
I am a 51 year old single man with one daughter in college. On the morning April 28th 2016, I was off to work at 3:00 am and noticed dishes in the sink so I rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher and left for work. About 45 minutes later my neighbor called and said the house was on fire. I said this is not a good joke. He said no, its not a joke and that I should come home. Our house caught on fire from a dishwasher element coming in contact with some plastic. The fire Invesigator said that this is more common than you think. We lost everything. I recently lost my father who had come to live with me 4 years before. He was a great man but had very little means to take care of himself. I had to pay for the funeral out of my pocket. I had a good job with a 20 year friend, who, was starting his own business. I have been able to get by and even thrive. However, he recently determined he couldn't support my position anymore, so we parted ways. Now I am unemployed. I did have a back up plan to start my own landscape business and am currently doing it. I estimate that I am about two months away from having a full work load. I just need help to pay rent, bills and maintain equipment till I get a full work load. I will be a contributing member of society again. I want to pay my fair share while doing an excellent job and eventually help someone else. I also want to pay it forward for all that has been given to me. God bless you and God bless this great country.

