Prevent Eviction for the Johnson Family
Donation protected
Bonjour everybody,
It’s Anthony, here. I haven’t used this email list since my time in South Africa during 2016. Cyclically enough, I am writing as regards my host family in Cape Town.
The Cause
As COVID swept around the globe, South Africa was faced with an initial very restrictive lockdown. As a result, my South African host family, the Johnsons, have seen their household income vanish. Faced with a mounting rent debt since April, they are at risk for eviction.
Not only could they be forced to move from their home, but relocating without any income or savings is a challenging and bleak predicament. They likely would have to relocate to what is called the Cape Flats, townships in the outlying regions of the metropolis of questionable safety. The neighborhood where they currently live, named Bo Kaap, contains a vast constellation of their family and social ties - where they sustain the community, and the community sustains them.
Faadiel, the father, typically works as a contractor but has been unable to find work since April. Their other primary source of income - housing students from abroad who go to Cape Town to learn English- has disappeared as students retreated home.
The Goal
My goal is to raise at least $2500 to cover their debt and rent up through the month of November. Their monthly rent runs about $280 depending on the exchange rate, and I would like to raise additional funds for electricity, water fees, and groceries. Any money raised beyond $2500 will also be sent to the Johnson family.
My personal inclination would be to exclusively use my own savings in a situation like this. But with the exodus of tenants from NYC, sublettors have become rarer than ever and I must prepare for my own rent squeeze in the coming months.
So I am writing to appeal to my largely American circle of loved ones and friends to see what we can do! I am already committing $350 of my own money to the fundraiser.
I know and feel it is a bizarre moment to ask anyone anywhere in the world to donate money. These times are crazy and trying, with most folks overextended financially, mentally, and emotionally. A great author once wrote, “Whatever really gets started never gets stopped. The trouble is so little ever gets started.” This is a chance to help start something with immediate positive outcomes and limitless future potential. Think, for a second, how much or how little you would be able to accomplish without a stable roof over your head.
If you are unable to donate, or even if you can donate, I kindly ask you to please forward the link to this fundraiser to at least 2 people you know.
My Personal Relationship with the Johnson Family
The Johnson family and I have known each other since I first set foot in Cape Town over a decade ago in 2010 while studying abroad as part of my undergrad studies in Public Health. The program took us group of students, all from different universities, to Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam as part of an Urban Studies program. We were lucky enough to stay with local families in each location. I began a relationship with my Cape Town family that endures to this day!
When I was studying fashion design in Cape Town in 2016, and my Grandpa passed away in June, I found myself grieving and disoriented to be back in South Africa following the funeral. I had my family-away-from-home to sit and chat and spend time with. Many a weekend and weekday were already spent in Bo Kaap with my host-Mom and host-Dad, their three daughters, and their extended family dotting the hillside neighborhood.
But that time and those visits in June assumed a stronger significance. Being old enough to know something of lost loved ones, the Mama of the family, Assa, and the Dad, Faadiel, provided me heartfelt and genuine comfort. “An answer to my prayers,” as my own Mom would say.
All that to say, they are like family, and family!
Get to Know the Johnson Family!
Assa and Fadieel have three daughters – Ameerah who is now married with one child Rafia (see below), Kauthar in the middle also married with a baby boy on the way, and the youngest Fayruh now in her junior year of university.
Like I mentioned, their neighborhood is called Bo Kaap. The neighborhood is incredibly historic, predating the establishment of present-day South Africa. Both Assa and Faadiel were raised in this neighborhood. Many families from Bo Kaap go back four or five generations with a continued presence of extended family networks, in spite of more recent waves of gentrification.
As is typical before children marry, Fayruh still lives at home while completing a triple major in journalism, history, and literature at the University of Cape Town. She aspires to be a writer and a journalist! Thus, the money will provide housing security to three individuals, especially their daughter who is at a pivotal point in her higher education.
Assa is a matriarch in the widest sense of the word. Her home, no matter where it may be found, is always open – to her four sisters and their families, to her granddaughter, family friends, people whose children she helped raise many years ago. Their home serves as a meeting place for a multitude of families and generations, host to celebrations and holiday meals. Which is to say, their home is not only housing but furthermore an anchor in a greater familial and social structure.
In 2019, with the help of neighbors, Fadiel and Assa renovated a small structure on the property they rent, transforming it into a small 2-bedroom abode with shower and toilet. This allowed them to generate their own rental revenue hosting some of the many students from all over the world who flock to Cape Town to learn English. However, at the onset of COVID, even those students were forced to return home thus eliminating a large source of income.
