My name is Ashley Cruz. I met and befriended Arlene during clean-up efforts at her Mobile Home Community after 2 devastating hurricanes ripped through our county. I want to share her story of hope, resilience, and neighbors helping neighbors.

Meet Arlene Hernandez. She was a resident at Gateway Mobile Home Park, a 55+ community that was devastated by Hurricane Helene & Milton. She lost everything and is now homeless. She sustained 2-3 feet of flooding from a nearby lake, a recently dug canal that was installed by a neighboring business, and sewage that backed up throughout her entire home. Through it all, Arlene has selflessly been taking care of the other residents in her mobile home park, including coordinating food deliveries to all the elderly homebound residents who are unable to leave their home on their own. She sent out a call for help online to get volunteer efforts there to address the immediate needs of her elderly community, not once asking for anything for herself. Gateway Mobile Home Park sustained catastrophic damage to more than half of the 200 homes. Most of the residents are elderly, most are on a fixed income, and many are disabled. She has worked tirelessly to make sure every critical need is met for those less able than her. Without her advocating for hundreds of people who reside in this park, so many people would have been left in a very bad situation. Because of her, we were able to locate several residents who were living in very dangerous situations caused by the hurricane, and they have since been relocated. Wartime veterans were found, not being able to get to their appointments, some with immediate medical needs, that we were able to connect with and get the services they needed. This was and is a dire situation and without her call for help, there is no telling if or when these people would have received the help they desperately needed.

Arlene suffers from congestive heart failure, with only 36% of her heart working. Last year, Arlene had a stroke, causing her to be homebound, and she just recently learned how to walk up and down stairs again. To make matters more urgent, she was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Through all of this, she has donated her time and effort to only meet the needs of everyone else, regardless of her own loss and suffering. Arlene needs our help now! She has nowhere to live while she battles cancer. I am desperately calling on the community to give a helping hand to Arlene so she can either rebuild her home or relocate. She invested her life savings into this mobile home, thinking she would live the rest of her days here. She does not have funds available to do this on her own. FEMA is offering a sliver of the amount it will take to make her home safe again. Her income is $1,400 per month, and she is still paying the $700+ lot rent despite not being able to live in her home. Through all of this, Arlene has kept a smile on her face, has been eager to continue to help others around her, and has counted every single blessing that has come her way despite the tragedy that has ripped her life apart.

Arlene is the most gracious person I have met, and she NEEDS OUR HELP NOW! Countless times she has stepped up to help others with no regard for her own needs. NOW SHE NEEDS OUR HELP. She is an angel and so many people would have been lost without her.

100% of any financial help and any share that you can offer will go directly to Arlene Hernandez to get her back up on her feet! Whether it’s $5, $500, or a share of this fundraising campaign, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you all.