Please Help Us Help Daniela's Family

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I've been at this blog for nearly 3 years now and have never asked for something like this—I hope I've earned enough trust to be able to ask something back from you. Above is a picture of Daniela and her family. Brandon, age 6, Daniela, age 9 and little Evelyn age 4. Daniela is divorcing her spouse after years of abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she's lost her house.

As of this moment, Daniela's family is staying at our house and we are trying to help her find a one bedroom apartment for her family to live in.  With Evelyn, her youngest having Down's Syndrome and Daniela herself being a Romanian immigrant with very little family support she literally has no one to turn to. Except us (all of us).

Daniela cleans houses when she can leave her family. I'm not even going to tell you what she gets paid—it's obscene. Right now her options are pretty limited, aside from an apartment, there is only a group shelter. Not very pretty.

Here's what we are asking. Right now, Belinda and I are opening our home, but it's tight as we have no basement. We've committed to giving as much as we can spare, diverting funds from other places.  I'm asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Daniela and her family. Enough so that she doesn't have to worry about a deposit or rent for a while.

I know this is the worst possible time to ask for anything. But would you consider the following:

1. Giving whatever you can ("Chip in" uses Pay Pal and it's very easy to donate and it's secure)
2. Spread the word. Please, please blog this, tweet this, re-tweet this.
3. Help find a donor (maybe a generous company or individual)

I don't have anything to offer back. Not an ego list or top donators directory. I can only hope that this thing we call "community" puts its money or heart where its mouth is. Please do whatever you can.

Respectfully, David and family

PS, if you don't feel comfortable using Pay Pal, please e-mail us here and we'll figure it out. And thank you.

Comments

[michael walsh]

David,

You're doing an amazing thing here. I'll make a personal contribution and Leverage Software contribution tomorrow and RT now. Best of luck - tough situation for them.

Mike

[Gary Cohen]

David,
No matter how hard we have it, there are always people that have it harder than us. Yes We Can.
Gary

[Heather]

David,

I think it's great that you're doing this. I co-facilitate a support group for survivors of domestic violence once a week -- and those are by far some of the most courageous women I've ever met. What city are you in? Many shelters offer assistance with these type of needs for survivors who don't need/want to live in the shelter. they also can help with food, clothing, etc.

Thanks for helping her and raising awareness about domestic violence. I hope you are successful. She is very lucky to have a friend like you.

Heather (@prtini)

[Sam]

This is awesome, thanks for giving us the opportunity to show the value of who we roll with.

As Albert Pike said:

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal"

[Drew McLellan]

David,

Done. Tell Daniela not to worry. The blogosphere is a generous bunch.

You and Belinda are good people.

Drew

[Karl Long]

glad to help in any way I can David.

[Sonny Gill]

You're a good good man - nice to see you doing such a great thing. I've chipped in my part to help out Daniela and her family.

[Jennifer Kemp (KempInMotion)]

David, thank you for being so courageous to share this with us. Yes, I will help. I'll retweet tonight and donate tomorrow.
I will do more with my network if need be. Call anytime, you have my contact info.

Please share with Daniela that she is not alone and will get through this.

Peace. Jennifer @KempInMotion

[Cathy Browne]

Will RT and do what I can for the family - bless you and your family for what you are doing to help.

[Deirdre Reid]

You sort of made my night. I'm not feeling too well and this perked me up. What a great couple you are. Glad to help.

[Heather]

Done.

Good to know there are people like you and Belinda looking out for people like Daniela and her kids.

[Mike Rupert]

This is a beautiful thing your doing. Glad to help. You're a saint.

[Marc Meyer]

right on david, right on...help is what she will get..

[Taylor]

Good luck to Daniela and her family.

[A Mahler]

The Chip-In function seems to be a bit quirky. It did take me to Paypal but it seems you need to fill in donation amount AND sign in at the SAME time.

I would think you'd have to sign in FIRST and THEN donate. If you try to do that, it gives an error message and tell you to check back.

Anyway, just wanted you to know it's a bit quirky but does work if you fiddle with it.

Best wishes
Angela

[Christa]

Happy to help. She is amazing for leaving him. And you are amazing for opening your home and asking your network to help her. Mine is small, but I will do what I can.

[Jamie (@realwebjobs)]

Done. Thanks for this. Nice to see people with big hearts in this world.

I added the widget to the front page of my website at http://www.realwebjobs.com too, hope it helps.

[Karen Sugarpants]

This is so touching. I have a very close friend who was in Daniela's situation about 3 years ago. She left and didn't turn back. She got on her feet and is doing so well now. All the best to Daniela and her kids - you're doing such a beautiful thing!

[MHockaday]

God will bless you for your generous heart and spirit.

[Tori Tuncan]

Thanks for being kind, and for giving us an opportunity to follow your lead.

