Alyssa and Noah Recovery Fund

Overview

As you likely know, our friends Noah Miller and Alyssa Anderson have experienced more than their fair share of misfortune over the past few weeks. First, suffering a miscarriage, and more recently losing their home due to a fire.

About the Ask

Perhaps like you, countless individuals in our community and around the world have been on the receiving end of their generosity over the years. And so now we ask “How can we help?”

We’ve checked in with Noah and Alyssa and they’ve described the mental, emotional, and financial toll that already exists on their road to recovery. A group of their friends has started this GoFundMe account as a means to lighten their load as they start down the long road to salvage what they can, try to restore a sense of peace, and rebuild their home. While insurance helps, the damage to the house--not to mention the adjoining house next door--is severe, and the estimates and timelines on what everything will cost exceeds what is covered. Please consider contributing as you are able and sharing this page.

Background from Alyssa

Some of you may have heard this to some degree or another, but I wanted to share my perspective here too. Our night went from a romantic, fun evening to our lives literally up in smoke. I couldn't believe what I was seeing or how fast it had gotten so bad. How could this happen? And after what we'd already been through so recently, why was this happening to us?

I have no idea how much time passed between when everything started and when I was finally sitting inside a warm police car with all our animals safe. It felt like hours but could have just as easily been minutes. I was stunned, numb and dazed. Once Noah was out, which happened quickly, all I could think about were the pets. Noah's parents came quickly and were much needed clear heads among the chaos. A neighbor came and put a coat around me--I only half realized he was even doing it and later said "Whose coat is this?"--as I stood there shivering, watching my house burn, wondering if I'd ever see our babies again. The boys got carried out immediately, thankfully they had the sense to run outside when it started. The firefighters brought Burrito out, covered in soot but seemingly ok, and someone whisked her to PETS. Then, for what felt like the longest time, I waited to hear about Kitkat. I told at least five different firemen about him; I begged them to look, look again, asked if I could go in to find him. As more time passed, it seemed less and less likely he could be ok. I was preparing for the worst because I knew he was in the room where it had started, and even if he ran into the basement, there was just so much smoke. But then there he was, wrapped in a blanket and crying. I've never been so happy to see a cat in my life--and we all know I'm always happy to see a cat.

This whole thing just feels so unreal, and to be honest I don't think I've really started processing it yet; I don't think my brain will let me, much as I might want to. When something like this happens, you're kind of left feeling like you're just stumbling from one step to the next. The only thing that's kept us from falling is the immediate and encompassing support we've had from our friends, family, and the greater community. We've seen, in quick succession, some of the worst life has to offer, but we're also seeing the best of humanity. We still have our family, and for that I'm so thankful, and I'm unspeakably grateful to everyone for all the help, support, and love.

Background from Noah

Two weeks after going through a miscarriage, tragedy struck again. In our attempt to get back to normal after a bit of recovery, we went out to Belvedere for dinner and drinks. The food and drinks were great as always and like usual, we ran into old and new friends and ended up staying way longer than we normally would have.

We got home as it was approaching midnight, came in the back door, and found a fire in the middle of our dining room. I tried to put it out while Alyssa called 911. The fire was too much for me, the smoke was filling the room quickly, so we had to go back out the door we came in.

I didn't want to open the doors to the living room because I knew closed doors contain fires, but we were also very concerned about our pets. The dogs were outside, but our kitten had been with them in the room with the fire when we left for dinner. I could not go back in that room since it had filled with flames in what seemed like an instant. We ran around to the front of the house and I tore off my shirt to cover my face to try to get to our other cat Burrito on the third floor.

As I ran up the steps to the second floor, the doors between the living room and the dining room failed and fire and smoke came pouring in; needless to say, that is a terrifying thing to see coming at you. I continued to go up because down was no longer an option, slamming every door I came across shut as I made my way to the third floor.

By that point, the smoke was getting thick even with closed doors. I opened the windows while I tried to find the cat with no luck, and it was getting hard to breathe even when leaning out a window to get gasps of air. I have no idea how much time had passed; seconds felt like ages. At some point, I had to give up and lean out the window at the front of the house where I knew firefighters would be, and they were already on their way up the front of the building to get me out.

The rest of the night is a blur, but I remember a few things. They got me down, and I went along the side of the house and see the first floor through the windows filled with flames and smoke, glass shattering. I go back out front and find Alyssa (or she finds me), and neighbors come out of nowhere to give us coats (neither of us had been wearing one) amid the chaos. It all seems like a movie or a bad joke. At that point, I was being forced into an ambulance and not given a choice but to go to the hospital. And the cat I went up for? The firefighter who went up when I came down found her and showed her to me before I was taken in. She was fine, and so was our kitten, who they later found in the basement.

I have had to go over the story so many times, I needed to get this out because it is hard to tell. I can feel the cracks right beneath inside of me and just need to be able to hold it together long enough to get us stable. Sharing helps after all.

1) Check your smoke detectors. Had we been asleep and they did not work, we would not have made it out alive.

2) Keeping doors closed slows down fire and protects rooms. Closing the doors between our dining and living room bought the time firefighters needed to keep the fire from getting too much further and may have saved my life.

3) Lancaster is a great community, and we have amazing people/neighbors here.

4) Our friends and family are equally amazing; this would be so much harder without extra hands, thoughts and well wishes by those who cannot be here.

I am sure there's more, but thank you to everyone who has been helping, thank you for all the care out there in our community and of course, thank you to our firefighters.

It's is going to be a tough year, but we know we are not alone and will get through it.