Bio
Chi “Fuzzy” Ip is Founder and Executive Director of Silver Lake Love. He brings over 12 years of entrepreneurial and startup experience to his role with the organization.
He is also an active and leading member of Jump Charity. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Personal Biography
I was born in Hong Kong in 1987. Shortly after I was born, my mother left me and my older sister behind to go to the US and we were raised by my father until I was about five, at which time my older sister, my father and I immigrated to the US and rejoined my mother. It was then my father’s turn to leave us behind. He left shortly after we came to the US and I never saw him again and have spoken with him only once over the phone.
My life in the US wasn’t much better than the one I had in Hong Kong. My mother was physically abusive until I became too big for her to hit me. She didn’t want people to know she had kids so she made us to call her our “Aunt”. Food was always scarce, and I did not see a doctor or dentist until I got to college. There are only three pictures of me from childhood.
It was so much better when I started college. While I had no money, I at least had food and a place to stay. But, that all changed when I graduated. Because of the 2008 economic crash there were no jobs for economics majors and when I did manage to find a job, it paid so little that I couldn’t even afford apartment rent. I became homeless and had to live in a station wagon I bought for $2,600 for about a year and a half.
I’m not explaining my background because I want people to feel sorry for me but rather I want people to know that I understand homelessness, poverty and child abuse because I experienced them and this is why I care for the people affected by them.
While I am no longer poor, I live very frugally and still live in a van, although a more spacious one than the wagon I had before. I admit that I did indulge and bought an expensive car once, but I soon realized that it just wasn’t me and returned it.
I am now trying to grow as a person and am actively dealing with the emotional trauma caused by the poverty and abuse from my childhood. I have done some traveling, mostly in my van but also some overseas trips staying in youth hostels. If you try, you can travel very cheaply. I am also trying to learn Swedish, their egalitarian approach to life is very appealing to me. Sometimes I work at a barn for horse riding lessons.
I like being around horses. They are so gentle and giving, and being with them is a therapy for me and others, particularly kids. So, I am involved in equestrian charity work. I also started this nonprofit to help the homeless. Living in a van, I think about homeless people everyday. I do what little I can. I think it’s another form of therapy for me.
