Financial relief for new widow fighting covid

My mother,  Teri Fornville,  formerly Teri (Gourdine-/Bruce,) was lucky enough to marry her soulmate, William "Bill" Fornville. After a chance meeting between two young black volunteers, they became fast friends while working with Amiri Baraka; they were united around a mission to encourage people to vote for the first black mayor of Newark. Falling out of touch with each other in their twenties, Teri and Bill both went on to get married and have children of their own. During their time apart, Bill also served in the Vietnam war. 


A Chapter of Resilience 

Almost 40 years later, Teri and Bill were able to reunite. They started right where they left off. I was very surprised and excited to discover that my mom wanted to start a new chapter of her life with Bill. In starting this new chapter, it would mean change for all of us.  However, I was a little concerned about her moving to Arizona and being so far from her family. But, despite the concern, I had not seen her this happy in years so eventually, I understood. He was a great guy and I was very excited about the union. As I reflect on how Bill and I established a relationship, I realized that we had many things in common. He was an educator, a mentor, an activist, and heavily into music as a DJ. As we were all just getting to learn one another and prepare for their wedding, I began to learn about some of Bill's health concerns. My mom had been right by his side through an array of health challenges: a coma, an amputation, kidney & liver operations, weekly dialysis, etc. Given this, it finally became a necessity for them to wed so that my mother could assist in his health decisions. They were both on cloud 9 about it, though disappointed that the family could not attend. They had been planning on returning to New Jersey this summer to have a formal celebration. However, COVID-19 became all our realities. 


Enter Covid-19. It became obvious fairly quick that the celebration would not happen anytime soon. I did my best to stay in touch with them and stressed the importance of staying inside. And of course, They actually listened and were fairly vigilant about staying safe. As you can imagine, I was horrified to find out that Bill was diagnosed with Covid-19. In addition, a day later, I found out that my mother had it as well. I would get the updates every 4-5 hours. It was within those updates that I found out that Bill had taken a turn for the worse. On July 9th, my mother called me and said she was on the way to the hospital to pay her last respects. I was in complete shock. They had beat all the odds and still ended up here. Another transition. 


Currently, my mom is in the hospital healing. I wish that all she had to do was knock this nasty virus out her system. But the reality is, she is grieving and handling her husband's affairs all far away from family and friends. I would love to be there, to hold her, and support her but as you know that is not an option.


We Need Your Support 

So, as a result of this unforeseen and hectic scenario, we are humbly setting a small financial goal of $10K . We are asking for your help to  cover basic needs during her time of transition.  We want to allow Mom the freedom to heal/mourn without overwhelming concern or stress. This financial gift will also allow her to take care of Bill's affairs, maintain living expenses in the short term in Arizona and, aid with relocation expenses to New Jersey so she can be with her friends and family. Thank you for your love and generosity during such unforeseen and deeply challenging times. 


Remembering Bill 

-William Fornville aka Bill/Baba/Ngoma was a loving husband and father,  was born June 13th 1952 and passed away on July 9th 2020. He leaves behind 2 daughters, 1 step daughter, 1 step son, 4 granddaughters, 1 grandson and the numerous people who had the pleasure of experiencing "Baba". We love you!


Side note:

Out of respect for my Mom, we ask that all questions about this campaign are, for the time being, directed here. My mom has given me permission to set up this campaign, but should otherwise be unburdened by its related questions. Thank you for your love and understanding.