Safe home for Pegah’s family

Meet Pegah and her brilliant family!

Every day, she and her husband Bahran spend hours cooking and distributing dinner for up to 200 other migrants and refugees in Athens - even though they are homeless themselves.

The family had to leave their home country of Iran 5 years ago because they were getting death threats for their religious beliefs. Their little boy, Samiar, was just two years old at the time. They flew to Serbia and then walked / took smugglers vehicles through three different countries to get to Greece. This traumatic journey took four years.

It's been ten months since they arrived in Greece and the family are still living out of a suitcase. The Greek asylum system is totally jammed and they have 6 more months to wait before they even get an interview.

In the meantime, with no money and official support, they are among the many people with no safe accommodation in the city. Forced to move every few days, they have stayed in hostel rooms; in dangerous squats where they have been violently evicted and attacked; on friends sofas; and even in tents in the parks. Samiar has only ever known a life on the road.

In spite of all this nightmare situation they still turn up day in day out, to cook emergency meals for hundreds of other struggling people, with a refugee-run support network called Our House. They are warm, positive, funny and strong people and are doing amazing things to help the dire situation here.

Let's help them find a safe home

It goes without saying that having a safe home would be a game changer for the family and help them get a secure foothold to build a new life in Greece. They need a permanent address to access cash support from charities, find work opportunities and get a bank account. Samiar needs somewhere safe and calm to sleep and play and do school work. And Pegah needs to be able to sleep at night knowing her family won’t have to pack up and move the next day and move on, or worse be forcibly evicted or attacked.

If you can spare any cash we can help Pegah and Bahran secure a decent, safe place to live and ensure the rent is paid for long enough to find regular sources of income. Nobody should be homeless - and this family are brilliant, committed activists helping other people to survive. Anything you can contribute will make a big difference! Thank you!