Go Daniela! :)

[KJS]

I chipped in. Good luck on the fundraiser.

[Joseph Engo]

Money is really bad these days for my self, but regardless I sent what I could. I wish you the best of luck!

[Adam Keats]

Dave - a tip of the hat to you and your family for opening your doors and hearts to this family. Writing the check or sending PayPal is the easy part. You're going well above and beyond and teaching all of us young and old some solid life lessons.

[Chaunacey]

Thank you for helping. Glad to do my part to help, too.

[AV Flox]

I missed your tweet, but caught @AKFirecracker, who was retweeting @Pistachio. This is why I love Twitter--it's more than just sharing information or establishing social capital, it's about community. What better example than this right here?

I've put in a contribution and will be retweeting, as well as getting the word out to friends who are not on Twitter.

You're wonderful, Dave. I'm glad Daniela has people in her life like you and your family.

[Alanna]

Just chipped in $5. It's small, but it all adss up, right?

[Glenn]

This is the BEST possible time to ask - as we all could use more positivity - and this is a very positive thing. I am sure you will reach your financial goals.

Thanks to you David and Belinda and Daniela and the community for giving these 3 beautiful kids a better life.

[Glenn Raines]

Great thing you're doing David for Daniela and her kids.

Glad to support courage and love.

[Lisa Kenney]

What you're doing takes real generosity. All the best to Daniela and her family.

[Dalibor Dimovski]

Dave,
Great hearts are hard to come by these days... Thanks for opening yours to the family.

[paulmcenany]

You guys are awesome, Darmano. Much good on the Armano extended family.

[Mark]

I just learned about this from an @garyvee tweet.

What a terrible thing for this young family to go through! Donation made and cause tweeted.

God bless you Daniela, Brandon, Daniela (Jr) and little Evelyn! Also Dave and Belinda.

[Mari Smith]

I am moved by the generosity of the blogosphere and Twittersphere. Yes, we're in a down economy, but money is still flowing.

It's an honor to make a contribution to help this special cause. Daniela clearly has huge courage to step forward and walk away from a destructive situation. Life can only go up from here!!

Kudos to you for your support, David.

Cheers,
@marismith

[John Minnihan]

Thanks for asking - happy to be able to help.

[ScottyHendo]

Good work everybody! More proof that people like to help people. Thanks for pulling this together

[B.L. Ochman]

Thank you David and your family for this show of kindness and generosity. We're a tribe, we'll all help. Thank you for asking us, and I hope things soon get easier for Daniella.
BL

[Jasmin Tragas]

David (and family) - by opening your home to Daniela you have made it so much easier for others to open their hearts and wallets. Hoping everything changes for the better for Daniela in 2009. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to help make that difference.

[Redschadler]

Thankful that you could help her and for giving us the opportunity to do so as well!

[Len Kendall]

It's an interesting personal phenomenon. Prior to twitter I rarely gave out money for charitable orgs. Mainly because I didn't always trust that the money was being spent in the best way. Now in the past 3 months I've given a decent sum to various causes via Twitter/ChipIn and it's mostly because of the personal trust factor that is there.

I hope that the small contributions the community is making will help Daniela and her kids breath a bit easier for the next few months and focus their efforts on growing stronger as a family.

Kudos to you for your facilitation of this great deed and my best to Daniela and the kids.

[Caitlin]

To David and family: thank you and kudos for what you have done here.

To Daniela and family: your strength and hope has been rewarded. Ask for help you will get it, you are definitely not alone. Clearly, you have the support of a community behind you, and probably a whole slew of happy baby-sitters ready to offer up some alone time for mom.

Indeed, a happy new year.

[Paras Shah]

Please tell Daniela and her family that we can't change the past, but we can only hope to help their family have a better future. David, it's wonderful that you have taken them into your home, and used this vehicle for something truly meaningful.

peace,
@kingstonmassive

[Warren Sukernek]

Armano, you are a real hero to many of us and setting a great example. Thanks for sharing the story with your community. It's an honor to help out.

[Rob Shore]

Having only been a part of the Twitter community for 6 months I continue to be humbled by the generosity of so many.

Glad to help this cause.

Rob
@shorespeak

[Suki Fuller]

True meaning of community.

[Paula]

More than happy to help this cause. It takes an amazing woman to have the courage to get out of this type of situation and work towards a better life with such limited resources. God Bless Daniela and her family.

@SoCalVA

[Craig Sutton]

Happy to help, hope others continue to do so as well. Its awesome of you to do what you are doing.

[Angie Jones]

Soooo happy to help such a deserving family. And so thankful that she has such wonderful friends to help her out during this difficult time. Best of luck to you all!

