After their mother’d passed away in 2014, Raul Acosta, then just eighteen years old, assumed parental responsibilities for his seven younger siblings. Acosta was persuaded to play the part of the father by himself since there was no other male figure there.

At first, Acosta wasn’t planning on having any children of his own “I was hoping someone in the family would take it over and bear the obligations. Personally, I had other things planned,  but you gotta do what what you must do, and I took on the responsibility.”

In their home in Glendale, California, he and his family raised their children, who spanned in age from babies to teens. Acosta said that he intended to continue living at that location. He said, “I’d rather have them all under one roof, know that they’re good, and know that they’re safe.

Knowing that we are all together and protected gives me the peace of mind I need to get through the night.”

When Acosta fell behind on his mortgage payments, the bank intended to foreclose on his home if he was unable to pay back roughly $14,000 by May 2022. These plans came perilously close to being derailed.

Over the previous several years, Acosta has been relying on attorney Sandra Creta for assistance with his legal matters.

When Creta first saw Acosta’s tenacity, she remarked, “I was so impressed by his maturity and the fact that he had already had already been packing lunches, braiding hair, changing diapers, and using his money from his job at Burger King to fix up the house for years.”

Acosta has a hard time making ends meet despite the fact that he has a number of jobs but when epidemic began, he found himself getting behind on payments: “It all adds up since I have to pay the energy bill, the water bill…”

Creta said that as soon as she became aware of what was taking on, she “went out to the legal community and said I have this client who is one of the greatest people I know, and he needs help…there was no way I was going to let this family lose their house.”

They came up with the idea to launch a GoFundMe campaign together in April, just a few days before Acosta’s payment was due.

Because so many people gave merely $20, the goal of $14,000 was met in less than a week, moreover, a significant number of contributors also sent handwritten words of encouragement for Acosta and his siblings.