Search Results for: Help For Lisa

I’ve given my fund raising for the Gus Fund some rest over the past few weeks.

I hate to keep asking people for money, and I was also distracted by some personal obligations. I always try to give the Army Of Good a rest,  this is not a wealthy army, it consists of good people who share small amounts of money.

But if I don’t ask for help, then we can’t help anyone. That’s just the hard reality of it.

We have done a staggering amount of good since we started work in 216, it would take me all day to list everything. The Gus Fund supports my work with the Mansion residents and the refugees and immigrants living in New York State and struggling to survive.

We also support and sponsor the Albany Warriors, that wonderful group of young refugee men (and some women) who  play soccer in the Albany area and also build character and community. This money is very well spent, every member of the team is on their school Honor Roll, that is a profound achievement for them, and for Ali.

The fund is very low right now, $750 and I’d like to get it up to $2,000 or $3,000 again.  My philosophy is to get rid of the money  as quickly as it comes in, it should be going to good use, not sitting in its own special bank account.

I spent more than $1,000 getting Lisa and her two sons established (they have new clothes and toys)  and also helping Hawah and also helped  Sifa get to a safe and clean and decent apartment. I had to give Hawah’s landlord nearly $1,000 this week to secure her new apartment, the county welfare department hasn’t sent him a check yet.

The landlord promised me that that money will come back to me. He is a good and  honorable man, he has helped us more than once.

I promised to back her up, and I will keep my promise.

I also learned that one of the refugees that I helped – I gave her money for a down payment on an apartment – did not use the money to pay her landlord, but spent it instead for personal reasons. She came back to ask us for more, we said no.

I don’t intend to try to get the money back, I’m sure she doesn’t  have it, but it was disheartening to me, the first time that has happened.

It hurt the heart, our fund will be fine. I suppose this is inevitable.

We screen the people we are helping carefully. I’ve never had anyone use the money for anything other than what they asked for and needed. I also bought two more air conditioners for the Mansion residents this month, they suffered greatly in the heat wave.

Everyone who needs an air conditioner has one.

The Army Of Good has been more than  generous. My idea is large numbers of people sending small amounts of money. You all know precisely where it goes, I document everything I do in words and pictures.

When I get the funds, I use them and then pause and then ask for more help, and then use the money. I believe this is working well. We don’t work miracles, we don’t spend lots of money, we don’t take over lives.

We just offer a hand to the poor, the needy and the vulnerable.  Get them to some stability, give them hope and promise.

It was wonderful to help Said, the Iraqi gentlemen who had lost everything after the war and was nearly homeless. He loves his new apartment, his TV with Arabic channels,  has some clothes, loves his new cellphone. He has a part-time job, he is taking good care of himself, making friends, living an independent and safe life.

We are giving the soccer team some fun and healthy activities this summer – museums, animal parks, we would like to send them on a one day trip to New York City to ride a bus around town and have lunch. I would also like to get them to the Great   Adventure Amusement and Water Park in Lake George.

You did that for him. We are keeping good alive.

I am sorry to say there are not a lot of people out there doing this for the elderly and the refugees, you are quite special and you matter.

We don’t do big things, we commit small acts of great kindness. The money goes a long way, it changes lives.

The soccer team will need to pay for its new uniforms shortly and I am eager to continue to support refugees who need some short-term assistance in getting their feet on the ground, in getting to the open field that is America, or should be.

The Mansion residents all have summer clothes, and air conditioners for their hot rooms if needed or wanted.

The Mansion also needs a new wheelchair scale, the old one is too small and is falling apart, and that will cost close to $400.  This is important, the scale is the only way the residents can be weighed.

Some of the residents need underwear and shoes. I got a bunch of summer pajamas for them.

I want to shore up some summer activities for the soccer team when summer school gets out.

So this is the pitch I have been avoiding. I’d like your help in building the fund up for the summer.

Small donations are welcome, so are bigger ones. When I get some money, I stop asking for more until it runs out. So far, the Army Of Good has not failed to help.

If you can or wish, please send your contributions to “The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. And thank you.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”  – Matthew 25:35.

Shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday with Ali and Lisa and Mudasir and Baseer, I felt in many ways that the refugees define me. I feel they define the true soul and spirit of our country as well.

I am close to the refugee experience, my grandparents were all refugees and I saw the devastating consequences of leaving home, family,  and all of one’s possessions to enter a whole new world.

Refugees by definition have lost everything.

My grandparents did it for their children, as Lisa did it for hers. After her husband was killing for helping the Americans, she said she could no longer bear raising her children in such a violent and dangerous culture, she and her boys were targets also.

I saw the refugee mentality close-up, in my grandparents, in my relatives and neighbors. I see it every week in Albany. Work hard, be brave, never give the pursuit of a better life for children or for the American dream.

Our county was built and continues to prosper off of the sweat and blood and backs of immigrants and refugees. They come to us seeking asylum, dignity, freed and a chance just to breathe and live.

Do we really wish to become a country that slams its doors and refuses to let them in, or turns our back son them when they most need our help?

I don’t want to live in that country.

I recognize myself in those who are not like me and not like  you. I see myself reflected in the struggles of those who flee the mouths of sharks. Every time I help another, I help myself.

Lisa did not know, of course, that she and her sons would be walking into a firestorm of a different culture by coming to America, culturally violent and divisive in its own way. She is bewildered by the raging controversy about refugees and their place.

She does not  understand it or know what to say about it, or the harassment and taunting felt by her sons.

You either feel for the refugees or you don’t, I suppose it is as simple as that. No one can be argued into compassion.

