On April 1st, 2026, a fire broke out in our apartment building in Red Hook, Brooklyn. While the fire started in one unit, all six units were damaged by smoke, water, or both. Within seven days, every tenant received a vacate order, including us. There's no timeline for when any of us will be able to return.

We're Amanda and Brandon, and we've called Red Hook home for a little over a year and a half. We moved here for the backyard, with dreams of building a garden and a haven, and ended up falling in love with the community in a way we didn't expect. That kind of neighborhood isn't easy to find. A lot of people have reached out asking how they can help, and honestly, this is the most practical answer we have.

Here's where we are: Amanda is in the middle of transitioning from full-time employment to freelance and contract work, something she had been building toward deliberately and is still actively pursuing despite the disruption. Brandon's job keeps us anchored in New York, which is where we want to be. The fundraising goal here is genuinely about staying. Without support, the financial pressure of open-ended temporary housing in NYC makes relocating closer to family in Illinois the more realistic option. We're grateful to have that option, but it's not where we want to be, and it's not what's best for Brandon's career. We're asking for help to make staying possible.

Practically speaking, what we're navigating includes open-ended temporary housing costs in a city where pet-friendly furnished rentals aren't cheap, two cats who are both on prescription diets and one on daily medication whose needs don't pause for a housing crisis, a financial gap that comes with no move-back date in sight, an income transition happening at the same time, and travel costs if we do need to go back and forth to Illinois in the meantime.

We're resourceful people and we've been working every angle: renters insurance, city agencies, tenant resources, and we'll continue to. This campaign isn't instead of that. It's in addition to it, because the reality is that the financial cushion to get through the next six months to a year comfortably doesn't exist right now, and having it would make an enormous difference.

If you've been wondering how to help, this is it. Every contribution goes directly toward keeping us stable, keeping us in New York, and giving us the breathing room to get back on our feet without making decisions out of desperation.

Thank you. Genuinely. Red Hook is a special place, and so is the community around us.