Hi there,

We are the Hanssen family & are appealing for your help on behalf of a beautiful family in need.

We are privileged to know Carmen Clark, a heartwarming lady, through our GP medical practice who goes above & beyond for patients. She helped us through some challenging times & we would like to return her kindness.

After learning that Carmen & her family are facing homelessness, our family would love to empower Carmen the way she has empowered us.

Here Carmen tells us her own story;

"We moved as a family of four to Ireland from South Africa in 2005. On Christmas Eve 2017 our lives changed forever when my husband Brian passed away aged 65, leaving me a young 40yr old widow with 2 young adult children to support.

The past several years have been very trying as I was suffering with different complex medical conditions, I have continued to work to keep a roof over our heads. Now, the house we've called "home" for 18 years is being sold with a deadline to move out by 30th June. This has devastated our family as we are not in a financial position to buy the home from our landlord. We felt so fortunate that he allowed us live here with our extended family of 11 rescued pets, 2 dogs & 9 cats. Splitting our family up would cause terrible heartbreak to us all. Facing homelessness is a terrifying prospect & I feel responsible for the lives of my children & our many pets. We have a very strong community spirit with our neighbours & leaving them will also be very tough.

We desperately need help in raising funds to secure a rented home that will accommodate our family & our pets as well. Preferably in the Lucan area where we currently live or close to my work in the Kilcock area.We will be forever grateful for all the help we can get. The funds will secure us a few months of accommodation & increase our rental opportunities with our pets. If someone knows of a rental property, has a property or is seeking an investment opportunity to buy our current rental, this would be a miracle.

Our friends have encouraged us to appeal to Go Fund Me, in the hopes of making our transition less challenging. I am entrusting the entire process to my friends and family and I thank everyone in their efforts to help us."

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read Carmen's story.

Yours kindly,

Hannah-Autumn, Gráinne & Hans