Help Nick out of Homelessness & Reunite w/ Family
Donation protected
I’m a 33-year-old girl living in Brooklyn, New York, and I’ve been told I’m “too much” and a little crazy for letting a homeless stranger stay in my small, 1-bedroom apartment with me. But it happened. And a beautiful story is still being written to this day!
I met Nick on August 5, 2018. My friend and I were walking to church on a Sunday morning. We got off the Fulton St. station in the Financial District in Manhattan. As we crossed the street, we saw a 20-something year old guy seated down on the ground with a cardboard write-up, so we went up to him to give him some money and to just ask how he was doing. Clearly not good. He was homeless. On top of that, he told me that he had just found out his grandfather passed away several days ago and he was trying to make enough cash to buy a Metro-North train ticket to attend his wake the next day.
I invited him to church which was several blocks away, and to my surprise, he quickly accepted my invitation. Once we got to church, we just wept together throughout the entire service. After, I took him out to grab a bite to eat and on our way there, we realized we had the same tattoo of a cross, on our same left hands! WHAT?!
It was apparent that this was totally a divine meeting between us!
He told me his life story, and honestly, it seemed unbelievable. The hardships he’d been through throughout his whole life, losing his family, and now his grandfather passing away… it was A LOT. I bought him some dress shoes from Century 21 so he could look presentable at his grandfather’s wake, reactivated his phone at AT&T and gave him some cash. Little did I know that us meeting that day would be a start of a special friendship.
After attending his grandfather’s wake, he called me saying he’s back in the city and asked if I could help him get a hostel for the night as he was hosed down with ice cold water early that morning for sleeping on the steps of a building. Crazy! I helped him get a hostel for that evening, but the following day, he was going to have to sleep on the streets again.
There is a scripture in the Bible that says “Perfect love casts out ALL fear” (1 John 4:18) which I believe to be true and choose to live by and I felt like I needed to offer him my place to shower, get cleaned up and stay. I have a little mixed Yorkie that DOES NOT like MEN and he will not stop barking until any male houseguest leaves the premises! It was a WONDER to see my pup leave Nick alone, which was another sure sign to me that this kid was a good kid! Haha.
He came to church again with me that Friday, then again on Sunday, and he ended up staying at my place, for another week. His wife also came to stay with me after a week or so.
In the past couple months, they have been couch-hopping around my place as well as other gracious church members from our community (THANK YOU. You know who you all are). The church helped them get into an Airbnb as they continue to attend church, make child visitations to see their kids regularly (who are currently in foster care), and now with their newly found jobs. They are actively pursuing help each week through the church, professional counseling, and social services.
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SO HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HELP CHANGE THE COURSE AND TRAJECTORY OF THEIR FAMILY’S LIVES! Now that both Nick and his wife are employed, I’ve created this campaign to help them to raise money for:
- a security deposit for an apartment near our church pastor’s place
- a couple months’ rent while they save up income from their paychecks and to buy used/new furniture for their apartment
- money for their kids’ clothing, supplies for school for when they are reunited
* I will personally be distributing the funds for their housing and other expenses and reporting on how those funds are used *
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Their kids are currently with foster care and the SOONER we are able to help them get permanent housing, the sooner they will be reunited with their children and there will not be any possibility for their kids to be put up for adoption.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING AND WILLING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS YOUNG COUPLE’S LIVES. IT’S TRULY A BEAUTIFUL STORY OF TRANSFORMATION, RESTORATION, and REDEMPTION WHICH CONTINUES TO BE WRITTEN…
I met Nick on August 5, 2018. My friend and I were walking to church on a Sunday morning. We got off the Fulton St. station in the Financial District in Manhattan. As we crossed the street, we saw a 20-something year old guy seated down on the ground with a cardboard write-up, so we went up to him to give him some money and to just ask how he was doing. Clearly not good. He was homeless. On top of that, he told me that he had just found out his grandfather passed away several days ago and he was trying to make enough cash to buy a Metro-North train ticket to attend his wake the next day.
I invited him to church which was several blocks away, and to my surprise, he quickly accepted my invitation. Once we got to church, we just wept together throughout the entire service. After, I took him out to grab a bite to eat and on our way there, we realized we had the same tattoo of a cross, on our same left hands! WHAT?!
It was apparent that this was totally a divine meeting between us!
He told me his life story, and honestly, it seemed unbelievable. The hardships he’d been through throughout his whole life, losing his family, and now his grandfather passing away… it was A LOT. I bought him some dress shoes from Century 21 so he could look presentable at his grandfather’s wake, reactivated his phone at AT&T and gave him some cash. Little did I know that us meeting that day would be a start of a special friendship.
After attending his grandfather’s wake, he called me saying he’s back in the city and asked if I could help him get a hostel for the night as he was hosed down with ice cold water early that morning for sleeping on the steps of a building. Crazy! I helped him get a hostel for that evening, but the following day, he was going to have to sleep on the streets again.
There is a scripture in the Bible that says “Perfect love casts out ALL fear” (1 John 4:18) which I believe to be true and choose to live by and I felt like I needed to offer him my place to shower, get cleaned up and stay. I have a little mixed Yorkie that DOES NOT like MEN and he will not stop barking until any male houseguest leaves the premises! It was a WONDER to see my pup leave Nick alone, which was another sure sign to me that this kid was a good kid! Haha.
He came to church again with me that Friday, then again on Sunday, and he ended up staying at my place, for another week. His wife also came to stay with me after a week or so.
In the past couple months, they have been couch-hopping around my place as well as other gracious church members from our community (THANK YOU. You know who you all are). The church helped them get into an Airbnb as they continue to attend church, make child visitations to see their kids regularly (who are currently in foster care), and now with their newly found jobs. They are actively pursuing help each week through the church, professional counseling, and social services.
----
SO HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HELP CHANGE THE COURSE AND TRAJECTORY OF THEIR FAMILY’S LIVES! Now that both Nick and his wife are employed, I’ve created this campaign to help them to raise money for:
- a security deposit for an apartment near our church pastor’s place
- a couple months’ rent while they save up income from their paychecks and to buy used/new furniture for their apartment
- money for their kids’ clothing, supplies for school for when they are reunited
* I will personally be distributing the funds for their housing and other expenses and reporting on how those funds are used *
----
Their kids are currently with foster care and the SOONER we are able to help them get permanent housing, the sooner they will be reunited with their children and there will not be any possibility for their kids to be put up for adoption.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING AND WILLING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS YOUNG COUPLE’S LIVES. IT’S TRULY A BEAUTIFUL STORY OF TRANSFORMATION, RESTORATION, and REDEMPTION WHICH CONTINUES TO BE WRITTEN…
Organizer
Sarah Lee
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY