Democracy Dies in Darkness
D.C.

Student who raised $400K for D.C. homeless man refunds money to donors

In a series of TikTok videos, Sanai Graden says she lost touch with Alonzo Douglas Hebron, who became evasive and stopped returning her calls.

By
and 
May 7, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. EDT
Sanai Graden discusses her TikTok posts on Alonzo Douglas Hebron in February. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)
3 min

A college student who raised nearly half a million dollars for a D.C. homeless man says the money has now been refunded, a sharp reversal in a saga that drew widespread attention online.

In a series of TikTok videos posted last week, Sanai Graden explained she had lost contact with Alonzo Douglas Hebron, the man she met in late January on the streets of downtown D.C. After she posted a video of her getting his medication and paying for his hotel room, the 21-year-old college student and Hebron were catapulted into viral fame. Graden raised more than $400,000 on GoFundMe for Hebron, and several local outlets covered their story.