Help the Balata Family Find Safety and Stability
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My name is Michelle Lerner. I'm a writer in the U.S. and I've had the privilege of mentoring Kholoud Balata, a brilliant young writer from Gaza, for several years. She's become like family to me. Kholoud made it out of Gaza and to a Masters program in the U.S., but had to leave her family behind due to insufficient funds to pay the exorbitant evacuation fees for the other family members. Right after Kholoud escaped, Rafah was invaded and the border closed, sealing the Balata family in. The family wants to live in Gaza but they are not safe or healthy and none of the kids can access education. They need funds to help them survive and, once the border reopens, to help them get out long enough to recover and for Kholoud's siblings to restart their educations. Please contribute whatever you can to help this family near and dear to my heart.
From Kholoud:
The Balata family, a tightly bound family of six from northern Gaza, has been devastated by ongoing conflict. After my four siblings and my parents were displaced from their home, they initially found refuge in the south, only to be forced into a tent, and then forced to evacuate again with their tent. Their situation grows more desperate with each passing day.
Nour, 22, a recent IT graduate, was poised to start her career but now battles depression instead. Khalid, 19, was studying computer science at a Gazan university. During the war, however, he applied and was successfully admitted into a Malaysian university, but did not have the money to pay tuition and then was trapped by the border closing. Ghena, 15, an aspiring artist, was eager to begin high school, but her dreams have been shattered by the war. Sarah, 12, once full of wonder, now finds it hard to find joy in her bleak new reality.
Without stable housing and with minimal access to essential resources like clean water, the Balata family is in urgent need of support.
We are aiming to raise $39,500 to cover essential needs for my siblings and parents, including:
- Temporary housing: $1000 to secure a safe and stable place for the family to live now in Gaza.
- Basic necessities: $4000 for food, clean water, hygiene products and clothes until evacuation is possible.
- Transportation cost: $1,500 to help the family when evacuating or when they access healthcare.
- Education expenses: $8,000 to support four years of Khalid’s university tuition fees and living expenses in Malaysia under a reduced fee program a scholarship program is trying to negotiate.
- $25,000 to evacuate (until the border closed, the cost to evacuate was $5k per adult and $2.5k for a child under 16)
Your contribution can help them secure these basic necessities, regain some stability in their shattered lives, and possibly save their lives.
Organizer
Michelle Lerner
Organizer
Mount Olive, NJ