the money that she was earning from working two jobs. She also insisted that she wanted to earn the money for her service dog herself instead of having her parents fork over the funds.
“Although, yes, my parents could just do it for me,” she wrote. “But what would that teach me? I think it is very important for me to do the fundraising on something like this. It’s going to make my process much more rewarding. My parents of course will help but this is something I wanted to do myself.”
In her caption on Sunday, Ali went on to thank those who donated to her fundraiser, including her “amazing support system.”
“The goal has been met!” Ali wrote. “I’m sooo grateful! Now … we wait! 🥹🐾 … .”
In the comment section of her post, someone suggested that Ali should specifically thank her Grandma and Grandpa Spears for making a $10,000 donation to her fundraiser. The individual also questioned why Leah– who posted a video about Ali’s fundraiser to social media in January– didn’t appear to contribute to her daughter’s fundraiser. In response, Ali noted that “there were many people” who helped her reach her goal, including her mom.
“My mom was 1000 [percent] apart [sic] of the reason I got this dog,” Ali wrote, before explaining that the $10,000 donation from her grandparents was actually from “an extremely kind human” who wanted to remain anonymous. “This took a lot from EVERYONE. Me, BOTH my parents, and my family. We worked hard and all together to put my fundraising together.”
(While Ali’s fundraising page shows that her dad made a $1,045 donation in April with the memo “Dog Wash,” it’s unknown if this was a donation directly from Corey or if the amount reflects the money that Ali raised from her Dog Wash fundraiser.)
Ali went on to explain in her comment that she and her family did many local fundraisers as it was “more difficult” to do public fundraisers. Because of this, Ali emphasized that her “entire community” helped her reach her goal.
“During this process we were all working TOGETHER it took ALL of us,” she wrote. “And I’m beyond grateful for all the help and support I’ve gotten through this whole journey.”
While Ali has now exceeded her $20,000 fundraising goal by nearly $2,000, the 4 Paws for Ability website explains that, on average, raising, training and placing a service dog can cost between $40,000 to $60,000.
“While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon,” the organization goes on to explain. “We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.”
Ali has not revealed when she’s expecting to receive a service dog; however, she shared in January that she and her family were “looking into golden retrievers.”
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(Photos: Instagram; MTV)
2 Responses
I’m glad Ali is getting her dog, but what part of wanting “to do it (pay for the dog) herself” should include asking strangers for money? The Go Fund Me program has gone haywire. But, if strangers want to give, chiefly because of who she is, why not? I don’t want to hear negative rhetoric from any of them regarding their Teen Mom experience.
Good for Ali! It’s important that kids learn how to earn on their own and I think she did an amazing job. It’s not easy being disabled and that service dog will mean the world to her. By raising the money herself, she will realize the value of that dog more deeply. It’s not a slap against Leah that she didn’t donate. She’s working to keep a roof over the heads of her kids and food on the table. She contributes daily to the girls, as does Corey (not Jeremy, he’s a POS). And we don’t know if Leah contributed or not. Just because she didn’t list her name on the GFM doesn’t mean she didn’t contribute. There were car washes and other fundraisers that Leah probably contributed heavily to. Of all the Teen Moms, I think since Leah got sober she’s been the best mom of them all, including Chelsea. She is teaching her kids to work for what they want and to appreciate the value of a dollar. Kudos to the whole family (minus Jeremy).