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Single mom loses job and needs help for 4 children

Expires in over 2 years

The reason:

Rosabell came to Reason to Give with a special request. She wants to send her oldest son, Steven, on an educational trip to Europe with his highschool class. Both Rosabell and Steven agree that such an opportunity does not come often for kids that grow up in Humboldt Park, and that traveling abroad would provide Steven with an education that he cannot get in the classroom. Steven's dream is to grow up to work in design and architecture, which is the basis for the trip to Europe. His mother just hopes to give her children something she never had; the opportunity to experience other cultures and to see that the world goes far beyond the familiar blocks and often violent streets of west Humboldt Park.

Rosabell moved to Humboldt Park in the late 1980s. She tells Reason to Give, growing up in the neighborhood meant "gangs and racial segregation were a part of our daily living environment." Rosabell dealt with a lot of prejudice growing up, but she tells us that once she was old enough to recognize that prejudice is ignorance, her experiences only made her stronger. Rosabell was the first in her family to graduate high school. She went on to complete a certificate in micro computer business systems and get her pharmacy technician license. Rosabell is now a freshman at DePaul University attending the School for New Learning for a BS in Business Management.

Rosabell is a single mother of four children: Steven, 16; Shanayah, 13; Darien, 8; and Celest, 6.  The recent loss of employment for Rosabell has been devastating for her family. Rosabell has worked very hard to get her children into charter schools so that they have more opportunities than she did going through the public school system. Although her daughters are battling some emotional issues and her youngest son is handicapped by slowed physical and mental development, Rosabell keeps faith that her family will make it through these hard times even stronger. Rosabell is a proud woman who has always provided  for her family on her own. But in these desperate times she is asking Reason to Give for a little help, help that she promises to return one day to others in need.