I see myself in her and I see the person I wish to be, and am proud to be. Nothing is more selfish than helping someone else, nothing feels better. I do it for me, for my grandmother, for the refugees of the world, too numerous for me to even think of helping.

One at a time. One day at a time. One family at a time.

Lisa has some money now for personal things. Her sons have new clothes and toys now so they don’t look so different from their classmates. Soon, she will be moving to a safe and clean apartment. In a month or so, she will have completed her English language training, she is speaking English haltingly but well.

She will then be able to look for work and find a good job. We will help her. She is very close.

I don’t argue the plight of the  refugees with others. I can only say how I feel and do what I can. When this madness is over, and it will one day be over, I want it to be said that I did what i could for as long as I could.

You either empathize with these people or you don’t. I consider my own humanity to be at stake. I am sorry to see our country turn so selfish and cold.

Every political or spiritual leader I have ever followed or admired described caring for the poor and the vulnerable as a sacred act, a test of our humanity, of our  faith and self-respect.

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land,” says Leviticus 19:33-34, “do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself…”

My friend Ali knows this. His faith is not just evoked, it is lived.

I  see the sadness and struggle in Lisa’s face, she is a sweet and shy woman, used to a  culture that embraced a certain life for women. She was protected all of the time.

That culture is gone, and she is in a very different space now, she is awakening to the very American call of feminism and independence, she misses her husband dearly but is rising up to find a her place in this new world. She is happy to be here, she appreciates being free. She accepts the challenge of living here and never, ever complains.

I see the courage and sacrifice in her through the eyes and faces of her sons,  they are strong, loving, content. She has done a wonderful job with them, I cannot really even imagine the toll on her, I see it in her eyes.

The great challenge in Lisa’s life now is poverty. She was not poor in Afghanistan, she is poor now. She lost everything to make this great leap. This is the help she needs until she can organize herself, finish her English language training, find work and a safe place to live for she and her sons. Not a lot of money, but enough money every month so she can go forward and build her life.

I am committed, along with Ali, to guiding her on the path to independence. In America, poverty is a brutal cycle of need, fear and struggle. We do not have enough money to erase her poverty, or to support her life, only to hold her hand, bring some light and ease to her life and the life of her sons. To begin life anew, for just a few hundred dollars a month, and then, just until September.

Next week, back to Wal-Mart to spend the other $400 we raised for her last week, and thanks for that.

If you wish, you can help us get her to the open field, you can contribute to her by sending a donation to the Gus Fund, Jon Katz. P.O. Box 205, Cambridge N.Y., or via Paypal, [email protected].  You can mark it “LIsa” if you wish.

We will stand with her and her sons and do whatever we can to life Lisa up until she can  care for herself. She has no wish to be dependent on anyone. She is close.

And thanks.

We had to badger Lisa to stop her from getting clothes for her sons, and getting something for herself. She confided softly that she badly needed some new shoes, and we took her to the shoe section at Wal-Mart where she chose some slip-on shoes – her sons brought her shoes they liked – and she tried them on right on the floor.

Once we knew her size, we bought three pairs of shoes for her. The most expensive was $9.98. Lisa said she has not had a new pair of shoes for six or seven years. She is 27 years old.

Lisa usually will only smile when she thinks of her late husband, killed by a roadside bomb while driving food to American soldiers. She says he made them all smile, and it is hard for her to smile now. She did smile a few times when she saw how happy her sons were with the toys and clothes they got.

This, Ali and I know, will help them tremendously in school, where American kids place a great value on clothes, and they have been  taunting Baseer and Mudasir because they wear the same old clothes again and again.

This felt really good.

Mudasir and I played hide and seek while Ali and Lisa and Baseer looked for towels. The cart was stuffed with toys and clothes and housewares, including a big new and urgently needed trash can.

it was a scorchingly hot day, inside and out of the store,  and we all went as long as we could. We had to stop, I was soaked in  sweat and worn out. But it was a great kind of fatigue, it felt so good to be in this place at this tie doing what we were doing.

I am so grateful to you for your support of Lisa. She will need some long-term help and support. I f you wish to help, you can contribute by sending a donation to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz. Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

There is great need among the refugees now, they are alone and under relentless siege in the very country that they thought would provide peace and refuge. I hope we can help honor that historic pledge.

Lisa only smiles when we talk of her late husband, killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, or when someone offers help  help children, Mudasir, seven and Baseer, 5. Her love for them all is touching and uplifting.

I think she will be smiling on Wednesday, I hope so, she is just 27, and has a beautiful smile. Last week, I asked for help in raising $500 to take Mudasir and Baseer to Wal-Mart to buy some clothes and toys, the first new clothes the boys have ever had and the first new toys also.

Ali and Lisa will be there, and so will I. Thinks just lifts my heart right up, we make our own good news since they won’t give us any. I will also be bringing a new Black and Decker lightweight vacuum for Lisa, to help clean her current apartment, filled with mice and roaches, and prepare for the new one she is getting in September.

Her husband was killed because he was working for the Americans. We hope to give something back for the same reason.

This is a wonderful and deserving family, Lisa is independent and hard-working, we are helping her get to an open field so she can continue to put her new life together in America. She has been living out on the edge, without enough food, or money for things like soap or deodorant or proper lighting. We are taking cafe of those things.

She was very alone, not any longer. If you wish to help you can contribute by sending a check to the Gus Fund, P.O. Box 205, State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., or via Paypal, [email protected]. You can also make a one-time donation in any amount through the donate button at the bottom of the blog.

Please note there that your contribution is for the refugees or the Mansion residents. Thanks so much for making this happen, I think we will all be smiling on Wednesday..

Lisa’s new vacuum cleaner