In honor of Missy Elliott Day, Grammy-winning rapper Melissa Arnette Elliott, aka Missy Elliott, gave $50,000 to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority for families facing eviction. 

Patricia Elliott, the star’s mother, shared a touching narrative of their family’s financial troubles prior to the R&B and hip-hop sensation’s remarkable rise to popularity. Patricia Elliot recounted how fans from Portsmouth arrived in the pouring rain chanting, “We love you.”  According to Missy Elliot, the donation symbolizes the reciprocation of that love.

Missy Elliott said that the donation meant a lot to her because she had been in the same situation as the families facing eviction.

“For me, who has been in a situation like that with my mother, a single mother, that’s what made it important. I felt like I could relate to being in a place where you don’t know where you are going next,” Missy Elliott expressed. 

According to 13NewsNows, the rapper’s donation comes one year after a street “Missy Elliott Blvd.” was named after her. The City of Portsmouth gave her an honorary key to the city, and she visited the high school from which she graduated in 1990, among other things.

“Instead of it being a celebration of Missy Elliott—you know, about me—I wanted to give back and let that be the celebration of Missy Elliott, just to show that I love everybody out here,” she said. “Just know that P-Town is with me no matter where I go,” she said, according to HipHopdx.

“I love my city. I love my state. I love everything about it,” she added. “Everything about Missy comes from here—the hospitality, the humility, the confidence. If you mess with me, it’s a problem. We sweet, but don’t try us.”

Alisa Winston, executive director of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said in response, “On behalf of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, our board of commissioners, our staff, and most importantly, our residents, we want to thank you for your generous donation. This will help 26 of our families who are past due on their rent remain in their homes.”

Missy Elliott is a five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, rapper, composer, and producer, as well as the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.