My name is Kayla Cox. I am 30 years old, married and have a young toddler daughter. I am from Paradise, California. I was born in this town and lived in it my whole life. My daughter was born in this town and my husband has lived here since he was 9-years-old. I made this Gofundme for our little family because we just recently went through the devastating wildfire in Northern California.
    My little family just went through the Camp Fire that destroyed our town in Northern California. My husband, Justin, and I, along with our 20-month-old daughter, have lost everything we own, except for our truck and our lives. I was born and raised in Paradise, so not only did I lose my house, but I truly lost my home and everything I know. 
     On November 8, 2018 my town was evacuated. My husband called me from his job at Paradise Elementary School, to tell me that I needed to not panic and to pack a go bag for my daughter and I. He said we were not ordered to evacuate yet and that if the order came he would come home from work and grab us, this was at 8:03 a.m.
     By 9:17 a.m., I had a woman pounding on my door, screaming that my backyard was on fire. My husband was calling saying that he couldn't get to us.
     By the grace of God, my sister was down the street evacuating my grandma and raced to come get us. We never got any warning. No evacuation notice. Nothing. It happened that fast. My last view of my home was watching the fire rage towards it. 
    What followed was the most terrifying, devastating day of my entire life. My whole family lived in this town, and the phones were down. I could not contact anyone. I received one phone call from my mom, telling me that my younger brother was missing in Paradise. We spent over four hours trying to evacuate, to Chico only 13 miles away. Driving through raging fire and explosions. Constantly contemplating the merit of getting out and running with my baby down the road. Wondering the entire time, if we even had a chance to make it. I will carry this with the rest of my life and I am thankful my daughter is young enough that she won't remember it. 
    Hours later, I was finally reunited with my husband.
    We spent the next few hours calling and contacting every official we could, letting them know everything about my young brother in the hopes that he got out.
     At 8:17 p.m., I was finally reunited with him. He had been stuck in a parking lot in the middle of town while everything around him burned down. 
    Slowly, we all got reports of people missing and the town just burning down. Two days later, we got photo confirmation that our house, our home, burned to the ground. 
     We have since put 9 people into a house that originally had only 2. Its hard, and we are all at a loss, but we are alive!
     We need help as soon as possible from anyone willing. We are such a young family, we have no savings and no real means to get started again. The unknown is so scary. I will post updates whenever I can. To rebuild our life would take untold amounts of money and time, but maybe, just maybe, if we could gain even this bit it could help bring us back to the road of normalcy. 
    The money raised for my little family from this campaign will directly go to helping us get sustainable, safe housing for our little family as well as to help start to replace our household items that were lost in the fire. Starting with beds, dressers, and other furniture. We will use any money that is left to help with groceries and household bills until we get back on our feet. Our hope is that we can wait as long as possible to withdrawal from our Gofundme until we either reach our goal, or find a place to live that would require the monetary help.  
    Thank You to anyone who is willing to donate or even just share. From the bottom of my family's heart, we thank you!