When Jacqueline Dahlheimer set out to meet up with her friends last Thursday, she didn't realize it would change her life. Her Range Rover parked on South Newberry in York, was sideswiped and the mirror broken.
So she called police. "He was just really like I met the woman who drove the truck. I really don't think that she just, I don't think she realized how to handle the moment and around the corner comes this woman and her five children," said Dahlheimer.
Dahlheimer says she immediately felt a connection after meeting "Hope."
"she had a very warm smile and she was like 'hello and I'm so sorry.'" After spending two hours with her, Dahlheimer learned that "Hope" was homeless. "I hit rock bottom," she said.
"Hope" was evicted from her home that same day -- her belongings tossed on the street. In a rush to salvage what she could, she rented a U-Haul and loaded the truck. But while driving it and rushing to pick up her kids from school, she hit Dahlheimer's car.
"I kept thinking I just need to do something and so after spending all that time with her and her children and they're jumping all over me and kissing me. It turned out to be a really great day, like I was just really inspired by her grace," added Dahlheimer.
A post on Dahlheimer's Facebook page led to a flood of donations. In just three days, more than $6,000 has come in to her GoFundMe page.
"I told her that she was like my little angel that came from out of nowhere and just thank you with all my heart," said "Hope" tearfully.
"It's simple things like seeing a person on the street and seeing your own humanity in front of you. I felt like she was me," Dahlheimer added.
That's because Dahlheimer was once a single mother, just like "Hope," and understands her struggles.
"If it takes a U-Haul for us to really wake up to the idea that we could choose to move from our sense of annoyance in life and see that people are in our way or we could really just take a stand and go 'well you're not my problem, you're my solution.'"
Dahlheimer's goal is to find a new home for "Hope" and her family by January 1st. As for the Range Rover, U-Haul heard "Hope's" story and says they will pay for the damage.
If you'd like to donate, click on the following link: www.gofundme.com/HopesNewBeginning
You can also attend one of Dahlheimer's yoga classes this week at My Fitness Quest www.ques-t.com or Lotus Moon Yoga lotusmoonyogayork.com/. All proceeds and donations will go directly to "Hope" and her family.