Lost Everything After Bell Collier Village Fire Disaster

Hello. As some of you may know, my apartment complex, Bell Collier Village, caught on fire on July 27. My boyfriend, brother, and I are now experiencing homelessness and displacement due to this incident. Since the fire, we have not been allowed back into our units, nor have we been officially notified whether we have suffered a total loss or if some of our small personal items are salvageable. All of our furniture and larger items are considered a loss. Regardless, the complex is not livable and will not be for quite some time, if ever. There was not only an aggressive fire but later that night, a pipe burst, causing further water damage to areas around my unit. Which could mean our things are just sitting in water/moister, becoming more and more non retrievable by the day.

I have been living here with my brother and boyfriend for four years. When we evacuated, we left our unit with only the clothes on our backs. So, not only is our home, which we’ve been nurturing and building for years, gone, but we also can’t even retrieve the items we worked so hard for, or even essential things like medication or glasses. Not to mention all of our irreplaceable sentimental items, like pictures of family members no longer living or gifts they’ve left behind. This has been the biggest nightmare I could have imagined.

The correspondence from the property managers has been just as horrible. They have been giving misinformation to the Red Cross, which is then denying people financial support. Then the property owners are telling those same people their units are condemned and a total loss, never to be accessed again. This leaves residents without homes, their belongings, and financial support. And that doesn’t even begin to fully outline the lack of support from the property managers.

For those wondering, no, we did not have renters insurance. If we had, this GoFundMe would not be necessary, as we would be compensated for all or most things lost. Our renters insurance lapsed earlier this year, leaving us with no financial backing during this disaster.

As much as it pains my ego to seek financial support from strangers who owe me absolutely nothing, and as private of a person as I am, I have been left with no choice but to ask you all to donate anything, small or large, to help us overcome this challenging time. Anything that is donated is appreciated beyond words. The goal is set higher because we all have things left behind in the unit and will be splitting any donations made among the three of us.