Fundraiser earns $5K for burial of trans woman
GoFundMe page raises money for Alloura Wells, found in Rosedale ravine
Months after Alloura Wells was found in a Rosedale ravine, a fundraising drive has started for the “very vibrant” transgender woman’s burial.
A GoFundMe page has raised more than $5,000 towards Wells’ burial and tombstone. The funds will also sponsor a monthly support group for homeless transgender women through Maggie’s: The Toronto Sex Workers Action Project.
“It’s great that we see that there are a lot of people who see the need to put Alloura to rest and give her the proper burial that she deserves,” Monica Forrester, who created the GoFundMe page, told the Star.
Wells, who had been homeless for a number of years, was last seen in downtown Toronto in July 2017.
Her body was found in August in a ravine near Rosedale Valley Rd. The 27-year-old was found beside a tent with a pink purse. Her family reported her missing in November. The police investigation continues.
Forrester created the GoFundMe page on Feb. 27. As of Friday afternoon, nearly 90 people had donated.
“Alloura Wells was still in the morgue … we just felt like we needed to get her out of the morgue, get her cremated and back to the family,” Forrester said.
Thousands of dollars have been raised for the “very well known” woman who was “tight knit with the trans community,” Forrester said.
Forrester said she met Wells in the Church St. area when Wells was 18.
“She was a very vibrant trans woman that had a life ahead of her,” Forrester recalled. “She had goals and dreams just like everyone else.”
The GoFundMe initially was raising money to cremate Wells, but Forrester said the city of Toronto would cover the expense.
Toronto’s Employment and Social Services can pay for the “the transfer of the body for cremation, burial or for a traditional funeral service,” a burial plot and cremation services, “as well as the cost of scattering the remains in a cemetery or a burial in a pre-owned plot,” according to their website.
Burials cost just more than $3,000, said Anna Fiorino, spokesperson for Toronto Employment and Social Services.