Dear friends,

A few days I ago I became aware that a young family was living in their car in our neighborhood with their 1 year old daughter in West San Jose near the borders of Campbell, Cupertino and Saratoga.

The young man takes public transportation to Santa Clara for his job at a restaurant and the young woman had been walking her daughter to a local park to stay out of sight and beat the heat during the day.

At this point, 3 friends and I have been doing what we can to support this family and Thursday night we got them a room at a local hotel that has a kitchenette.  We also donated supplies, food, baby items, clothing, shoes, did their laundry, gave them some cash and they are doing ok for the moment.  But, we need some help!  My friends and I need to crowdfund to help cover the cost of the hotel and groceries until a longer term place can be found for them.  It is too much for us to bear on our own.

The family is in this perdicament because their former landlord raised their rent by $600 a month.  With the husband working a fairly low wage job, they simply could not afford the increase and were evicted.  They decided to live in their car and somehow they landed in our neighborhood.  Then their stroller was stolen and the transmission gave out on their car.  It has been a tough week for these folks!  But they are good people. They are legal residents, aged 25, not drug addicts or alcoholics.  They are just trying to survive and provide for their daughter.

Please help us provide for them while housing options are being actively pursued.  They need a roof over their heads, money for food and basic needs and some hope.

I've never done anything like this before and it is hard for me to ask.  But we need a village!  It could be us, our kids or someone we know down the line.  Most of us are a couple unexpected large expenses away from this ourselves especially where the average home costs $1M and rents are $2000+ a month.

Priorities:
1) shelter for the 3 of them and/or funds to help us cover hotel expenses
2) money for food and basic needs
3) a local better than min. wage job for the husband? like $15+ per hour?  He is pursuing a 2nd job currently since his hours were just cut at his main job.
4) donations of baby clothes (1-2T, size 5 diapers, sensitive skin or natural wipes, gerber graduates snacks and food pouches (ones with fruit), or other misc. items (contact me for more extensive list)

Please share with your friends if you are comfortable.

Please consider joining our VILLAGE effort! <3

Thank you in advance for caring... If you are interested in meeting them, please let me know.