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Not having important information on paper is what normally poses a challenge to immigrants and refugees in need of housing in the United States, but in the case of Hello Neighbor, the organization finds ways to work around this with landlords, like Cmarada, that are understanding and wish to help. \u201cI learned early on it means renting to people who basically don\u2019t have a traditional background on paper: they don\u2019t have bank accounts maybe, they don\u2019t have credit reports, they don\u2019t have criminal background checks, they don\u2019t have references, they don\u2019t have all those things. They just have a need for housing, and in the case of Hello Neighbor, they have a sponsor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Cmarada, it is easy to work with Hello Neighbor, as they are both passionate about the same things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI very quickly came to respect and appreciate how they do very good work and are very committed, and very devoted to their clients and families that they serve. They\u2019re very involved in people\u2019s lives and that was reassuring to me, meaning I knew that they would be supporting, and a bridge between the refugee family and myself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through working with Hello Neighbor, Cmarada has found he himself wants to do more to help refugees and immigrants settling in the Pittsburgh area. Infact, he has an entire vision of what he can do to improve their lives here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe building that they (the family Cmarada houses) live in has three one bedroom apartments, and I\u2019ve told Hello Neighbor that my ambition is once the other two apartments become vacant, I\u2019d like to fill the building entirely with refugee families. I think it would build a sense of community of people with common experiences. I think it would help diminish the social isolation of people who are new to this country, regardless of where they\u2019ve come from,\u201d Cmarada enthused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to this plan, he also would like to open up a free store in the Mon Valley area where he grew up. It would be full of necessities for people, \u201c…So that meeting basic needs doesn\u2019t take a bite out of people\u2019s marginal family budget. I want to provide that in a dignified fashion, so that people don\u2019t feel that they\u2019re receiving charity, but basically just having support and their basic needs met.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is through this organization that he has found another way to perform what it seems he is truly meant to do in this world, with or without documents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHello Neighbor is the glue that seals things and a three way bond of trust that I have with the organization and the family. That becomes, frankly, much more valuable than a bunch of paperwork.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI\u2019m drawn to be someone who cares about other people and it\u2019s other people\u2019s lives that interest me above all else,\u201d Cmarada explained. Shortly after moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania fifteen years ago, Cmarada began purchasing properties to rent out, in addition to his psychotherapy work. This is when he found out about Hello Neighbor, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[15,13,7,16,6],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-services","tag-hello-neighbor","tag-people","tag-pittsburgh","tag-profile","tag-refugees"],"yoast_head":"\n