A homeless woman who died at an encampment in Nebraska amid frigid temperatures is being remembered for her kindness and advocating for the less fortunate.

The body of Krysta “Krissy” Gallagher-McMillan, 40, was found in a tent at a homeless encampment in east Omaha on Sunday, Feb. 23, theOmaha World-Heraldreported. At the time of her discovery, temperatures fell 1 degree below zero with wind chill readings of about 10 to 15 degrees below zero, a National Weather Service meteorologist told the paper.

Gallagher-McMillan was well-known in Omaha’s homeless community — so much so that a member of an encampment called her an “angel.”

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Gallagher-McMillan was regarded among those who knew her as a “street mom,” Bella Worthing ofHope for the Poortold NBC affiliateWOWT.

“She adopted everyone on these streets," she continued. “She was feisty. She would fight for you. If anyone messed with people she loved, you got Mama Bear Krissy.”

Last February, the 40 year old, along with others without homes and advocates attended a hearing at the Nebraska State Capitol to testify against a bill that would’ve made camping on mostly public property a misdemeanor, theOmaha World-Heraldreported. Opponents of the legislation, like Gallagher-McMillan, said it would criminalize the homeless.

“She did it because she wanted to be able to share her story of the side of those that live in there on the street,” said Jill Lynch-Sosa, the executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Omaha, told theOmaha World-Herald. “They’re just not statistics, they’re not throwaways, they’re not recluses.

“They have their reasons for many of them not going into shelter,” she added. “She wanted to share that part of it. She did it beautifully.”

PEOPLE contacted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Douglas County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 25, for more information.

source: people.com