Support Raul: A New RV for a Neighborhood Hero

Hello! As some or maybe none of you may know, as you are new to our story, Sarah and I purchased our first home in 2021 and to our pleasant surprise, our home came with an RV parked on the side street with an incredible human named "Raul." We are making this GoFundMe in hopes of helping Raul and his current situation of losing his home and possibly going homeless.

Now what may be an annoyance or even an eye sore to some, Raul living in his beat up 1980's RV was the blessing we didn't know we needed. A true hero, kind spirit, mayor of the neighborhood who quickly became an extended member of our family, it was a good thing our real estate agent didn't know about him at the time because we would have gladly paid more had we known what value he brought to the neighborhood.

Raul is a 75 year old retired man from Mexico who's been living and working in the States for over two decades on a green card to help support his family back home. He has lived in an RV that he rents from his landlord parked outside of our home for the last 5 years, and although he's retired, he continues to work landscaping houses nearby to barely pay his rent and afford himself meals. Daily, we wake up to Raul outside singing to his bluetooth speaker as he cleans the street and takes care of the neighbors homes unasked. He’s known by all the neighbors and greets everyone as they pass by with a smile, a wave, and sometimes even a handmade gift. He paints heart shaped plants he picks with nail polish and gifts them to the people he loves. He gets crafts from the dollar store with his extra money and makes handmade flowers to hand out to his friends, our home is filled with them. He plays the harmonica and is part of a popular dance group in Mexico that he leads once a year, they make their own head pieces and dance with machetes to songs he wrote. He’s helped stop and prevent multiple crimes on our street, watches over everyone, we’ve even gone to court together to help keep the neighborhood safe. He’s truly the heart of the neighborhood, and with a baby on our way, he’s someone we wish to not go without. We surprised him a couple months ago as our child’s California Grandpa! And with that news, of course he’s started to make our area more safe for the baby by weed whipping the weeds with burs out of our yard, and patrolling the riff raff.

Raul’s RV has been crashed into by drunk drivers, his landlord won’t pay the registration (which he gets ticketed for), it has no electricity, shower, toilet, or working oven for him to cook (he loves to cook but hasn't for years), the starter has gone out, and it’s become a huge expense and stress on Raul who mentioned he will be going homeless soon because he will have to give up his home. He explained his expenses to me and with what he makes per month, he’s barely able to afford food for himself. We would hate to lose Raul and are looking to surprise him with a new (used) RV that can serve as his new home. We would be more than grateful if you would donate to this RV fund so we can surprise Raul with a new home by the end of summer!

All money donated will go toward the purchase of a new (Used) RV for Raul, along with updated registration and a smog test.

Thank you and we appreciate your time and hopeful donation!

Benji & Sarah