A Car for Christina & Ruben

Mama Christina and her son Ruben are a beautiful family and an integral part of the Urban Montessori community. They show up and share love and company in good times and hard times alike. Christina has been volunteering at the school since Ruben started in Kindergarten and he’s now in 5th grade! Watching the way Christina’s love and parenting has grounded Ruben over the past 6 years has been a testament to the immense power of love and community. 




Ruben and Christina live in West Oakland. Ruben goes to school at UMCS in the Fruitvale and Christina has health issues which make regular doctors visits a necessity. Many of us in the community help out with carpooling which is great, but after about a year of this the time and energy it takes for Christina to request, coordinate, communicate, and arrange all the rides has worn and now causes a great deal of stress. When no rides materialize, they resort to Lyft and Uber which gets crazy expensive very quickly. Ruben is 10 and Christina isn’t comfortable yet with him taking public transportation alone. 




A get-around-town car would be a fantastic solution. Let’s help this happen!


We are looking to raise 2-3K to get Christina & Ruben a reliable car they can use to get to and from school, volunteer, grocery shop, and to go to doctors appointments. This would mean the world to them and they would be enormously grateful. Here’s an African-American family, rooted in Oakland, that’s managed to figure out a way to stay and thrive here in Oakland. Let’s show them love and make sure they can stay!