Recently we started a "Crowdfunding" to collect money for the "Mother & Child Shelter".
But WHY are we taking so much effort for "this thing"?
The answer is very simple:
Because we see the Need and it has touched our heart. It is not possible for us to ignore it and offer our Support and actually DO something in order to see real Change in These women's and their children's lifes.
Without this shelter, there is oftentimes only one alternative: going back to the street, back to their old live from where they were actually escaped.
Renata herself can not afford to buy another house {nor to rent one}, so we promised her to Support her, raising the money that is needed...
Let us tell you a bit more about it...
We met Renata {founder and leader of the mother & child shelter} on a cold November day.
Renata is a freelance psychologist who was touched by the needs of a big number of women that come from difficult backgrounds: domestic violence, abuse, unemployment and so on. She decided to open a "shelter" where these women could find a place to be during a severe crisis and for women that have no other place to go in order to get away from a toxic environment. Many of them are mothers of small children. Here at Renatas "shelter" they have the opportunity to find a place where they get new hope and tools to start a new life - together with their children. Renata does not receive a salary for her work - she is living from money people donate to her. Oftentimes she struggles with bills she doesn't know how to pay. This is how we got in touch with Renata, as someone asked us to donate for the firewood during winter. But there is so much more needed than "just" firewood - Renata definitely needs another house!
When we entered the house through the narrow entrance, we received a warm welcome by the women that invited us into the house. While drinking tea in the livingroom we had a wonderful time getting to know each other and listen to their life stories. Stories full of suffering and pain. And yet, there was a spirit of hope and love filling this room. Later on Renata showed us the other rooms of the house where the women and their children live, the so called bathroom (with no water supply, no shower, one little toilet with no flushing), the kitchen (which is not of use, this is why they cook on a small camping gaz stove), the tiny bedrooms (some of them don't even have room enough to put a bed in, so they sleep on a armchair which is extended with a little table to make some kind of "bed") - our jaws dropped... "Do they really live in this place?". We do not find the right words to describe it. Ok it is a house but it is definitely NOT a home!
Stefan and I started to think about a "fixer upper" project, then we learned that Renata can not keep the house and will have to look for other possibilities. The big obstacle is, that there is no money either to rent a house or even to buy one... So we came up with this idea of rising money in order to buy Renata a house where the women and their children will find a new home, where they can stay and not fear to be thrown out one day.
Thank you so much for your care and finacial support in order to buy a home for Renata, the women and their children. Please help us, to keep our promise towards Renata...