Thaer Al-Derawi and Mayyadah Al-Dahhan,
Ali, and Fatima

Family Partner: Jihan Khidir

 
Originally from Iraq, Thaer spent seven years in a refugee camp before coming to the U.S. He first moved to Michigan but the crime and life in a large city prompted him to seek a safer and smaller community. He and his wife, Mayyadah, have now lived in Lincoln for four years.  They like Lincoln a lot and plan to stay, remarking that people in Lincoln are kind and very friendly and he has not felt discrimination here. Thaer has worked for a manufacturing company for the last year and Mayyadah is taking classes to improve her English. They have 2 children – Ali, 2 and Fatima, 1.  Friends and family are pitching to help them with their "sweat equity" hours.

The Al-Derawi family was selected because of their current housing situation.  They feel unsafe in their current neighborhood, which has seen a transient population, drug activity and a police shooting incident in the year they have lived there. Doors and windows must be covered with plastic and blankets to combat the cold in winter.  During summer months, the ineffective cooling systems are hard on the children. Cracked and peeling ceiling plaster in several areas poses a further health risk to the children and the apartment is in generally poor condition. Their current landlord does not always respond to repair requests despite receiving a rent subsidy from the Lincoln Housing Authority to help maintain the apartment in livable condition.

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