In June 2017 we Sipped to Support four Syrian Refugee Families in Chicago
The rooftop party in June 2017 was a rousing success! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU to all who donated and attended the event! In total, we raised $3,501 to help four Syrian Refugee families.
Your donations helped supply:
A washer and dryer, which is saving one mother hours of time spent walking to and from the laudromat to clean clothes for a family of six.
A sizable contribution toward a handicap accessible vehicle for Ahmad and his family, which will take his daily commute from three modes of transportation to one.
Funds toward corrective eye surgery.
Help toward groceries and utility bills.
Electronics including donated TVs and cell phones to help the families communicate and learn english.
The personal stories of those we helped:
Family 1
Ahmad and Hannah have four children between the ages of 3 - 11. On weekdays, Ahmad leaves home at 5am to take 3 modes of transportation to get to his job downtown as a full-time tailor for a custom jeans manufacturing business. This is no small feat for a paraplegic who does not speak English! Further challenging this family's situation, Ahmad's apartment building has a bed bug infestation. They are trying to move, and although they can afford rent, they don't have the funds for a new security deposit. They will also have to replace all the furnishings their original sponsors worked so hard to provide, but only after they have a clean home in which to put replacement beds and sofas. We hope to shine some light on the lives of these family members.
Family 2
Bassam and Hosun have four children between the ages of 15 - 26. The family is from Damascus and spent several years in a camp in Cairo before moving to Illinois. Bassam is trained as an instructor of Halal butchers. He had disc surgery in November and hasn't recovered fully to work yet. He had cataract surgery that did not go well and will have more surgery to help with eye pressure in May. His eldest daughter would like to go into nursing or commercial art. His eldest son - who was a lover of math - recently dropped out of high school to work at McDonalds in order to help support the family. The youngest plays the flute in the high school marching band. In addition to friendship and community, this family is looking for several items to help them get through everyday life, such as a washing machine. Take a look at the "How to Help" page to see how you can contribute to this family.
Family 3
Ahmed and Kawthar have four children between the ages of 2 - 17. The family fled Syria when Assad's soldiers broke into their house. All of their relatives are either dead or in Jordan. Ahmed was an all vehicle professional driver with his own small fleet of trucks in Homs. Unfortunately, Ahmed has disc pain which cut nerves to his right hand, and also has chemically damaged vocal chords. Ahmed worked in a food factory from 2-11pm but he was getting harassed by an Islamophobic coworker and had to quit this job. He is now struggling to find full time employment at the $13.50 he needs to make ends meet and continues to apply for janitor and sanitation worker jobs. Kawthar, the mother, is an amazing cook. If she did not have a 20-month old in tow, she could start her own business. Connecting her to Arabic speaking women for cooking lessons, cooking parties, and private chef jobs would be a wonderful thing for her and for her family.
Family 4
Samer and Rasima have three children between the ages of 15 - 23. Samer was a cabinet maker with his own furniture shop in Syria. He now works in a food factory with his 19 year old son Mohammad (who used to work a night shift cleaning planes at O'Hare). Samer and Rasima's eldest son, Naser, has been described as friendly, outgoing, and ambitious. He is fairly fluent in self taught English and has worked several jobs until landing his latest with an electrical contracting company, hoping to quickly gain the hours so he can be licensed. Naser is the main supporter for this family. The matriarch of the family, Rasima, is unfortunately working through clinical depression and the navigation of our healthcare system through medicaid without speaking English. We look forward to helping this family however we can.