My name is Safraaz Alli.  I was born in 1979 in Berbice Guyana.  Me and my family, which included my mother, father and three brothers, immigrated to America in the early 90's to New York.  After graduating high school I went straight to work to help out my family financially.  I took on whatever jobs were available in order to help my parents pay rent and put food on the table.  As immigrants in this country, I watched my parents struggle to work very long hours to make ends meet.  While growing up in Brooklyn & Queens New York, I witnessed many other families in every community struggling.  I witnessed people starving, sleeping on the streets, drugs ruining people's lives and crime destroying neighborhoods.  This was all new to me as I had never witnessed anything this sad.  I wondered why no one was helping, why were people starving? Why were people sleeping in the streets, in the parks, on the sidewalk, anywhere where they could find?  

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I moved to Orlando Florida with my family after 911 as the world was changing.  I found more opportunities in Orlando to further my education and build a better life.  I discovered the beauty of Orlando and it's people.  Life in Orlando was pretty relaxing as I enjoyed work,  enjoyed fishing, and most of all, becoming a father and watching my family live happy.  The struggle seemed over, that is, until I realized something was wrong in Orlando.

 

Education opened my eyes to the same issues I witnessed growing up in New York.  Those same issues were happening here in Orlando.  Crime is on the rise, drugs are killing our people, families are still struggling to live, homelessness plaques our streets and I wondered again.  Why is no one helping or fixing these issues?  These issues that has been on the rise year after year.  This is why I decided to run for Mayor of Orlando because a new leader is needed to fix these issues and other issues ruining our City.