It’s Anthony, here. I haven’t used this email list since my time in South Africa during 2016. Cyclically enough, I am writing as regards my host family in Cape Town.
The Cause
As COVID swept around the globe, South Africa was faced with an initial very restrictive lockdown. As a result, my South African host family, the Johnsons, have seen their household income vanish. Faced with a mounting rent debt since April, they are at risk for eviction.
Not only could they be forced to move from their home, but relocating without any income or savings is a challenging and bleak predicament. They likely would have to relocate to what is called the Cape Flats, townships in the outlying regions of the metropolis of questionable safety. The neighborhood where they currently live, named Bo Kaap, contains a vast constellation of their family and social ties - where they sustain the community, and the community sustains them.
Faadiel, the father, typically works as a contractor but has been unable to find work since April. Their other primary source of income - housing students from abroad who go to Cape Town to learn English- has disappeared as students retreated home.
The Goal
My goal is to raise at least $2500 to cover their debt and rent up through the month of November. Their monthly rent runs about $280 depending on the exchange rate, and I would like to raise additional funds for electricity, water fees, and groceries. Any money raised beyond $2500 will also be sent to the Johnson family.
My personal inclination would be to exclusively use my own savings in a situation like this. But with the exodus of tenants from NYC, sublettors have become rarer than ever and I must prepare for my own rent squeeze in the coming months.
So I am writing to appeal to my largely American circle of loved ones and friends to see what we can do! I am already committing $350 of my own money to the fundraiser.
I know and feel it is a bizarre moment to ask anyone anywhere in the world to donate money. These times are crazy and trying, with most folks overextended financially, mentally, and emotionally. A great author once wrote, “Whatever really gets started never gets stopped. The trouble is so little ever gets started.” This is a chance to help start something with immediate positive outcomes and limitless future potential. Think, for a second, how much or how little you would be able to accomplish without a stable roof over your head.
If you are unable to donate, or even if you can donate, I kindly ask you to please forward the link to this fundraiser to at least 2 people you know.
My Personal Relationship with the Johnson Family
The Johnson family and I have known each other since I first set foot in Cape Town over a decade ago in 2010 while studying abroad as part of my undergrad studies in Public Health. The program took us group of students, all from different universities, to Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam as part of an Urban Studies program. We were lucky enough to stay with local families in each location. I began a relationship with my Cape Town family that endures to this day!
When I was studying fashion design in Cape Town in 2016, and my Grandpa passed away in June, I found myself grieving and disoriented to be back in South Africa following the funeral. I had my family-away-from-home to sit and chat and spend time with. Many a weekend and weekday were already spent in Bo Kaap with my host-Mom and host-Dad, their three daughters, and their extended family dotting the hillside neighborhood.
But that time and those visits in June assumed a stronger significance. Being old enough to know something of lost loved ones, the Mama of the family, Assa, and the Dad, Faadiel, provided me heartfelt and genuine comfort. “An answer to my prayers,” as my own Mom would say.
All that to say, they are like family, and family!
Get to Know the Johnson Family!
Assa and Fadieel have three daughters – Ameerah who is now married with one child Rafia (see below), Kauthar in the middle also married with a baby boy on the way, and the youngest Fayruh now in her junior year of university.
Like I mentioned, their neighborhood is called Bo Kaap. The neighborhood is incredibly historic, predating the establishment of present-day South Africa. Both Assa and Faadiel were raised in this neighborhood. Many families from Bo Kaap go back four or five generations with a continued presence of extended family networks, in spite of more recent waves of gentrification.
As is typical before children marry, Fayruh still lives at home while completing a triple major in journalism, history, and literature at the University of Cape Town. She aspires to be a writer and a journalist! Thus, the money will provide housing security to three individuals, especially their daughter who is at a pivotal point in her higher education.
Assa is a matriarch in the widest sense of the word. Her home, no matter where it may be found, is always open – to her four sisters and their families, to her granddaughter, family friends, people whose children she helped raise many years ago. Their home serves as a meeting place for a multitude of families and generations, host to celebrations and holiday meals. Which is to say, their home is not only housing but furthermore an anchor in a greater familial and social structure.
In 2019, with the help of neighbors, Fadiel and Assa renovated a small structure on the property they rent, transforming it into a small 2-bedroom abode with shower and toilet. This allowed them to generate their own rental revenue hosting some of the many students from all over the world who flock to Cape Town to learn English. However, at the onset of COVID, even those students were forced to return home thus eliminating a large source of income.
Organizer
Anthony Zei
Organizer
New York, NY