This week, many of our Southern California communities were impacted by the harsh Santa Ana winds. The devastation ranged from thousands fleeing fires to thousands left without power for many days. I have lived in Idyllwild for 17 years, and I know that in our small mountain town, we are no strangers to power outages or fires. Though many of us fared far better than some during this wind event, at least three families in our community lost their homes when Tuesday night's fierce wind gusts felled a massive tree. One of these families was mine: my mother, sister, and nephew. Both my mother and sister are active members of our community, and my nephew is only 11. Miraculously, while awake in bed listening to the wind, they were unharmed. In a single moment, they lost everything when the tree split their house in two while they were still inside. They escaped through windows and have been able to stay with friends temporarily. But their world has been turned upside down.

It's resulted in loss of income from the time needed to take off work and school to recover what possessions survived the destruction. And they are in limbo as to where they will live now that they have lost their home. I'm starting this GoFundMe in the hopes that those who can will help them in their hour of need. 100% of the funds will go to them and be used to replace necessities lost in the damage. They will be used to pay for temporary housing and the cost of living while they rebuild. Thank you for your support.