Wow. No matter the circumstance, it still feels hard to need or ask for help.

Our next door neighbor's townhouse caught on fire and burned completely dowm within a matter of minutes.

The photo used is of our kitchen window. There's a lot of smoke and water damage downstairs. Everything is wet. The kitchen window is gone. The fence in our backyard is gone. The shed - which we used for storage - is gone. There's a pipe coming through the kitchen ceiling and holes in the small laundry room off the kitchen.

Both our kid's bedrooms are upstairs. Both of their bedroom ceilings are completely on the floor. In our daughter's room, there are holes in the wall and holes in the ceiling that burned through to the outside.

We got out, banged on neighbor's doors to wake them up, and every person got out safely. Other than some cosmetic damage, only our neighbor's house, and ours that the fire spread to, are currently homeless and seriously damaged.

I want to be very clear we rent and don't own our townhome - anything collected is for immediate living assistance and essentials - not repairs.

Almost everything we own is completely lost to fire , smoke, or water damage. The fire marshal has deemed our home unsafe and unliveable.

Let me tell you.....running outside with no shoes, no money, no identification in the middle of the night isn't your first thought, but the second you're safe it becomes desperate and terrifying.

You don't realize how important socks, shoes, a bathroom, and a bed are until you suddenly don't have one.

Enough rambling. My husband and friends convinced me to make this and not be ashamed to ask for help.

We pretty much live paycheck to paycheck and I totally understand how hard it is to want to help a friend (or anyone) struggling if you're hanging on by a thread yourself.

Any financial help is needed, can be anonymous, and appreciated (seriously, we'd appreciate an extra nickel) but the kind words and emotional support matter just as much, in a completely different way.