Megan with Refugee ChildAs you may know, over the past several months, and because of your donations, Charity United has been able to pay for for the rent, utilities, and much of the food and other expenses for a home for refugee families with children, in Greece.

We are working in close collaboration with Team Humanity and it’s founders, our very good friends Salam and Amal, who are on the ground running the home.

We have some exciting changes and news which I would like to share.

Over the past weeks, the government in Northern Greece began to take refugees families out of camps and put them into hotels. This was great news and meant that the need for housing in that area decreased significantly.

At the same time, refugees began to leave the Greek islands and arrive on the mainland, only to be greeted by little or no humanitarian support or shelter. Many arrived in Athens area to find no housing, and no place to go. Pregnant women, families, and children have been left to sleep on the streets or in abandoned buildings.

Therefore we have relocated our refugee home to Athens, Greece. The new home is a similar size and cost to the home in Thessaloniki, but is far more beautiful.

While some refugee families traveled with the team from Thessaloniki to Athens, to relocate in the new home, other new children and families have been brought into the home over the past weeks. This includes a children and pregnant women who were otherwise sleeping in the streets.

Last week, the pregnant woman who had been taken in was taken shopping for baby essentials. She was so happy she felt like she had won the lottery – just to have the basic supplies every mother-to-be should have.

This was funded by our friends at Project Safe Haven, but I wanted to share the photos with you here.

Shortly after that, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, also pictured in this album.

Because of you – our donors – this mother and her infant son are not sleeping on the streets today. They have a home and food, warmth and shelter, and a family of friends at their new home.

Because of you, these children have a warm and safe place to live and a school to study in.

Because of you, these refugee children and their parents have a friendly community family home environment to live in – instead of fighting for survival in the winter cold on the streets.

As you all know, these people are just like us. Many of the parents we meet are former engineers, doctors, lawyers, dentists, and teachers. The children are bright, friendly, funny, playful, and full of affection. They all had normal lives until they were uprooted by war – except, perhaps, for some of the children who are too young to remember any life before war.

Thank you for helping us help them.

To learn more, to share, or to donate, visit charityunited.us/homes-refugee-children/