Help Katherine

updates!

~Katherine will be transferring to a different Floyd’s 99 location. She will not be a manager, but at this time that works for her.

~We have had an offer from good friends to sell Katherine a deeply discounted car! It should be in her possession in the next couple weeks! She will need to cover the cost of the car, registration, insurance, and gas as she’ll be commuting about 30 minutes each way to and from work from where she is staying with her Auntie.

~The news from her old leasing office is that they will not be taking any legal action! This is such good news!

~This leaves getting her apartment set up. She is still looking for a place that suits her, will allow her dog, and be a reasonable distance to work.

GoFundMe me asks that I first identify myself and the need. I am Kerry Claypool-Lambert, the mom of Katherine. Katherine’s apartment was damaged by a drive by shooting in Uptown Minneapolis on September 10th. It occurred when she was there at home getting ready for a shower.

She will need $5000 for a car, and $1000 for expenses towards getting a new apartment.

Katherine was 3 years old when she first cut her hair. It was a chunk off her bangs while at preschool. Picture day was just days away. Her very first school picture features her with what the stylist at the Navy Exchange salon tried to fix! It was the first of many haircuts. One happened when she was almost 4. I had the scissors hidden in a Rubbermaid box on top of the fridge, but Katherine was DETERMINED! She found a way to push a chair up to the counter & get those scissors. This was how her passion for hair started! At age 13 her dreams began to take shape: an apartment in the city… a job cutting hair… and all the fun that goes with being a young professional. And she did it. At age 14 she began working. This was the start of her taking control of her life. She has been employed ever since. School was not a breeze for her. Due to some learning differences she had to work 10 times harder than the average kid. But, she did it. She graduated high school. Then she tried a junior college & worked waiting tables. After realizing that college was not for her, she started at the Professional Salon Academy in Bemidji, MN. She flourished. After some setbacks thanks to the COVID pandemic, she graduated. It didn’t take long for her to get a job at Floyd’s 99 on Lake Street in Uptown Minneapolis. Soon she had the apartment of her dreams on the fourth floor in the units above the barbershop. I visited her several times there. It was perfect for her. The vibe was all her. It was such a privilege to see her step into her dreams and flourish. She got a dog. Her baby sister, Florence, her brother, Christian, and I visited her Friday & Saturday- August 8th & 9th. We got to meet her dog, Bunny! Friday night there was a little scare when a man was shot and killed on the street outside her apartment. The police appeared to be on top of it, and while tragic, we didn’t feel alarmed. Saturday morning Florence & I enjoyed the view from her balcony. There were birds in the tree and so much to see. Again, I thought about how great the vibe was and how perfect it was for Katherine. I am so proud of her. She has worked hard to be managing a store and having her own place at the young age of 23.

This all changed Sunday. Shortly after 9 pm I got a call from a frantic Katherine. She was hyperventilating and hard to understand. But, she was able to communicate to me that she was about to get in the shower when she heard gunshots and glass shattering. She opened the door to get her frightened dog in the bathroom with her, and saw metal rolling on the floor.

Later the story came together. A man in a black SUV and another on foot shot approximately 70 bullets at the corner of Lagoon and Fremont. Two of those bullets came through Katherine’s balcony door. Just moments before she had been sitting on her couch. She thought she better get to bed, but first needed to do the dishes and shower. She decided to shower first. This decision might have saved her life. One of the bullets hit the cupboard door above the dishwasher.

Another unit in the building had a bullet hit a main water line. This caused flooding that has now made Katherine’s apartment unlivable until the floor is replaced.

The leasing office has offered her another unit in another building, but that building is not as secure, is known for being more violent, and will require Katherine to walk home 3 blocks after dark on Lake street. With everything that has happened, she does not feel safe with this option. Now she is facing being taken to court for breaking her lease. There are a lot of moving parts to this situation that I won’t get into here. We have been in contact with legal aid and Homeline. We do not know yet if they will be able to help Katherine, or if she will need to hire an attorney. If she needs an attorney, the GoFundMe amount will increase.

Then, on Friday the 16th, Katherine was on her way to the building with her aunt and uncle to retrieve the last of her belongings when she got a call that the shop she manages had been robbed.

At this point, Katherine’s plan is to step down as manager of the Uptown Floyd’s 99. She is hoping she can work as a stylist at another Floyd’s 99 location. For this to happen, she needs a new apartment and a car. She has an auntie who is going to loan her a car until she can get her own. She has been given $1000 to go towards expenses of getting a new apartment. She is also working with her insurance agent to see what can be covered as far as deposit and first and last months rent on a new apartment. What she will need from GoFundMe will depend on what insurance will cover.

So… at this point she estimates that she will be able to find a decent used car for $5000. And additional $1000 will be needed for apartment expenses. And if an attorney is needed, the amount will be increased to reflect that need.

Katherine was hesitant to agree to setting up a GoFundMe. I asked her if she had contributed to their GoFundMe when our friends’ toddler was in the hospital fighting extreme complications from ecoli, and she said yes. I reminded her that she’ll be paying forward to others when she gets on her feet. I reminded her that none of these events were in anyway attributed to decisions she had made. She then agreed to letting me set this GoFundMe up for her. Katherine is a very kind person. I have no doubt that she will pay this forward. Any help we can give her as she begins to rebuild will be so appreciated.