Help our new Syrian neighbors

Two Syrian refugee families moved to East Austin on September 1st, and they need your help. The first family has four children, and the second family has five children, all school aged. They left Syria five years ago when the situation became too dangerous for them, and they had been in Jordan until they came to the U.S. They don't speak English and don't have skills which would make it easy to find a job in Austin. The father with five children has a disability, so his options are further limited. 

They receive four months of rent assistance from the organization sponsoring them, and that is quickly coming to an end. We urgently need funds to keep them in their homes. Since they are still without jobs, we are hoping to raise enough money to cover at least six months of rent and bills for each family until they can hopefully become self-sustaining. We appreciate any donation big or small that you can make. Thank you so much for your willingness to help.

Who are we? We are a group of individuals from Austin, TX, that have become involved with the family, either through refugee work in the community, living in their neighborhood, or just being interested in showing care and concern to those who need it. We are not related to these families, nor do we stand to benefit personally from this campaign, with the exception of knowing that we did everything we could to help them to succeed and build a new life here in the United States. We are in regular contact with the families both in person and via phone. The funds will be allotted for at least six months of rent (at $1450 per month per family), with any overage going towards utility bills, bus fares, and other living expenses while they land on their feet. All funds received will be split equally between the two families.   I, Selina Keilani, will withdraw the funds and then give them directly to the families via check.