Josh Liljenquist
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Live to Love · Impact

Real stories. Real people. Documented outcomes.

Explore the people, support, and documented outcomes connected to Josh Liljenquist's Live to Love mission. Open a story for its sources, available videos and photographs, and any documented follow-up.

Explore all 25 stories View the Impact Map → Read documented follow-ups →
Documented public support
$2.91M+
Stories in the archive
25
Mapped locations
15
“This is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Sheena, home follow-up video · Watch →
Josh Liljenquist and a team member with Sheena and Baby Joseph
Josh Liljenquist with Beth outside HomeGoods in Detroit
Josh Liljenquist reviewing footage on a camera with a member of his team
Sheena and JosephBeth in DetroitBehind the camera
Documented follow-ups

What happened afterward.

Explore documented follow-ups →
Josh Liljenquist with Aaron outside the treatment center on the day Aaron entered treatment
ThenThe day Josh drove Aaron to treatment
Josh Liljenquist and Aaron smiling together outdoors in the sun after Aaron passed 100 days sober
Now100+ days sober, July 19, 2026
Recovery

Aaron

100+ days sober

A published follow-up reported that Aaron had reached more than 100 days sober as of July 19, 2026.

Read Aaron’s follow-up →
Care · Family

Azeza and Gigi

From the garage to an accessible bathroom

Before the remodel, Azeza bathed Gigi in the family’s garage. The renovated home now has a roll-in shower built for his wheelchair.

Read Azeza and Gigi’s story →
Azeza washing Gigi’s hair in the family garage while Josh Liljenquist stands beside them
ThenBathing in the garage
An accessible roll-in shower with a shower chair, handheld sprayer and tiled bench
NowA roll-in shower at home
Sheena with Baby Joseph in a stroller on a city sidewalk, standing with Josh Liljenquist and a team member
ThenThe day Josh met Sheena and 1-year-old Joseph, then homeless
Sheena smiling at home beside a Christmas tree, holding a GoFundMe check dated November 21, 2025
NowAt home, November 21, 2025
Housing · Family

Sheena and Baby Joseph

From the sidewalk to a home

Support helped a young mother and her son move from homelessness toward safety, stability and a home. The campaign raised more than $600,000.

Read Sheena and Joseph’s story →
Impact map

Stories by place.

15stories with approved map locations

Markers use public-safe city or regional locations. Private addresses are never shown.

Open the map and story directory →

Select a marker to open its story.

Map of the United States showing where Impact stories took place
Complete impact archive

Explore the 25-story Impact collection.

  1. Azeza and Gigi

     $614,711 raised Support eased pressure around Gigi’s care, bills, housing costs and stability.

  2. Sheena and Baby Joseph

     $600,000+ raised A mother and her son, from homelessness toward safety, stability and a home.

  3. Chuck and Heidi

     $300,000+ raised An 88-year-old veteran moved off the streets and into a condo.

  4. Evelyn Otto’s family

     $270,363 raised The original video and public fundraiser document support for Evelyn’s family.

  5. Harper

     $199,342 raised Treatment support, documented by the original video and public fundraiser.

  6. Reanna and her children

     $149,803 raised Reanna and her three children moved toward a safer, more stable home.

  7. Keegan and Natasha

     $138,036 raised A safe van for appointments and daily life.

  8. Adam and Tio’s Tacos

     $92,994 raised on GoFundMe Community support after Tio’s Tacos lost its location. Not a personal donation by Josh or a confirmed payout.

  9. Steven Mills

     $77,532 raised A fundraiser and press coverage that amplified Steven’s search for a living kidney donor.

  10. Cicero Taylor

     More than $70,000 donated directly Viewers gave directly to The Missing Peace Collective, Cicero’s Minneapolis nonprofit.

  11. Shannon and R&S Jewelry

     $70,467.12 in customer spending Josh volunteered Shopify, design and launch work. Shopify verifies orders, not profit or attribution.

  12. Shirley

     $56,783 raised An elderly widow found housing stability, basic needs and peace of mind.

  13. James and Chelsie

     $50,940 raised A path to stable housing and long-term security.

  14. Eileen

     $43,328 raised Urgent help for a family after a devastating house fire.

  15. Kris

     Approximately $41,000 donated directly Two cars and a path toward renting her own place.

  16. Santos and Amaru

     $37,991 raised Attorney fees, court costs and legal help; a follow-up documents a $30,000 presentation.

