Bartley here. My family and I were one of the families who lost everything in the December 30th wildfire that swept through our city of Louisville in Colorado. Our home of 24 years, all of our furniture, artwork, clothing, recreation equipment, electronics, appliances, kitchen equipment, tools, and especially inherited items - essentially everything one typically has in a home - gone. Wine collection (not the wine collection!) - also gone. So many people from our group of friends, work colleagues, former colleagues, current and former clients, people we are connected to from school, church, and travel connections, have all offered to help, and want to support our rebuilding effort. I firmly believe that just by offering help, and being a friend, is all that was needed. For those who know me, you'll agree that I am the kind of person who thinks they can do it on their own, but I think it's time to let others help.
I think we are pretty well-off, so why am I doing this? I wanted to believe that insurance would cover our losses, but I have learned that simply will not be the case. In spite of trying to be diligent in taking care of business, I, along with most of my neighbors, are either under-insured, or will only receive depreciated value for personal belongings. There will be a significant gap between what we lost and what we will receive. All I can say is that YOU ROCK! Thank You! (The photo below is our neighbor's house across the street. The one under that is of us at Christmas.)
My linkedin post of the event (pretty similar):