Angie Jones
@FitBizWoman

[Carrie Kerpen]

David, wonderful idea. In honor of women everywhere who have been abused physically, mentally, or emotionally. I donated to your friend in honor of my friend, who didn't leave. Tell your friend she made the right choice.

[Leslie Poston]

I was too busy retweeting like mad to comment before, but this gets a HELL YES I'LL HELP from me. Absolutely giving now and more on the weekend. Don't take that widget down early :) Daniela, hang in there - you'll come out of it stronger, I promise, I know.

[Lucretia Pruitt]

You are amazing! Only just now saw this - glad Daniella's family has someone like you on their side.

[Tim Frommer]

Thanks for sharing the story and sharing your home. I chipped in. Best of luck to Daniela and family.

cheers,
Tim F.

[Richie Escovedo]

Not bad for a Tuesday night.

This is such an awesome and inspiring example of the good in people. Please tell Daniela that we are praying for her.

Richie
@vedo

[Kami W Huyse]

Hope this inspires her and helps her to make a better life for herself and her beautiful children.

[Dave]

This is awesome, so glad to help. Evelyn is darling, we also have a DS child, and hope all the best for Daniela and her family. God Bless!

@daveangulo

[Adam Cohen]

Well done David - this is showcasing the kind of good that social media can be put to. I donated in honor of sm4sc.com (Social Media for Social Change) who had a similar fundraiser in Boston last year for JaneDoe.org, the Massachusetts coalition against domestic violence.

With the right support I think you can double your goal. Just retweeted.

[Justin Goldsborough (JGoldsborough on Twitter)]

No matter how amazing you think people are, they'll just turn right back around and do something else to amaze you even more.

You've done that here and so have all the generous contributors to Daniella and her family. A RT & donation coming your way.

Btw, when I see the community come together behind a cause like this it makes me wonder how so many still don't see the value Twitter provides.

[giovanni]

bless you, your wife, Daniela and her family.

[JustinSMV]

Hey David, Great thing you are doing here and I just wanted to let you know I chipped in and will help retweet and blog about this.

[Beth Mansfield]

Nicely done David. Amazing what the power of a great community can do. Glad we could help Daniella & family get a fresh start.

[Scott Schablow]

David, I was going to respond on my iPhone but the tears falling on the screen made it impossible to see.

I was putting my 8 year old son to bed (1 of 3 precious children). We had just finished his bedtime story and he nodded off. I read about Daniela's story on my iPhone and then glanced back at his sweet, peaceful face nestled into his favorite pillow, in his own bed. In our own house. I wept.

Our family has had a tragic year. But tonight Daniela helped me realize just what a wonderful life we have. We're emerging with a deepened faith and superhero strength. Helping someone else would enrich us greatly.

We'd like to assist however we can. I'll make a donation a bit later tonight and RT too. I also have a close friend here who is Romanian. I don't know if our how he can help (translations, gov't resources, etc?) DM me (@sschablow) and I'll get you connected if you like.

Thank you for stepping up and chipping in and tell Daniela that she and her family are in our thoughts and prayers.

[Mitch Joel - Twist Image]

We are all connected, so this affects all of us. Thanks for bringing us all this opportunity David. If they need anything else (over and above some money), just let us know. Stay strong and keep doing what you're doing.

[Ray Page]

I'm pretty confident that your family's karma will be in the plus from quite some time. Best wishes on the fund raiser and more importantly to Daniela and family.

@raypage

[Greg Huntoon]

The power of social media. Man, all the best to you and your friend here. I hope she finds all of the financial and emotional support through this tough time. One love.

[MsCapriKell]

I added a small contribution, what I could afford right now... amazing what you've done here! way to "be the change"!!! Positive vibes to Daniela and her family!

[Mark Bao]

More than happy to help. Always astonished at the power of weblogs and Twitter to create change.

As others have said, you are doing an amazing thing. Thank you.

[Anthony Imperioli]

Amazing thing happening here. More than happy to be a part of it all. I'm poor as hell but I'm more than eager to help anyone in need.

[dirk shaw]

You are a good man David..

[Nick]

david - awesome my man. forget the social media aspect of this and the money we are all giving. opening your home to someone and mobilizing your community when you need to is incredible. thanks for leading by example.

@NickSeguin

[TarotByArwen]

I caught this on a Tweet as well. Gave what I could and retweeted it. This is what real social networking is about. Like others said... Yes, we can!

[Ari Herzog]

I'm poor these days, David, but who am I to say no to a plea for help?

I contributed something.

And am trying to virally spread this message.

Thanks for being a mensch, a good person. :)

[Lucia Mancuso]

Daniella is a courageous woman and those kids are all too adorable to ignore.

I'm so happy to see how much has been donated - life can be hard at times but it is amazing to see the beauty of the human spirit.

My heart & thoughts are with your friend.

Thanks for allow me to do my part.

