Help Alexis & Jake Recover from Hurricane Ian

***PROGRESS REPORT!***

Alexis and Jake want to share a heartfelt "THANK YOU!" to all of you who are now on this journey with them. It has been a challenge, but they genuinely feel the love you are sending their way.

They want you all to know how grateful they are that so many people want to help, even people they have never met from all different parts of the country.

Alexis and Jake especially want to celebrate everyone working as "boots on the ground" to ensure that they have a place to sleep every night and food to eat every day. Rest assured that their pup, Summer, and their two kitties, Kenny and Oliver, are safe and sound, giving them some peace of mind in an uncertain time.

As they try to salvage what is left of their house and navigate the next few precarious weeks ahead, let's keep sending them love and prayers for continued health and safety.

So many of you have reached out to me asking how you can help our family in Ft. Myers. I have created this GoFundMe to help our niece, Alexis, and her fiance, Jake, who lost everything less than six weeks before their wedding day.

When Ian made landfall in Ft. Myers, FL as a category 4 hurricane, Alexis, Jake and their three fur babies evacuated. When they returned, all they found was devastation.

Surging flood waters ravaged their home and everything inside - clothes, books, carpeting, electronics, drywall - everything. Jake, a talented musician, lost six guitars, his drum kit and his vehicle to water damage. Alexis is a painter and is unsure if any of her work can be salvaged.

The house is unlivable. Their livelihoods are uncertain at best.

Like everyone else in SWFL, they contacted their insurance company and FEMA. They are not optimistic about assistance or even a timetable as to when that assistance may arrive.

They currently have temporary housing thanks to the generosity of family and friends, but they don't want to be a burden on others who have also experienced catastrophic loss.

Worst of all, Alexis and Jake have been planning their wedding for the past year, working hard and picking up extra gig work to pay for it themselves. Many items already purchased for the wedding have been destroyed. Their wedding venue, a historic site in SWFL, also flooded and is closed indefinitely.

With the exorbitant cost of extensive repairs looming over them, they're not even sure if their wedding can happen. That's if the house can be saved at all.

We are incredibly grateful that Alexis, Jake, Summer, Kenny and Oliver are safe.

We are heartbroken that they are now dealing with this unbelievable loss just as they are about to start their life together as a married couple.

Ultimately, they are well aware that it's just stuff, and stuff can be replaced. The rest of the family and I would like to ease some of their worries as they figure out how to pay insurance deductibles, find a more permanent place to live and navigate returning to work.

They are really struggling with asking for help, especially when they see others in their community also dealing with the storm's aftermath.

Thankfully, they have each other... and they have us! Please help if you can.