Background

Abu Bassam and his family, which includes 3 boys with severe cerebral palsy that requires 24 hour care, have spent the last 7 years living as refugees in Lebanon after being forced to flee their home in Syria. He and his wife care for Bassam (16), Wissam (15), and Mohammad (4) at home because there are no schools or agency that are equipped to help them. The boys' medications alone are $600 a month, and even 2 days without medication puts them at risk for life-threatening seizures.

The family's neighbors help them pay their rent, but the monthly wage for a Syrian construction worker, even as highly skilled as Abu Bassam, is only $400. NGO budget cuts have made the family's financial situation particularly precarious. Last month, the family received a message from the international NGO responsible for their case, informing them that they will no longer receive the $150 of monthly cash assistance and heating and fuel subsidies that have been necessary to make ends meet. Winter is here, and the family is unable to pay for the food, fuel, and medical expenses for their family.

How did I connect with this family?

Some of you may remember that I did a fundraiser for them previously, having connected with them through the nonprofit Humanwire. After the fundraiser closed, I learned that the CEO of Humanwire was arrested for embezzling more than $130,000 (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/29/andrew-baron-humanwire-plea-agreement/). Some digging showed me that about half of what we raised for Abu Bassam's family was never given to them.

About a month ago I was contacted by an NYU PhD student, Samuel, living in Lebanon. He'd met the family and wanted to learn from me what had happened to the Humanwire money so that he could explain it to them (obviously I hadn't been successful in explaining it myself, given the language barrier). Samuel told me how it would be possible for me to get funds to the family, so I decided to do one more fundraiser. We can't fix the NGO funding, but we can alleviate some of the burden for the family this winter.