Unhoused family (3 kids...1 newborn) needs help

Dear Friends,

Some of you may know that we moved to Piacenza, Italy (in Emilia-Romagna) last September. There’s a nice family at our son Lou’s public elementary school here that needs help.

Long story short: They are Nigerian and emigrated to Italy a few years ago. On January 15, 2023, they lost their apartment and are currently unhoused. They are a mom (Vanessa), a dad (Andrew), and three kids, including a newborn: Selena is seven, Lillian is two, and the baby, Jeffrey, is seven weeks old. Andrew works full-time at the Ikea Distribution Center outside of Piacenza. They are currently staying with a friend 25 miles outside the city. They do have a car, but Andrew needs it to drive to work at 4:30am each day. This temporary living situation is untenable for many reasons, including that it’s difficult, if not impossible, for them to bring Selena to and from school every day. Lou and Selena are in the same 2nd-grade class; Selena loves school and is whip-smart.

Selena’s family can afford to pay €450/month in rent. As you can imagine, even in a small city like Piacenza, that doesn't go very far (maybe two rooms). Not ideal for a family of five. Regardless, they are actively looking for a rental apartment where they can have some security. Despite what you may have heard about European social services, they have no safety net other than to stay in separate homeless shelters—one for males, another for females. Taking into account three young children including a newborn baby, I’m sure you can appreciate why Selena's family hopes to avoid the shelter system.

I’m not suggesting that this GoFundMe could raise enough to pay their rent for a year (assuming they can even find an apartment in their price range) or anything like that. I’m just hoping to raise enough to cover some of their critical immediate expenses: Groceries, gas, diapers, other baby supplies, cell phone bills—maybe even taxi fare so Selena could continue to attend her school.

We know Selena’s family personally, which is why we're launching this GoFundMe. (They did not ask us to do it, but did give us permission.) Every cent raised will go directly to Selena’s family for their immediate needs. Even if you see fit to give $5 or $10 it would help them tremendously.

Thank you for reading and feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

With sincere thanks,

Christine Egan

Jeffrey, their newborn baby