HELP US LAY PEGGY TO FINAL REST IN ATLANTA, GA

My name is Elizabeth Ndubisi-Ukandu, and I have created this funding campaign on behalf of my late sister Peggy Ndubisi. The year 2020 started so normal and uneventful like all other years, however, before the end of January, it dawned on all of us that something was amiss – COVID-19 had arrived on the shores of the United States. The past year has brought nothing but pain, grieving, suffering, mental depression and so many other anguishes to list. For those of us who have survived so far, we have reasons to be utterly grateful.

My family and I joined the thousands of families in America who got that dreaded call to announce the untimely death of our beloved ones. My loving sister Peggy joined this unfortunate list.

Peggy was a social worker in New York for almost 30 years, after attending Pace University and Lehman College in the Bronx. For years, Peggy pounded the streets of the boroughs of New York providing a listening ear, advice, care agency links, and above all human understanding and love to thousands who came her way.

Shortly before Hurricane Sandy hit New York, Peggy had fallen through societal cracks as a result of suspected arson to her home, leading her to become homeless. She was now on a downward spiral that ended with her death from Covid-19 in April 2020. Sadly for 8 years, those familiar streets no longer heard her footsteps nor felt her presence – WHY, because she had become one of the forgotten faceless homeless statistics. Near her end, she was tucked away in a Nursing Home, losing her voice (no medical diagnosis) and patiently watching the world pass by. Peggy no longer could walk, death came to her, there in the nursing home.

Even in death, Peggy is yet to be laid to rest and have the dignity of a burial. She was cremated against our cultural and religious beliefs. We had no choice, either cremate and take possession of her ashes for future burial or have her buried among the mass graves on Hart Island, New York as an abandoned ward of the State.

I am attempting to raise money so that we can finally relocate to Atlanta, GA which we will call our home, and lay my sister to rest. We are still storing her cremated remains here with us until we can relocate to Atlanta, GA. As a family, we cannot even begin the healing process when we still stare at her Urn daily.

Below are excerpts from the storyline written at her death….

On May 18, 2020, Jeff Arnold, Patch Staff wrote:

Former NYC Social Worker Dies 'Very Lonely Death' From COVID-19

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Peggy Ndubisi was never one to ask for help no matter how many obstacles life threw at her. To the very end, her family says, she was determined to stand on her own, especially over the past eight years as she survived the streets of New York, having already survived the perils of Hurricane Sandy, which she did sheltered only by the overhang of the women's bathroom at Fort Greene Park.

Ndubisi died April 24 from the coronavirus at age 59 following a life that included nearly 30 years as a social worker. Her family is now seeking help on behalf of their beloved Peggy, and who made it her life's work to help others — no matter the hardships she endured herself”.

“Despite life's tribulations, Ndubisi did her best to face obstacles — never getting angry, friends said, but instead doing her best to live life the best way she knew how and to continue to improve herself despite her circumstances”. 

"She died a very lonely death," Ndubisi-Ukandu told Patch on Sunday. "It's so heartbreaking for me. I don't know how she could have helped so many people for so many years and die such a pitiful death. It's just unbelievable."

"I just want people to remember her," Ndubisi-Ukandu continued, her voice trailing off, interrupted by tears and emotion.

As friends and neighbors remember Peggy — known by many as Peggy Casby — for her years of living in Brooklyn and Queens, it’s a tragic end to a story that started with so much promise, Ndubisi-Ukandu said.

Now, 10 months later, our family is still hindered by the dangers from the on-going covid-19, and a lack of funding. We are still stranded in Texas for a whole range of circumstances beyond our control – especially lack of funds to make the move to Atlanta due to the retirement of my husband, decimation of our retirement funds due to hospitalization bills resulting from surgeries for 2 blood clots.

We are seeking help to finally move to Atlanta to enable us to lay late Peggy to rest. The donated funds will be used for relocation services movers, purchase of a burial plot, funeral services for Peggy, and helping the family settle into a new home in Atlanta. Any donations above the target will help her only surviving and niece continue their settlement in Atlanta.  We hope we can make this move before the 1-year anniversary of Peggy’s death on April 24, 2020.

We pray her good deeds in life will touch on family, friends, and good samaritans to assist in providing her a final resting place. 

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. No amount is too small. God bless.

Full story here https://patch.com/new-york/parkslope/former-nyc-social-worker-dies-very-lonely-death-covid-19?

https://patch.com/new-york/parkslope/homeless-woman-displaced-by-hurricane-sandy-the-story144c91d581


With my beloved sister Peggy during her dark days in New York soon after Hurricane Sandy.

Late Peggy as a bubbly young lady, so full of life and promises 

Sadly, Peggy's cremated remains still waiting for a final resting place. Peggy deserves a decent dignified burial. Death came to her.