## A Daughter’s Wish: Helping My Father and Family Survive After Years of Trauma
### Our Story
Hello, my name is Nisa. I am 14 years old, and I am writing this because my family needs help, and my father is carrying a weight no single parent should have to bear alone. Right now, my dad, my older brother, and I are living in a New York City homeless shelter. We have been here for over six months. Because of shelter system regulations, my older sister and her closest friend—who we consider family—can't be in the shelter with us and are forced to live separately with a family friend. Our family is fractured, and we are just trying to survive.
I am setting this up because my dad always tells me, "It’s okay to just be a kid, stop trying to find a job, go have fun." But I can’t just sit here. I see him struggling physically and mentally every day. He is 50 years old, juggling the weight of five kids as a single father, and he has spent his entire life in survival mode.
### The Path That Brought Us Here
My parents both grew up in East New York surrounded by extreme hardships, drug abuse, and violence. When they built a life together, they worked hard to find stability. For a time, we had it. My dad worked in music production, and in 2011, we moved out to Hawaii to explore our roots and raise our family in a safe environment.
But while we were there, severe, unaddressed mental health crises tore our family apart. My mother became incredibly abusive, subjected my siblings and me to extreme physical and emotional trauma, and forced us into terrifying conditions. To save our lives, my father stepped in, took us away from the abuse, and flew us ###back to NYC at the end of 2019—right at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting over from scratch in NYC was a nightmare. We spent four years in the shelter system, dealt with intense custody battles, and lost thousands of dollars in the process. We finally secured an apartment in 2022, but the trauma followed us. My oldest brother suffered severe mental health breaks that threatened our safety, and another of my older brothers returned to Hawaii, only to survive a near-fatal stabbing and end up unjustly entangled in the legal system. But even when we were struggling just to stay afloat in that tiny apartment, my family chose love. My older sister had a close friend named Mia back in Hawaii who was trapped in an abusive household, suffering severe trauma from her family since she was only eight years old. Working incredibly hard, my sister flew out to Hawaii to rescue Mia and bring her back to NYC.
When Mia arrived, my father accepted her with completely open arms. Despite our tight space and our own struggles, my dad became a true father figure to her, showing her what a real, healthy family relationship is actually supposed to look like. She became my sister, too.
Just when we thought we were finding our footing, we were suddenly displaced from our NYC apartment with zero notice, leaving all of our belongings behind. That is how we ended up back in the shelter system where we are today. On top of everything, we still have to live in hiding to keep our location safe from those who want to hurt us my mother and brother.
Why We Need Your Help
Despite everything, I don’t carry hatred in my heart. I know the people who hurt us were just failing to survive their own pain and trauma. But my dad has spent every single day of his life fighting for us, and I want him to be able to relax for just one second.
"I can't just live life knowing there is something I can do to help. I have lost too many people to trauma and illness."
Our goal is high because we need to completely rebuild. Your donations will go directly toward:
Securing a safe, permanent House far away where our whole family (including my non biological sister) can be reunited.
These are my words" i want to run away from all of it i hope that when i reach enough me and my family can go somewhere quite where nobody knows my family maybe even back to Hawaii where our story was cut to short to begin buy a house and feel finally secure after years of pain"
Covering emergency living expenses so my dad can focus on healing instead of just surviving.
Anything you can contribute—even just sharing our link—means the world to us. I promise that when I get older, I will fight to make sure stories like mine are never unnoticed. Please help me make a change for my family today. Thank you for listening to our story.