  17. Tom

     $30,550 raised An injured firefighter’s family, helped with medical needs, lost income and housing.

  18. Nick Best

     Approximately $30,000 estimated donated value Local contractors donated a new roof and gutters for Nick’s home.

  19. Mindy Persell

     $26,129 raised How cancer, mobility, caregiving, work and financial stability became closely connected.

  20. Shawna Conrad

     $22,500 raised Pay-what-you-can meals continue, with a permanent community cafe ahead.

  21. Xavier

     $22,000+ raised A car, rent and steadier footing for his family.

  22. A Madison Square Garden painting

     $15,200 sale One painting, seen by Josh’s audience, became a documented sale for a New York artist.

  23. Lamondo Crowder

     $13,805 raised An Army veteran and former combat medic moved toward safe housing after disaster.

  24. Katie

     $11,037 raised Community support helped with burial expenses, transportation pressure and family hardship.

  25. Aaron

     100+ days sober A published follow-up reported more than 100 days sober.
Browse by topic:HousingMedical careTransportationCommunityMinnesota
Skills, time and practical help

Help beyond fundraising.

Some help is financial. Other contributions involve skills, donated services, access to resources or telling a story with care. Each record identifies who did the work.

Volunteered technical skills

United by R&S Jewelry

Volunteered time and storefront expertise to help Shannon grow her business.

See the work →
Donated services

Nick’s roof and gutters

Local contractors donated the labor and materials for a new roof and gutters.

Read Nick’s story →
Documentation & care

The person matters more than the performance.

Public stories separate the need, the response and the known outcome while limiting sensitive details.

Each is counted separately
  • Money raised
  • Gifts presented
  • Sales
  • Donated services
  • Personal milestones
Trust & Care → Counting methodology → How videos and follow-through work →
Sources, data and records

In Their Own Words

Nick Best’s Donated Roof and Gutters

Aaron’s Recovery Story

When a Business Steps In: Pure Green

HOW TO READ THESE STORIES

Different outcomes are documented differently.

Money raised, gifts presented, sales, donated services and personal milestones are counted separately. Fundraising totals alone do not confirm completed outcomes.

How Josh uses GoFundMe explains organizer, beneficiary and compensation distinctions. For a particular campaign, open the named story’s source links. Published figures are dated snapshots; a historical record does not mean a campaign is still active.

Read the counting methodology →View the fundraiser outcomes ledger →
$2.91M+Documented public support value
25Stories in this archive
Sources & definitions →Explore the Impact Map →

Current documented support value verified November 2, 2026. Current public story count verified November 2, 2026. The linked report preserves its July 19, 2026 historical snapshot.

IMPACT DATA

Use the documented Impact dataset.

This first-party dataset separates public campaign totals, presentation amounts, estimated donated value, and nonfinancial outcomes. It is not an independent audit or a complete lifetime accounting.

Download CSVDownload JSONMethodology →

Related photographs and public records

Skills, time and practical help

Practical contributions have different forms.

Some help is financial. Other contributions involve skills, donated services, access to resources or telling a story with care. The records identify who did the work and what the evidence establishes.

Volunteered technical skills

United by R&S Jewelry

The support is time and storefront expertise for Shannon’s business. Shopify reported $70,467.12 in customer spending for the reviewed launch window. That commercial activity is reported separately and is not added to the documented support-value ledger; no value is assigned to volunteer hours.

See what the volunteer work included

Professional contribution

Veteran Excellence Magazine

This record documents a technical role supporting readers and publishing. It is shown separately from fundraising, charitable totals and independent news coverage.

See the professional work and its boundaries

Other records show different contributions: Nick’s roof and gutters credits the contractors who donated labor and materials; the accessible-sailing story documents a recorded visit and the program’s own work. Filmmaking and follow-through explain Josh’s storytelling role without treating attention as a completed outcome.

MORE FROM THE FIELD

Community support in action.

Explore Community Impact photography →

How outcomes are documented

Fundraising totals alone do not confirm completed outcomes. Published figures are dated snapshots; a historical record does not mean a campaign is still active. How Josh uses GoFundMe explains organizer, beneficiary and compensation distinctions. View the fundraiser outcomes ledger.

Verification dates

Current documented support value and public story count verified November 2, 2026. The linked report preserves its July 19, 2026 historical snapshot. The archive includes source-linked records for Adam’s fundraiser and United by R&S Jewelry as of November 2, 2026. Historical presentation milestones remain dated and are not double-counted.

