Shooting survivor mourns boyfriend's death while fighting to keep her home

A Chicago woman survived a bullet to the chest when she was caught in crossfire coming home from the airport. Sadly, her boyfriend didn't survive. Now, as she tries to rebuild her life, she's facing another fight — to get the financial help she says she was promised.

On Aug. 13, Tyaisha Spann and her boyfriend, Donnie Lee Chapman Jr., were coming home from a week in Antigua celebrating their anniversary, but on their drive home from O'Hare International Airport, their trip ended in unimaginable tragedy.

They turned onto 71st Street near Champlain Avenue. Someone was blocking the street. When the driver moved to get around them she said she started hearing gunfire and they were caught in the middle. 

"Coming off of a high to just be my life shattered and ruined," Spann said.

A bullet entered the side of her chest and stopped inches from her heart. Police said someone in an SUV had opened fire on their white sedan. 

Spann said Chapman's injuries were even worse. He was shot in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died.

"I'm still waiting for my phone to ring, you know? He had a specific ring tone, you know, and I'm just still waiting to hear that, but I know I won't," she said.

Spann still has the bullet lodged in her chest. She can't believe she survived, but her recovery would mean months away from work — unpaid. 

While Spann was still hospitalized, she said representatives from a violence prevention organization called Acclivus came to her room. She said they offered to help cover her mortgage while she was unable to work.

She accepted, saying she was counting on that assistance to keep a roof over her head while she recovered.

"Maybe this is God aligning; you know, like giving me the reassurance that you can take the time off," she said.

But there was a problem. Seven weeks later, after taking the time off, she was told that the funding provided by Illinois Department of Human Services can cover rent, but under the program's rules, mortgage payments are not an eligible expense.

"I get a call saying that I was denied, and I was like, 'Denied? But this is what you guys get the money for,'" she said.

CBS News Chicago reached out to Acclivus repeatedly to try to get answers. On Thursday, the organization said its team had advocated with the state for an exception, and that the exception has now been approved.

So, now Acclivus said Spann's "application is continuing to be processed."

"It's going to be huge, because I won't lose my house," Spann said.

She said she hopes her experience will help streamline the process for others and that the exception she was granted can become standard.

"I just hope anyone wouldn't have to go through what I'm going through right now," she said.

Police said they had no update in Spann's shooting case, and detectives are still investigating.