Mother of Three Living in Chicken Coop Receives $100,000 Grant

In November, Amoya McLeish shared the story of how a series of circumstances led her to live in a reconstructed chicken coop with her children. Following her plea for help to the public, the mother of three has received a $100,000 grant from the NCB Foundation.

The twenty-nine-year-old had previously shared that she had to leave her rented home because her landlord desired to sell the house, and with her salary as a bartender, she could not afford a new home. McLeish went on to reconstruct and move into her sister’s old chicken coop and has been seeking assistance to complete the one-bedroom house she has been slowly building.

Mother of Three Living in Fowl Coop Longs for a Fresh Start in a New Home – Watch Video

McLeish still resides in the reconstructed coop and was thrilled after hearing the news that she had been selected to receive the grant. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, an ecstatic McLeish gushed over the grant as work on her new house has been progressing slowly despite a “good Samaritan” reaching out to her.

The young mother went on to express the feeling of disappointment that engulfs her as she desires a much better life for her daughters and son.

“They’re asking me for things for the holidays […] they’re asking me for gifts, and so forth, but I tell them that I’m not sure if it can work,” McLeish stated.

McLeish disclosed that the Christmas season has always been difficult for her family since the death of her younger brother, who was killed in a car crash on Christmas Day. But her mother, who is still trying to heal from the loss, will host a family dinner for the first time in 13 years, and McLeish has expressed her hopes for something good to happen this year.