Help Keila, Wladimir, and Baby & Girls Find a Safe Home

Hi, I'm Collin Bradford. I was recently in Chicago with my wife, Bree, and son, Felix, and we had the chance to meet and spend time with a really wonderful young family who are refugees from Venezuela - Keila (mom), Wladimir (dad), Iskeilis (6-year-old girl), Keily (4-year-old girl), and Wladimir Jr. (baby boy, 3 months old). The kids are adorable and Wladimir and Keila are doing everything they can to make a good life for them.

Baby Wladimir was born with hypoglycemia (chronically low blood sugar), which has affected his health and can have long-term growth and brain development symptoms. The refugee shelter where they have been staying (on south Lake Shore Dr.) was just closed down and they were transferred to a shelter in an old school building. At the new shelter they are sleeping on cots in a huge room with hundreds of other people. As you can imagine, in conditions like that lots of sicknesses are being passed around and they are really scared about their baby and his health, especially as we’re nearing the Chicago winter.

We’re trying to raise money to help them rent a small apartment while they get their feet under them in the United States and while they await their asylum hearings and hope for asylum and its accompanying work permit.

Here’s some background…

Wladmir worked as a cook, but with the collapse of Venezuela’s economy, he thought he might be able to provide better for his family if he enlisted in the military academy. Even after 2 years in the academy, his weekly earnings still couldn’t come close to providing just food for the family. The military was also playing a more violent role in the Venezuelan government's repression of its own citizens and Wladimir was facing choices between his conscience and working for the ruthless and authoritarian Maduro government. As the Venezuelan economy fell apart and the government became even more violent and repressive, they were desperate to escape and to give their kids a better life.

Keila was in her first trimester of pregnancy when they started a journey that they never imagined would take 7 months. They made their way from Venezuela, through the jungles of Colombia, and to Panama on foot and by bus. There’s a vast area of untamed jungle in Panama where there are no roads that they had to walk through for days upon days with their young girls. Wladimir teared up as he told me about a treacherous river crossing with strong currents when he thought they wouldn't survive. They stayed in Panama for a while, selling soft drinks on the streets to try to earn money to continue their journey. They dealt with terrifying situations over the seven months, but made their way to the United States. They petitioned for asylum at the border and are currently awaiting their asylum hearings. While they're waiting they cannot legally work. They were separated at the border, and Wladimir was sent on a bus to Washington D.C. Kella, the girls, and their newborn baby, Wladimir Jr., were sent on a bus to Chicago and Wladimir (dad) traveled made his way to be with his family, help care for the kids, and try to figure out how to provide for them.

They don’t have work permits yet, and they don’t want to break the law, but Wladimir is desperate to find a way to earn money to support his family. He talked about being willing to do any kind of work at all, anything to be able to rent an apartment so his baby isn’t exposed to all of the sicknesses in the shelter in the Chicago winter. (Last winter there was a measles outbreak in one of the shelters in Chicago and tuberculosis at another.)

To be able to rent an apartment, they need to have the up-front costs plus rent. (Some apartments require a security deposit equal to an additional month’s rent. Others have a “move-in fee”, others require first month and last month’s rent plus a fee/deposit) We would love to be able to get them through the Chicago winter. Rent for a small apartment is about $1200/month. Six months (November through April) of rent plus the up-front costs will be about $8000 to $9000. They are working to navigate the legal system. On average the asylum process takes six months, so they're hoping to be able to legally work in the spring.

Please help us help this young family as they try to keep their baby healthy, get their feet on the ground, and try to build a good life for their kids.