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. Ali also responded to critics on Sunday who asked why her mom, Leah Messer, wasn’t listed as a donor on her fundraising page.
As fans of ‘Teen Mom’ know, Ali– the 16-year-old daughter of Leah and her 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 expressed their opinions 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— Leah’s mom Dawn and stepdad Lee— 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,” she added.
(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)
Grift. 20k for a dog in a town where ppl can’t afford food in. Yuck. And Leah stills owes massive tax money. Lee and Dawn get ebt yet they can pony up 10k? That’s supposed to be reported.
Also Lee and Dawn are broke asf where did they get 10k to give Ali?! Pretty sure Ali said it was a generous stranger who gave that? So did they just say it was her grandparents? I’m confused.
Either way I’m glad she got her dog.
I also love how she still doesn’t say her mom helped 😂😂😂 so basically Leah didn’t help, or Leah wrote that caption for her. It’s a pretty long winded say of saying no.
Ali doesn’t have any jobs. She considered fundraising for this to be her “jobs”
Mick: I 100% agree with you. The two jobs she is referring to are the two fundraisers she put together. The carwash and the GoFundMe. Since the majority of the money came from GoFundMe, how is this young lady saying she earned it all on her own instead of asking her parents for the money!! It’s her parents responsibility to provide for their children.
I’m happy she is able to get her service dog, but for heavens sake people! Stop acting like she did this amazing thing when that isn’t what happened!
How is begging strangers for money “doing it on your own”? I respect that she has two jobs but I think it’s disrespectful to say that begging for strangers’ kindness is more meaningful than your own family paying for it. The entitlement is unreal
Since when is making a GFM page fundraising/doing it on her own?
Its begging PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!! Something she learned from mommy and daddy!!!
Are the twins starting Junior year?
I think they’ll be 17 in February.. right?
Grifters are gonna grift
@Laura — she raised the money for the dog without relying on her parents. She did that on her own. She’s also working part-time while attending school. She’s EARNING money. Fundraising isn’t easy. Organizing, coordinating, publicizing, setting up, working the fundraiser, tearing down — it’s a LOT of work and if she raised money doing it, she EARNED it.
At least she didn’t run to her grandpa like the DeBoer kids would.
Radicalred: Your comment of “It’s important for kids to learn how to earn their own money. She did an amazing job” is confusing me. How did she earn her own money simply by setting up a GoFundMe? That
is simply a plea for money. There is a huge difference between earning money on her own and begging people for money. It was her parents job to provide what was needed for their daughters needs. And yes, if people want to contribute, that’s their business. But it’s ridiculous for this girl and others to say she earned it when that’s not what she did.
idc it was weird of yall to criticize this girl and her family for wanting to raise the funds on her own, if yall were real fans yall would remember how independent ali wanted to be and was determined to not get help from other people. i wouldn’t be surprised if leah’s irresponsible financing played a part in this but it’s still an odd thing to criticize a special needs kid trying to get a service animal
I can answer the question why Leah wasnt able to personally contribute: she has approximately $750,000 of tax debt. Leah had to start waitressing for the IRS debt a few years ago.
As far as the fundraiser itself, I don’t see a reason to be a jerk about a service dog for anyone who needs one. No one was forced to contribute to it.
Yeah, Leah didn’t handle her MTV money properly, but a lot of the “Teen Mom” alum seem to have had this issue.
Why would Leah donate when she knows there’s always idiots on the internet she can scam
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).