My family is in the middle of a crisis, and I am reaching out in the hope that our community can come together to help us.

My 12-year-old brother was rushed to Harris Hospital after going into diabetic shock. He was then airlifted to Westchester Hospital to save his life. During the flight, he aspirated, which went unnoticed until his third day in the hospital. This caused pneumonia on top of the diabetic shock he was already fighting. He is still hospitalized and will need extensive medical care, supplies and a specific diet when he comes home.

As we deal with this medical emergency, we are also living in unsafe and unhealthy housing. We had to leave our last rental due to poor maintenance, only to end up in a place with even worse conditions. Our bathroom floor is caving in over a large hole, there is mold throughout the home, and a severe fly infestation makes it hard to live comfortably. The children are afraid to shower, and we have often had to bathe at friends’ homes or even in public pool bathrooms just to stay clean. The landlord won’t give us our security deposit back, has refused to fix anything while we are living here, and told us that once we move, he will fix it. 

Our mother has been at the hospital full-time caring for my brother and our younger sibling, and she is unable to work. There is currently only one adult income in the household, which is not enough to cover everything we need. To make matters worse, our only van is breaking down, making it difficult to keep up with appointments and daily responsibilities.

We have set up a GoFundMe to raise $3,500 to move into a safe home, provide medical supplies for my brother’s recovery, and cover transportation needs. Any donation, no matter how small, or even just sharing the link, would be a tremendous help to us.

www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-save-my-little-brother-and-move-us-to-a-safer-home/cl/s?lang=en_US

Deijha Hernandez
Fallsburg, NY