Three weeks ago Glendalis Gonzalez returned home to find her building surrounded by fire trucks. She lost everything in the flames.
Her family just got it all back, and more — thanks to cops and neighbors who hustled in time to transform the Gonzalez Christmas from a time of desperation to a celebration of community love.
They came together at nightfall at the police substation at Edgewood and Day Wednesday to surround Gonzalez and her four kids with new winter coats and snazzy toys, chickens for her table, $710 in cash, and a pledge from the community to continue to be there for her.
That pledge contained far more than words. It included camp for Pedro, at 9 the oldest of four kids, and bicycles for all the children in the spring. (Pedro is pictured hugging mom.)
The orchestrator of this Christmas tale of giving was not one of the Three Kings. It was newly assigned Dwight-Kensington beat cop and youth worker Shafiq Abdussabur.
Abdussabur (pictured) rounded up some 20 people and businesses to donate.
“Even though your children are not my children, they are my children,” Abdussabur said as he formally presented the money and the goods to Gonzalez at a celebratory gathering Wednesday.
For the occasion they loaded up the trunks of two police cruisers with towels, sheets, and bags of housewares obtained by Lt. Anthony Duff; with chocolates from State Rep. Pat Dillon “to sweeten this bumpy spot on the road”; and with a fishing rod that Hill Alderwoman Jackie James-Evans gave to Pedro, she said, every kid needs one.
Then Abdussabur told the story about how so many people came to bring gifts.
The funny thing is that it wasn’t a miracle. He just asked.
After the Dec. 1 fire, Gonzalez and her four kids spent two weeks in a hotel. Yale-New Haven Hospital provided some clothing. The state Department of Children and Families also provided support. Truman School where Pedro and Frenesi are both solid students, came through with a $230 gift card at Walmart. The two littlest Gonzalez kids, Alvin and Miguel, do not yet go to school. Alvin, who’s 2, is going to physical therapy to learn how to walk; he was born two months premature, developed some complications, and has been fitted with braces.
“I bought food with that [$230],” said Gonzalez who is shy and was close to tears.
Her former landlord, Kensington Square Management, also recently found her in new subsidized apartment on Chapel Street.
A week and a half ago Abdussabur said he was in his warm cruiser drinking warm coffee when he saw Gonzalez and her kids on the sidewalk, all walking without hats or winter coats on an icy day.
He had been one of the investigating officers at the Dec. 1 fire. He already knew Gonzalez from his old beat, Dixwell, when was a quite young single mother in Dixwell where he previously served.
“Got to do something,” he told himself when he saw her shivering.
Without revealing the Gonzalez’ identities, just their sizes, Abdussabur posted the family’s clothing and other needs on CTRIBAT’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Within hours items were donated, new and used, along with $140 in cash. A local store gave a Christmas tree. The New Haven Guardians kicked in for the lights and decorations. Minister Donald Morris and the Brotherhood Summit contributed. So did Paramount Liquors, Minore’s market came up with the chickens and gift certificates for future birds. Most of the larger establishments along Whalley also pitched in.
Abdusabbur went to seven smaller local stores in the Dwight-Kensington area and asked them to support a family in need.
You can be “in” the community in the sense of being here geographically only, he told them. Or you can be “in” morally, ethically, doing the right thing.
Of the seven shopkeepers he approached, five came through with gifts of cash or goods.
Abdussabur set up the family’s Christmas tree Tuesday. Pedro said he hopes he’ll find a Nintendo under it. Among the dozens of presents there, that one was missing.
Would his mom be able to provide it?
She’d like to, she said. “We’ll see.”
Gonzalez held on her lap the gift of chocolate trucks that Pat Dillon had brought her. Her son eyed those chocolate wheels. “This,” Dillon said, preparing to leave, “is a community with heart.”
To contribute to the ongoing fund for the Gonzalez family, click here.
Officer Abdussabur, thank you for recognizing that all children are ours to nurture and provide for. And thank you to all who contributed to this family's well being.
My Christmas wish is for all single moms like Ms. Gonzalez to find themselves in a society in which they and their children will be safe and cared for.
And that more men like Officer Abdussabur participate in such a society.