Help Esperanza recover and rest at home

Hi, My name is Yessenia and I am raising money to help Esperanza.

 

 

What I’m about to share makes me really sad. I’ve been contemplating if I should share it because social media can be really intrusive yet at the same time a good way to raise money to help others. I asked her multiple times prior to sharing, if this is what she truly wanted me to do because its a sensitive matter and I know the internet can always be a wild card.

 

I don’t know if you guys remember Esperanza. The kind lady that was harassed by police officers for street vending in the subway station last year during peak covid. Thanks to everyone’s generosity with her via instagram, I was able to raise money to help her with rent and expenses. This was done purely from the bottom of my heart to help someone that touched me personally. I felt like her story and that of many other people making an honest living needed to be shared.

 

Up to this day, I still keep in contact with her via telephone and on a daily. One random wednesday night. I see her working by the G train station in Qnz. However, when I got out of work tonight and into the train station, I saw that she had sunglasses on and I thought that was strange because she was indoors and it was 8pm. I approached her for my daily chat and asked her what happened. She began to cry and removed her sunglasses, and that’s when I noticed her left eye was completely bruised and swollen. Her left knee was extremely bruised and scratched. She told me that on Saturday April 16, she was vending at Flushing Meadows selling her mangos late into the night because of a Mets game. Two men approached her on bikes and assaulted her for her money and flip phone. They stole approximately $380 from her earnings that week. They shoved her to the ground and punched her in the face and left her on the floor. If it wasn’t for two samaritans walking by to take her to the hospital, I don’t know how long she could have been unattended for.

 

So here I am asking for donations again so that Esperanza can cover her $700 rent and her doggie expenses while she recovers at home and heals. No elderly person should be exposed to this type of violence and still have to worry about paying bills. It is a terrible fear to grow old and alone in a city where you’re just working to make ends meet. I promised I would help her and I asked her for permission several times before sharing because its a sensitive matter.

 

I decided to make her a gofundme and all that we collect, I will withdraw, and give to her immediately. I am hoping to raise at least $300 so she can pay off her May rent and then some. Anything extra, will help cover her future rent.

 

Thank you guys for taking the time to read and donate to her cause. I met Esperanza as a complete stranger but if I can help her at any point, I will do my very best.