My name is B.N. (available privately for verification, in line with GiveSendGo's standard practice for beneficiaries who prefer privacy). I'm a husband and father to a 4-year-old, originally from Southern Africa and now living in Poland. Over the past year my family has been through a financial crisis that wasn't of our making, and we still haven't recovered from it.

What happened

Until late 2024, I held a stable professional job. My wife and son had been staying in our home country while we waited on visa processing to bring them back to Poland. The delay wasn't within our control my wife's residence card had expired and the embassy issued her renewed visa late, even though our son's was still valid. My employer was aware of the situation throughout. Days after my family finally arrived back in Poland, I was let go. I took the company to labour court but couldn't sustain the legal costs and had to withdraw the case.

Where things stand now

I've since taken a lower-paying job just to keep us afloat, but it barely covers our rent. My wife cannot legally work under our current visa status, so we're a single-income household of three. All of our residence cards have now expired, and we're working with an immigration lawyer to renew them a process that, like everything else this past year, has taken far longer and cost far more than we expected.

Our goal: 50,000 PLN

This will let us clear our outstanding debts, complete our family's legal residency status, and have a real cushion so we're not back here again in six months, having to ask for help twice. We know it's a significant amount, and we don't ask for it lightly it reflects what's actually needed to get our family properly stable, not just afloat for another few weeks.

We're a family that values responsibility and hard work. This isn't a handout it's a bridge to help us recover fully from a year that knocked us down hard. We'll post honest updates as things progress.

Thank you for reading this far, and thank you if you're able to help.