Impact dataset

This first-party dataset separates public campaign totals, presentation amounts, estimated donated value and nonfinancial outcomes. It is not an independent audit or a complete lifetime accounting.

Download CSVDownload JSON

Related photographs and records

Photographs from Beth outside HomeGoods in Detroit, Sugar, Prayer, and an Open Door in Fairmont, Twin Cities Firefighters Operation Warm, and She Helped a Stranger While Facing Struggles of Her Own. Browse Community Impact photography → Read the stories in their own words →

Josh Liljenquist with a New York artist and his Madison Square Garden painting
How it’s countedWith the artist outside Madison Square Garden. His $15,200 painting sale is recorded as a sale, not a donation. Read the story →
Nominate someone

Know someone whose story should be heard?

Read the public guidance before sharing personal details. A nomination doesn’t guarantee a video, fundraising or ongoing support.

Nominate someone Read the guidance →

Browse Impact by category

Housing and stability

Stories about housing instability, home repairs, and support for a more stable place to live, with published follow-ups where available. This collection is not an assistance application service.

Medical care and practical support

Stories about caregiving, medical expenses, donor searches, and practical support for daily life. These pages share individual experiences and published updates, not medical advice.

Transportation and mobility

Stories about transportation for care, family connections, work, and everyday life. This collection documents individual and community support; it does not provide transportation services.

Community support

Stories of communities responding through support for local organizations, donated services, and fundraising for practical needs. Explore what people contributed and what the published record shows afterward.

United by R&S Jewelry documents unpaid storefront support for Shannon’s business. VEM’s website work is a separate professional technical contribution. Neither record adds a service valuation or customer-spending figure to the fundraising totals.

Video-led encounters with additional context and sources. No unverified contribution amounts or completed outcomes are included in these records.

Time and technical skills can also be practical support.

Minnesota projects

Explore published stories connected to Minnesota, from individual support to community projects. Locations are shared only at the level approved for each story.

Eight of the 11 canonical stories have approved city-level locations across seven Minnesota cities. Two records remain state-level and one remains Twin Cities-level; no narrower place is inferred. Additional reported project records are listed separately below; they are not added to this 11-story roster.

The Sheena follow-up and Eileen house-fire records below are connected to Fairmont, Minnesota; each story retains its own documented location and outcome limits.

These source-linked project records are separate from the 11-story collection above.

CBS News Minnesota documented Josh’s restaurant visit, food preparation with Yoom Nguyen, and planned meal distribution.

CBS News Minnesota documented hearing aids supplied through Starkey Cares after Josh’s outreach.

The existing case study distinguishes the professional hearing support from fundraising.

Read Eric’s existing hearing-support record · CBS report, February 27, 2024

CCX News reported on August 8, 2024 that Josh Liljenquist visited two Brooklyn Park businesses while purchasing food and drinks for distribution. Sweet Taste of Italy declined payment for a 30-meal order. At Oh My Swee-Tea, owner Chi Tran covered half the cost of drinks that CCX reported Josh later distributed to people living without a home.

Evidence boundary: The publication date is documented, but the report does not give exact dates for the two visits. It establishes the purchases, voluntary business contributions, and Josh’s distribution role—not an ongoing sponsorship, a continuing business relationship, or a measured long-term business outcome.

Independent sports reporting documents Josh Liljenquist and J.J. McCarthy working together on a January 2025 Twin Cities pizza distribution and a February 2025 Minnesota winter-supply distribution. The detailed collaboration record keeps the projects, participants, public-post dates, reporting dates, and dated audience snapshots separate.

Counting boundary: These are existing collaboration records, not new canonical Impact stories. The later St. Paul school donation described in separate March 2025 reporting is not attributed to Josh and is not counted as a joint project.

Independent reporting · existing case studies

Food outreach and hearing support in Minnesota

These source-linked project records are separate from the 11-story collection above.

Fundraising and documented outcomes

Dated fundraiser and follow-up record

About this page

Published by Josh Liljenquist's website. Campaign totals, recipient support, follow-up updates, and outcomes are shown only where the available public record supports them. A campaign total is not the same as cash received, money spent, donated-service value, or a completed outcome. The GoFundMe and money-model owner explains the platform relationship, compensation disclosure, and organizer/beneficiary distinction.

Selected campaign milestones

Four records show why totals and outcomes are not interchangeable.

