Familia Ruizlin – Cooking Through Covid-19

Familia Ruizlin – Cooking Through Covid-19

 ADVOCATE: Slade Gurr

September 4, 2018

*Josephina had worked hard to leave her home town in Venezuela in order to find work and make a living with her family. While en route to a new home, with more hope and opportunity, her belongings were stolen, including her phone. This presented a major challenge in getting any help from other families back home. She was able to get a job and support her family, but lockdowns due to COVID-19 drastically changed things. In order to continue, she had to purchase personal protection gear and find a way to make food and sell it on her own. Josephina contacted Operation Family Freedom with a request for assistance in establishing a business for herself. 

Operation family freedom was able to provide resources to help Josephina start making, selling, and transporting via bike, her Venezuelan Arapa specialties during some of the most challenging COVID-19 lockdowns that happened. She was able to carefully make, and provide a service that benefited other families as well as hers. Josephina expressed immense gratitude for the hand up that she received and indicated that she intended to pay it forward to another family as soon as she was able.  

*sudoname