A shattered dream – help finding a home

Hello everyone,

my name is Ewelina, I am a single mum to a wonderful daughter and have been working in care for over 20 years. My life revolves around helping others – and, above all, giving my daughter a better life.

A few years ago, I started saving every penny. I wanted to buy us a little house, a safe place where we could breathe easy, far away from the stress of the city. Mainly because of my daughter, who struggles with some health challenges and for whom city life simply isn’t good. After several bouts of Covid, I developed asthma...

In March 2024, the time had finally come: I found our dream home – a little house measuring 75 m². The moment I held the keys in my hand was indescribable. The dream I’d cherished for years had come true! I’ll never forget the smile on my daughter’s face when we first stepped inside the house. It was our home.

I took out a loan for the renovation, found a company to carry out the work after a long search, and met the builder, who initially seemed incredibly professional. He promised us that everything would be perfect. His plans, his suggestions – it all sounded so convincing. He seemed friendly, competent and trustworthy. I thought I’d found the perfect partner to make our dream come true.

But behind this façade lay a devious fraudster. Within two months, this man swindled tens of thousands of euros from me. He demanded advance payments, showed me supposed orders and invoices for materials such as a heat pump, solar panels, windows and doors. It all looked genuine – yet it was all a lie.

Without warning, he vanished. With my money. And with our dream. He had not only abused our trust, but also destroyed our lives. When I learnt from the building authority that he had demolished the roof truss without permission and the house was in danger of collapsing, I felt as though the ground had been pulled from under my feet. Shortly afterwards came the next piece of bad news: the house had to be demolished as it posed a danger.

Now, almost a year later, our dream home is gone. Everything I worked so hard for is gone. I’m left with an empty plot of land, unimaginable debts and a broken heart. My daughter is devastated. She had been looking forward so much to our new life, and now everything is lost.

The police couldn’t find the builder, and the search was called off. A court has ruled that he owes me €300,000, but I’ll probably never see that money again. And so I’m now paying off two loans for an empty plot of land, whilst at the end of the month we barely have enough money for the bare essentials.

We’re now living on the breadline. I can’t pay the loans and our rent at the same time and have already had to take on a lot of personal debt just to make ends meet. By the end of the month, there’s often nothing left, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.

But I don’t want to give up – for my daughter’s sake. I can still picture her smile when we first walked into the house. That smile gives me the strength to keep fighting.

With additional financing from the bank, support from my parents and a new planning permission, I want to make one last attempt to make our dream come true. But I am still €150,000 short of completing the house.

That is why I am turning to you, asking for your support. Every donation, no matter how small, brings us a step closer to this goal. I want to show my daughter that, despite everything, there is hope, that we do not have to give up.

I have always believed that it is important to be a good person. But this builder’s deception has shown me the darkest side of human nature – and brought us to the brink of despair.

Please help us rebuild our dream of a home. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any support.

Ewelina