These examples lead to the complete nine-case ledger below. Each keeps the fundraiser amount, presentation milestone, support purpose, and later documented outcome in its own category.

Sheena and Baby Joseph

$604,434 presentation milestone · November 21, 2025. A later first-party follow-up documents a furnished home. The amount is not described as cash received or a permanent live total.

See the ledger entry

Azeza and Gigi

$590,210 presentation milestone · March 31, 2026. The public record supports financial relief for care, bills, and housing pressure, not a guaranteed medical or long-term housing outcome.

See the ledger entry

Keegan and Natasha

$138,036 public campaign snapshot · November 2, 2026. Fundraising progress is documented, while a van purchase, delivery, or completed trip remains unconfirmed.

See the ledger entry

Source-linked case records

Fundraiser totals, support, and documented outcomes

This is a curated ledger of cases with a useful public record. It is not a complete accounting of every fundraiser or private follow-up.

Public campaign total
Not presented as a live campaign total
Support documented
$604,434 presentation milestone dated November 21, 2025. A later update documents a furnished home and additional planning support.
Outcome established
Completed outcome documented

The presentation amount is not described as cash received or a permanent live total. The address and unnecessary details about the child remain private.

Latest documented update
November 26, 2025
Public campaign total
$50,940 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
$39,604 presentation milestone dated February 4, 2026, followed by fundraising for housing and moving costs.
Outcome established
Completed outcome documented

The public total, presentation amount, home closing, and employment update are separate dated facts.

Latest documented update
May 21, 2026
Public campaign total
Not a cash fundraiser total
Support documented
A donated roof and donated gutters, with an estimated in-kind value of about $30,000.
Outcome established
Completed outcome documented

The estimated value is donated labor and materials, not cash received by Nick.

Latest documented update
August 21, 2026
Public campaign total
$149,803 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
Fundraising for housing, moving expenses, food, transportation, and other basic needs.
Outcome established
Support documented, later outcome not publicly established

The public update supports progress toward stability, not a claim that every longer-term housing goal was completed.

Latest documented update
September 2, 2026
Public campaign total
$77,532 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
Fundraising and public outreach connected to a living-kidney-donor search.
Outcome established
Fundraising goal in progress at last public update

KMBC reported no donor had been found at that time. No later medical outcome is claimed.

Latest documented update
November 2, 2026 campaign snapshot; the donor-search outcome remains open
Public campaign total
$138,036 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
$78,797 presentation milestone dated May 5, 2026, with fundraising toward safer accessible transportation.
Outcome established
Fundraising goal in progress at last public update

No vehicle purchase, delivery, or completed trip is claimed without a later public source.

Latest documented update
November 2, 2026
Public campaign total
$22,500 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
Fundraising toward a permanent community cafe for an existing pay-what-you-can meal project.
Outcome established
Fundraising goal in progress at last public update

The permanent cafe is a stated goal. The page does not claim that it opened.

Latest documented update
November 2, 2026
Public campaign total
$614,711 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
$590,210 presentation milestone dated March 31, 2026, with support for care, bills, and housing pressure.
Outcome established
Support documented, later outcome not publicly established

The support is described as financial relief, not a cure, guarantee, or completed long-term housing outcome. Sensitive medical detail remains limited.

Latest documented update
November 2, 2026
Public campaign total
$30,550 as of November 2, 2026
Support documented
Alpha News reported that Josh started the fundraiser for the former St. Paul firefighter and that more than 600 donors had contributed. A separate first-party follow-up records a $25,000 presentation milestone.
Outcome established
Fundraising and presentation documented

The sources support fundraising and the later presentation, not a six-figure campaign, Josh's personal contribution, or a completed medical, pension, housing, or long-term financial outcome.

Latest documented update
November 2, 2026 campaign snapshot; the presentation remains separately documented

What does "raised" mean here?

A fundraiser total shows how much a campaign publicly recorded at a point in time. It does not automatically establish how much a recipient ultimately received, how much was spent, or whether a longer-term goal was completed. Processing fees, refunds, chargebacks, timing, beneficiary arrangements, donated goods or services, and later changes can affect what a public total means.

Read how money records and outcomes are separated

Does Josh earn money connected to fundraising?

Josh receives separately paid compensation from GoFundMe for qualifying fundraising activity under his arrangement with the platform. That compensation is paid separately by GoFundMe and is not deducted from the amount payable to the fundraiser's recipient. Standard payment-processing fees can still apply to donations.

Read the full compensation disclosure