A post on a Hillsborough community social media page sparked a grassroots effort to help a single mother and her two young children make the transition from living in a homeless shelter to making an apartment into their new home.
Earlier this month, local resident and activist Didier Jimenez posted a public call to action to help the small family get acclimated to their new living situation. The identities of the mother and her children are being withheld, due to the sensitive nature of their time living in a homeless shelter.
Jimenez, who has volunteered for a number of organizations including the Make a Wish Foundation, the Wild Life Conservation Society, Autism Speaks and Partners in Caring, said he learned of the trio’s situation and felt compelled to act.
“The struggle of the single mom I helped is not unusual and it happens all over this country and I believe we need to step up as citizens of this great country and human beings,” he said.
What followed in the days after Jimenez made his post was an outpouring of support from the Hillsborough community, with residents donating items like bed sets, dishes, lamps, a kitchen table, chairs, ShopRite gift cards and other supplies to help the single mom get on her feet. The children were also given new toys and books, as well as gift cards to Kohl’s for new clothes.
So many donations came in, according to Jimenez, that it took four trips in a pickup truck to get all of the donations to the apartment.
Working to help others has not been a new concept for Jimenez.
“At a young age, my mother taught me that acquiring money is the worst way to find true happiness and she encouraged me to find my happiness through helping others,” he said. “She was able to mold my moral compass in a way that made it easy for me to dedicate my life and now my career to help those less fortunate.”
Jimenez currently works full-time at the Ozanam Family Shelter in Edison, which helps provide shelter for more than a dozen homeless single women and nearly 30 homeless families.
“The culture that we live forces us to get our own and disregard others in a ‘dog-eat-dog’ culture,” Jimenez said. “I believe this is the time to look across the street and talk to our neighbors invite them for dinner learn that we have more in common than we have apart.”