On Tuesday, June 4, our homeless shelter, called Second Avenue Commons, caught fire. An air conditioner blew and the fire spread to the roof. 180 residents staying at the shelter have been displaced and are currently staying on cots at the David L. Lawerence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.

They have lost all of their belongings to smoke and water damage. One man cried to me because he already had almost nothing; now he has less than nothing.

We need to replace their belongings as best we can. Anything helps. They matter to us, they are our people and our community, and we fight for them every day as hard as we can.