Hi everyone, I'm Iris Flores.

On April 6th 2021, in a matter of hours, an 8-alarm fire burned the building I lived in, took away my home of 28 years, my belongings, and left me literally homeless. Up to the day of the fire, I was my own success story: since I arrived in the U.S, I climbed up the ladder, and I reached the goals I had set for myself through determination and sacrifice. For the past two decades, I have been very community driven, and I have worked hard to support others in need. I had never needed to ask for help, until today. I am a very strong person, but this time I do need a little push forward.

 

As I write this, I'm thinking: It has been 8 months since the fire and I am just now starting to come out of the trauma. I thank God everyday because my little dog, Baby, and I are alive, but it's been really difficult to start my life over from scratch, both emotionally and financially. I lost everything in the fire and was unable to recover anything, therefore, I am building up the courage to ask for help through this platform. I am hoping to have a place to call "my new home" before New Year's 2022, and to leave the hotel where I am currently at, and where I've been staying since the night of the fire.

 

WHY NOW? The first few months after the fire, I was so busy helping my neighbors that I didn't even feel like I had been affected. It finally sunk in about two months ago when some of my neighbors began to settle. It got me down and I became isolated for a few weeks.  I am now ready to get back on my feet and to start over, LITERALLY, from scratch.

Your help will grant me the opportunity to finally get closer to my new goal: to get a place to call home and to get the essentials needed to start. I feel like it is harder to start over at my age. I think that if I had gone through this experience when I was younger, it would not have taken such an emotional toll on me, and I probably would have "road-tripped" from state to state to find a new home, without giving it a second thought.

 

I am hoping to reach a goal of $7,000.00, which would breakdown as follows:

-$2,000-$2,500 for a home

-$2,500-$3,000 for essential furniture

-$1,500-$2,500 for essential houseware

 

Many of you know that my building-neighbors and I are in different stages of fire recovery; some have already found homes, while others are staying with close friends or family. Still others, like myself, are trying to start over from scratch. I recognize that many of you may have graciously supported us in the past with your donations, and we are very appreciative and grateful. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all in advance for your generosity and kindness shown through this page.

 

May you all have a happy and blessed Christmas season and Holidays!