Give Hope to a Family in Need

I experienced something today I never have before. I would like to share it with you and ask for your help. If you could take the time to read this, I would appreciate it.

As I was cleaning out and emptying my mother’s house this summer, I became friendly with a Peruvian family that was renting a room down the block. Through my very broken Spanish and a lot of Google translate, we were able to talk a bit about common places we knew in Peru from my time there. The husband, his wife and 7 year old daughter are here legally and trying to find work. As the summer progressed, he found some work, and we found them a car. In August, their landlord told them the rent was going up $500/month starting in September. They were living above the garage in one room with a makeshift cooking area and bathroom and shower located downstairs in the garage. They found another place about 7 miles away and last week, through a friend, got a U-Haul and started moving. Every encounter I had with them was one of genuine happiness and gratitude.

As they are trying to set up a cleaning business, I hired them to clean my mother’s house as I have tenants are moving in. I went to the house about 2:00 pm today and could not believe how clean the house looked and smelled. Soon after I got there, the husband called me very upset. When they left my mother’s house, the landlord had changed the lock to their room and put all their belongings on the street.

When Jen and I got to them, all three were stranded, amidst all their belongings. This was the street I grew up on and I had no idea local people would be so cruel. The wife was holding back tears. Jen and I were lucky enough to be able to pack all their belongings into our van and car and bring them to the new apartment. They were going there anyway tonight but they were not expecting to find their belongings on the street. The father was crying as I drove him but he did not want his daughter and wife to see, who were in the other car with Jen.

I am starting this GoFundMe to help them catch their breath. My experience of them is a very kind couple, with an adorable daughter who are trying to do things the right way and make it this country. I have been privileged in my life to be brought into dire situations in Peru, the Dominican Republic and Belize. The people I have met have enriched my life and the life of my family. To quote a St. John the Baptist student, “I came to change the world but the world changed me”.

But today was different. To see a family and their belongings out on the street was heartbreaking. It is one thing not to have money but still another to be stripped of your dignity and the ability to care for your child.

So, I am asking if you could help them in any way, no matter how small, it would be awesome. And of even more importance, if you could pray for them, it would mean a lot. I ask you also to pray for the people that threw them and their belongings onto the sidewalk.

And if you are looking for your house to be cleaned, from what they did at my mother’s I would highly recommend them,

Thanks for reading this!