David's Family Rebuild After Devastating House Fire

Dear Community, Friends, and Family,

Our home was recently destroyed by a fire. We’re left with nothing but the clothes we wore on that day, and are trying to pick up what’s left from the ashes.

I don't have a lot of strength left, so I pray and ask God to give me the strength, focus, and clarity I need to continue to persevere.

After being laid off from Wayfair in January, I put my best foot forward and promised my fiancé that I’ll find work soon. Seven months later, and I’ve yet to find a role. I’ve been ghosted, I’ve been rejected due to not having enough experience, but for the first time ever, I’ve been turned down because of having too much experience. Friends and family have tried to reassure me that things will be okay given my experience, but the reality of it is, the job market is much tougher than anyone has anticipated.

Despite this, we’ve continued to persevere and remain in good spirits as we’ve been waiting for the arrival of someone special, and sure enough, on June 16th, Father’s Day, Arthur Hoang Lam was born and I received the biggest blessing I could have ever hoped for. I promised my fiancé and son that things will get better. I promised my family that things can only get better...

On July 5th, my promise was broken. Things took a turn for the worse as a fire took out our home. We left our garage open in the evening and as we sat in the living room we heard the sound of things exploding and collapsing. I checked the garage and immediately saw billowing smoke and raging flames coming towards me. I yelled for everyone to get out. We grabbed our newborn and ran for our lives as the fire grew into an inferno. I raced around to contain the fire but all my efforts were in vain as it had grown too strong. As I stood on, watching the fire consume the home, I made the decision to run back in to try to save what I could. It was stupid and I could’ve died, but I was able save Arthur’s social security card, and was able to save my car. There were cars in the garage I couldn't save that were completely destroyed. As money was tight, we cancelled insurance and used that money for essential needs during my unemployment.. This backfired and now there's no way these vehicles will be covered.

In my mind I couldn’t bear to think that I’ll be unemployed, homeless, and without a car to drive to my interview on Tuesday. Thanks to this stupid act of desperation, I’ve been able to drive around in a half melted car to pick up supplies as we now prepare for Tropical Storm Beryl. I believe that a stray firework ignited flammable materials at the edge of our garage. The fire was a freak accident that has seared a deep scar into our hearts.

Our family under this roof has suffered immense loss, and again I find myself, promising my loved ones that things will get better. I’m happy that we all made it out safe and sound, the rest of our family were unscathed but the reality of it is, we’ve lost a lot. We've lost our cars, scrubs, food, furniture, every day clothes, and everything that little Arthur needs. Some of us lost the cars we use for work, the scrubs we wore every day for work, and among the debris is the loss of sentimental photos and items that we will never see again. The toxic soot and smoke left heavy stains and smells on everything, making everything we bought or were gifted for Arthur to be useless and poisonous. While we don’t have much, we’re thankful to have been able to receive some immediate support from the community already, from food, diapers, to breast pumps, and clothes to wear for an interview on Tuesday - and we are so grateful for that. The truth is, everything can be replaced. We are happy to still have each other.

As we continue to pick up from the ashes and rebuild our lives, we’d like to reach out to the community to ask for help. I have prayed to God to help me with my promises to my fiancé and son, to help me land a job, to find a new home, and to give me the strength to be strong for those around me.

We have maintained privacy for a lot of reasons, and I know that friends and family will be finding out for the first time that I have a wife, a son, and that I’ve been struggling with employment. I ask for your grace as we’d like to continue to maintain privacy, as we will be busy in the coming days, weeks, and months, as we take our time to deal with the logistics of this tragedy.

Your donations will go towards finding new housing, cars, replacing essentials, and getting back on our feet. Even helping to share our story would mean the world to us.. Any support, big or small, will make a real difference in our lives as we recover from this devastating loss.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity during this challenging time.