It was my sincere intention not to blog for awhile, but something has come up and I'm requesting the suggestions of any and all readers who might come across this entry. I'm not asking for myself but for a family in need.
One of Mini Me's best friend's (I'll call her Angie - all names will be changed to protect their anonymity) families just lost their home, all of their belongings and most of their many rescued pets in a house fire early Friday morning. Here is a bit of their story as I know it.
Angie's grandfather built the home 15 years ago and died 5 years after that. Her grandmother continued living in this home alone for a few years until her daughter moved in with her own husband and their 4 children and one niece whom they were raising as their own.
Angie's mother, Jean, was diagnosed with cancer. I'm uncertain of the type and have only told that it is "terminal" which is all that my daughter understands about it. Throughout treatments for her cancer, Jean continued to work 3 jobs, one of which was at a convenience store. Despite all of the concerns with her health as well as that of Angie, Jean could not resist an animal in need and thus brought home a number of neglected and/or abused dogs, cats, chickens, and ferrets to be part of her family. Money, of course, was extremely tight for the family with escalating medical expenses for Jean's cancer as well as Angie's severe asthma and at a frightening point, Jean thought that she and her husband might have to request that the state place their younger 4 children into foster care and send their niece back to her family. I cannot even begin to imagine the anguish that had to have caused them just in contemplation alone.
Jean's eldest son graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marines. He has recently married but is stationed out in California where his new wife will join him after some period of time.
Her niece is a successful student in high school and is taking classes for nursing as well. Presumably so she can hit the ground running once she graduates. She's intelligent enough to take these classes offered within the public school to lessen the burden of loans later on.
Angie has dreams of law enforcement after she finishes high school. She's a spunky strong young woman. She and Mini Me have been close ever since we moved to the area. They've participated in choir and sports together as well as Academic Bowl.
Raif is the second son and a charmer. He's just begun jr. high and all of the girls apparently fall all over themselves for him. He's had a crush on Mini Me since he first met her and has proposed marriage as well as stolen her pillow to sleep with (she's never gotten it back and I'm certain that it too was lost in the house fire).
Christopher is a rambunctious boy who takes his time sizing people up but once he decides he likes you is fiercely loyal.
And then there is the baby - 6 year old Patricia. She's an adorable little imp and Mini Me's favorite. They share such a bond. Patricia is anxious to share any new thing she's learned and Mini Me always has a willing ear. In a family that large and busy it's often hard to find anyone with a willing ear so she soaks up the attention and basks in it.
Friday morning at about 2:30 a.m., Jean was sound asleep when her mastiff/rottweiler rescue dog, Rex (found abandoned in a dumpster at the convenience store where Jean worked), came into Jean's room growling, whining, crying, and trying desperately to wake her up. Jean ignored him and continued to sleep. Rex would not give up. He began jumping on her chest until she could barely breathe and certainly could no longer ignore him. When she woke up she realized that her room was filled with smoke and there was fire "dripping down the walls". Jean flew from her bed to gather her sleeping children to get them out of the house.
Jean and all of her children made it safely out of the house, thank the gods, but as I said, many of their small animals did not - including Rex. He is their hero and I know that his loss especially is twisting their hearts right now.
I've heard no mention of Jean's own mother whose house it was, but know that she wasn't lost to the fire. I can only hope and assume that she too is fine.
Now the family is staying at a hotel but this can only be temporary. As a family strapped for cash, like so many are experiencing right now, they had to let go of certain expenses that might have seemed unimportant at the time. So I don't think that there was insurance on the house nor their belongings. We all know that there are so many things in our homes that can be replaced, but there are a great many things that cannot be. Family photos, beloved pets, sentimental pieces of all sorts are those things lost that hurt a great deal. I know I cannot do a thing about that for them. They had so little anyway and have lost that.
My family can contribute some - not a lot. The schools that the kids all attend are asking that local families help out as much as they can and I'm sure many will. However, there is a lot that can't be done with times as tight as they are for so many people and the needs of this family are so great.
I'm not asking for a dime from anyone. What I'm hoping for is that someone might have some suggestions or direction (names of organizations, charities, anything) they might be able to point me in to help this family get some of the help they so desperately need. They truly have nothing but one another and, while that is immeasurable, it doesn't take care of necessities. I have some ideas, but I'm certain that there are a great many that I don't know of.
If anyone out there can offer any advice on how I can help these people get the help they need, I would be very grateful.
Thank you in advance.
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6 comments:
That's awful, Pom. Having lost most of what I had left after my divorce in a fire a year later, I can truly sympathize. The shock alone (it's a feeling I can't easily describe) of the fire is hard enough. The reality of dealing with the actual loss of possessions and a roof over your head is something else entirely (and no less devastating). And it sounds as if their situation was anything but a "normal" or "average" one.
What a horrible tragedy. My heart goes out to them. It's such a horrible time for this to happen, with the economy as it is and so many people feeling the pinch even more than normal. I don't know what kind of resources might be available in their area. I know that in my case (living in a small town) there were none. I hope that somebody will have an idea!
In my small town of West, Texas we would have benefits, where the town business's donate stuff from their stores to bid on. The West Rest Haven old ladies would be making chef salads to sell, they would be selling quilts, the boyscouts/girl scounts would be having a food drive. We would have bake sales, kolache sales, etc. Plus you can get in touch with Home For Habitat. There is Salvation Army, Goodwill and here in Texas we have Caritas.
You can contact your local church's, they can pass the hat for you during services. Help raise money. Someone might have a rental that they will let them rent for a reduced rate. Contact the Real Estate Agency's.Contact your local papers. This is a human interest story, they can help.
Email or call the Oprah Show, the Ellen Show, Tyra Banks, maybe one of them folk would like to do something and donate some cash.
I hope that this helps you in some way. let me know..jackie
Here is my suggestion, based on my years of living in Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey. The parents should make an appointment with their state House of Representatives delegate. That person should know who to call in the state relief agencies in order to get state aid for the family. It sounds like they may also qualify for federal benefits ... but I would start at the state level.
I worked for a legislator who is now a state senator. He not only knew the agencies to call in cases like this, he also did the calling himself. Maybe he was unusual. But I do know that he helped many people in situations like this.
In the meantime, please email me your address and a "wish list" for "Angie." I'll try to send her a Christmas gift.
Hrafnkell, I think we should be able to wrangle some help for them through a local shock jock named Johnny Dare. Dare is known to do great things for those in need during the holidays and organizes "Bikers for Babies" in the KC, MO area. What they need most right now is money - he can raise it in a hurry for them. I've heard him raise upwards of $15k in about 15 minutes.
My other thinking was a bit more grand - I was considering dropping a line to Extreme Home Makeover. I'm not a huge fan of the show, but I do know that the good they can do would be beyond helpful for this family.
Jackie, some really great ideas - thank you so much.
I hadn't even thought of Habitat for Humanity until you'd mentioned it. Jean's husband does stucco for a living (when there's work) and that could be a great option for them.
As I mentioned to Hrafnkell, I had thought about Extreme Home Makeover as well as a local shock jock (I think you'd love him - he's pretty raw!).
I know we can get some great things done for them - it's just a matter of getting organized.
Anne, thank you too for dropping by with suggestions.
You're very right re: contacting govt. agencies. It's the least they could do and I'm not above riding them to do something for those in need. If I can harrass them for environmental and wildlife issues, I can surely get on their backs about this too.
Regarding your final statement, that's incredibly generous of you. Right now they are living in 3 hotel rooms with little space and we've already lessened that space considerably. Can I wait on that until we find out more about what the future holds for them?
Thank you again.
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