Goltz Family Fire Relief Fund

I woke early Thursday morning, June 24th to a text from my friend Jennifer: “Call me.” “Are you ok?” I asked. “We’re alive.”

The family woke at 3:30 that morning to an orange glow. The flames were spreading fast. They fled their home with only the clothes on their backs.

They did manage to get the dog out with them, and, later, the found their cat hiding on the property.

We are so grateful that all people and pets are safe, but it was a terrifying experience. The house and their possessions have been declared a total loss.

They have been my dear friends and neighbors here in Hyattsville for two decades. Jennifer is the Director of Music at St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church in Greenbelt and the Director of the Contemporary Choir at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Her husband Joe is a gigging musician, playing with Six Pack Rodeo. Their son Lucas is a rising eighth grader at St. Jerome Academy and my children’s best friend.

They are still assessing the shock and loss, and trying to figure out what they need, but I know we can come together as a community to help them out, make them a little more comfortable, and help them find some sense of normal in the middle of this terrible upheaval.