Hello, my name is Denise Bailey. I am a single mom of 6 wonderful, beautiful children: 4 boys and 2 girls. I'm 44 years old and just moved my family into our first home no more than 2 years ago in May 2024. Unfortunately, 4 of my children are grown, have high school diplomas, and are trying to figure out their next steps in life. This leaves me and my two boys, who are twins, Antwain and Ayden, age 14.

Life has trials and tribulations for everyone to face. I was always taught God doesn't give more than you can bear. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? HEY, NO ONE CAN PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR A TRAGIC LIFE-CHANGING EVENT OR SHALL I SAY JUST A LIFE-ALTERING EVENT...

This is now 2025, and it's literally the day after Thanksgiving, and the unthinkable happens. It's early afternoon, and I decided to take a ride to my mom's home. I left my twin Antwain home because I noticed he was asleep, and the kids are on a school break, so I let him sleep and took off. Everything is okay. My papa gets a long-distance phone call from his brother, and they're talking while we are sitting at the gas station pumping gas. His phone starts to beep; someone is calling. He ignored the call twice, so I got curious and said, 'Pops, who's calling?' He said, 'I don't know this number.' I looked, and it was my son Antwain, who was left home asleep. So the third call, I say, 'Hold on, Pops, answer.' Finally, we answered for him, and all I could hear were loud beeps in the background. To my knowledge, they were all the smoke detectors going off. 'Hello, hello, Twain, speak up, I can't hear you.' 'Mom, I think the house is on fire. The smoke woke me. It's dark smoke, I believe, coming from the basement. I grabbed my blanket and phone, and I'm out on the front porch.'

In a panic, I said, 'Son, don't go back in for anything.' By this time, I had left the gas station and was on the long road stretch home. I'm blowing my horn as cars are moving slower than I like. I say, 'Pops, all the detectors are going off; there's a fire at home.' He remains silent as he drove in disbelief. I instantly called 911. I bet the fire department home, and my pops sprang into action, opened the basement door. Surely, black thick smoke that you can't see through nor walk through because the smoke choked you. The basement is on fire. I couldn't see the flames. Pops had grabbed a water hose on the side of the house, which had frozen. Damn, he came down to me, ran in, grabbed the bottom hose. Thank God for water. So he's spraying the basement. Finally, I see flames; they were above our heads in the basement. The water hit electricity, sparked, and aerosol cans were popping. It was horrific, but always remember, never panic. We controlled the fire, slowed down the flames from reaching the upper levels of our home. Twain, thank God you are okay. Put him in the car from out the cold. I'm so proud of him. It was an electric fire; a wire sparked and set the laundry room clothes ablaze. The fire department did their job, and I'm thankful, but they also had to cause significant damage to the walls, ceiling, and floors.

We are fundraising to repair the significant damage caused by the fire and to ensure our home is safe and livable again. This fundraiser is for my family, especially my two boys, Antwain and Ayden, who need a safe place to live.