A 77-year-old teacher is forced to live in his car: a former student recognizes him and raises $27,000 for him
Nowadays, there are many situations of extreme poverty that diverse people around the world are forced to face on a daily basis. The Covid-19 pandemic, then, did not help in this sense and even people who before the virus managed to survive on what little they earned, now find themselves on the streets. This is the exemplary case of Jose Villarruel, a 77-year-old teacher who, despite his advanced age, was forced to live in a car because he did not earn enough to pay rent on an apartment. The pandemic has also clearly precipitated the closure of schools, replacing face-to-face teaching with remote teaching, and causing Jose to lose his hours of substitute teaching. But living in acar is certainly not the life one would expect for a 77-year-old teacher.
via People
With the money he earned as a teacher, the man helped both his remaining family in Mexico and his family in the States, but he could not raise enough money to be able to afford a rented apartment. His situation had never been the luxurious, but with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, everything fell apart. With the closing of the schools, Jose had to make do more than usual, but he still lost all his substitute hours because he didn't have the facilities to provide distance teaching. One day, however, luck seems to have returned to his side.
A former student of his, Steven Nava, recognized him on the street. The man felt saddened to see that his dear ex-professor, renamed by all as "Mr. V", was reduced to those miserable conditions. Jose had always been available and helpful to all of his students and Steve couldn't bear the idea that he was now living in his car, without receiving any help or support from anyone.
So Steven then decided to open a fundraising page on GoFund Me to help his old teacher. Initially, he had set a goal of $5,000, but as soon as the story of the down-and-out but dedicated teacher went around the world on TikTok, the money started multiplying! The young man has in fact raised about $27,500 to donate to Jose! But the solidarity did not stop there: Steven has opened another fundraising page, for those who still want to donate something to his beloved teacher.
Now Jose can start to heal and finally live in an apartment with a real bed. After so many years of work, this really seems the least he deserves!