@lulula

[Lee Dale]

Seeing the results of this in the two hours or so since I caught @jaygoldman's Twitter post makes me proud to be a human. Respect to everyone.

Peace.
Lee

[Cindy West]

Done. And I will pass along my network. If you would like to take this to the media, let me know I will send it out to my team. Will need a little more information though.

[Clinton David Skakun]

David,
You're Awesome! Saw this on Twitter a few hours ago.

I wish Daniella's family all the best!

Regards

[Warren Sukernek]

Please digg this story, http://cli.gs/TzH51a

[Beth]

This is wonderful! Great to see more geeks who give!

[jag]

Good for you for doing this. Best of luck to Daniella and her family. Way to be strong! Wish I could give more.

[Dino]

I got such emotional goosebumps from this. Thank you, such a great example. Best wishes to you and best wishes especially to Daniela and her cute family.

[Kristy Duncan]

Happy to help. All the best to Daniela & her family.

[Kelly King Anderson]

thank you, i'm so touched, sending prayers your way and to her family to get the support they need

[Tania]

We're about 3 twitters removed. Saw the tweet retweeted and followed it back to here and donated.

Having worked in a field where I used to see the results of various levels of abuse, it warms my heart to know that women do leave, and they do have people they can turn to.

I don't know you from Adam but this is a better gamble than a night of poker.

All the best to you and your family for helping, and to Daniela and her family for the bravery they've shown.

Thank you for letting us be a part of something great.

[Ms Constantine]

This is amazing. I saw tweet earlier and retweeted but now seeing that the needed amount has been almost doubled in only a few hours I feel very moved. Almost to the point of tears.

You have done an amazing thing. I wish Daniela and her family the best of luck in their new life.
With her bravery I doubt she needs my luck though :]

[Ari Herzog]

I saw there were entries on Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.

I just added something on Sphinn, too: http://sphinn.com/story/95691

[Patrick Byers]

David,

This is so worth it. Having problems w/ the ChipIn widget, but I'll keep trying to throw a few bucks in the kitty.

I'm also adding this to my list of "social media for social good" examples here: http://delicious.com/patrickbyers/socialgood

Thanks for making this happen.

Patrick Byers
@patrickbyers

[Tania]

We're about 3 twitterers and a couple of thousand kilometres removed. Saw the tweet retweeted and followed it back to here and donated.

Having worked in a field where I used to see the results of various levels of abuse, it warms my heart to know that women do leave, and they do have people they can turn to.

I don't know you from Adam but this is a better gamble than a night of poker.

All the best to you and your family for helping, and to Daniela and her family for the bravery they've shown.

Thanks for letting us be a part of showing her she made the right decision.

@Tania94

[Tania]

Oops, obviously new to your blog. Please delete first comment. Was working on editing. D'oh!

[avin]

David, left a comment on chipin for you but wanted to do so here as well. what you are doing for this family is amazing. really incredible. i am in awe at the rapid and generous support so far. hopefully it keeps going.

[Des Walsh]

Apart from anything else, David - and it is a wonderful story with lots of "elses" - it is a well-deserved tribute to the trust the community has in you.

[Emmet Gibney]

Dugg it

[Tonya]

You did a wonderful job helping these people. I'm astounded by how many have been able to chip in and accomplish so much in one day. Daniella is a very strong woman who made a very difficult choice. I'm glad she and her family are getting this chance for a fresh start!

[Carlos Abler]

What a beautiful family.

[Shawna Fennell]

I think it is amazing what you are doing :) I posted on our blog for Yahoo Store owners and hope that they will pitch in to the cause!

[One Degree]

One connection at a time; one hand offered to another. That's what social media is all about. All the best to Daniela's family and to yours.

[Maura]

I don't know what I'm more impressed with: your actions or the power of Twitter. I'm happy to help and will be interested to see how much will ultimately be contributed to help this family.

[Anders]

Hey!
Good things you're doing here and I will chip in in a couple of days, not much but I certainly will help!

[Tia Singh]

Have retweeted it - glad to see you`ve got nearly double the original amount! Best wishes to Daniela and the kids and so proud of her for getting out, and you for doing this. Bless you!

[Rajesh Setty]

David,

Sorry to hear about what happened to Daniela's family. What you and Belinda are doing for them is wonderful. Glad to be able to help a bit.

I wish Daniela's family the very best.

Best,
Raj

[James Poling]

Could you please email me your paypal email address? Also will you be posting a tally of total contributions as you get them?

P.S. All this info may be on ChipIn but that requires flash and I'm on my iPhone.

[Thel]

Maybe some of the info here would help?

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/resources/index.html

[Angsuman Chakraborty]

Just tweeted it, saw lots of other tweets too. Looks like things are moving well.

Wish you good luck from India.

Take care,
Angsuman