NZF Brought Hope When All I Saw Was Darkness

NZF instilled hope in my heart when it felt like there was none

There was nothing left for me and my daughter in Eritrea. They talked about the American dream and I thought, maybe that’s the country where a single mother like me would find opportunity.

We ended up arriving on a visitor visa and lived in a shelter for a few years. Every time a year would pass us, I thought, “Now. Now we’re going to get the chance to apply for a green card” but that time never came. To survive and make ends meet, I had to work cash jobs because I couldn’t work legally. I worked until we saved enough to pay someone to help us cross the border and get into Canada.

There was some hope until we got arrested by the CBSA at the border. I scrambled to find a way to get them to understand that we were refugees; we had a claim to make.

After that, we were connected to a settlement agency who referred us to the National Zakat Foundation. I didn’t have high expectations but we were hungry, lost and exhausted.

To our surprise, NZF helped us clear our debt and aided us in paying rent.

Shortly after, I was able to obtain a work permit and work legally but I know that those six months would have been impossible to get through without NZF.

They instilled hope when it felt like there was none.

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