Help Gary and Vikki Rebuild After Hurricane Helene

Nestled at the crossroads at the end of Sea Pines and Lafitte in Hudson, FL, my in-laws lost everything they had left. Gary, a 70-year-old retired Air Force vet, and his wife Vikki, 60, who cannot work for medical reasons, find themselves suddenly without a home today.

My name is Evelynn and we are rallying for Vikki and Gary. We're in the middle of their ruined home and we're trying to put words as tenderly as we can to shield Vikki from how abrasive the reality truly is. It's gone. Everything they ever had, from family photos, valuable art, to clothes and even basic necessities, all of it was churned through the storm surge.

The water level inside the house reached 4-5ft and shook everything loose from where it stood. Shelves and even their fridge, lifted from the spots they sat for over a decade, and smashed into walls, sending photos and precious memorabilia of their late daughter, Felicity, scattered throughout the carnage. My husband, their son, waded through the waters in the middle of the road to his chest, to rescue their friend Jimmie, who stayed behind to try and find the family cat, Theo. We thankfully saved him, too.

Now, my husband and I are leafing through important documents, 60-year-old photos and saturated wedding albums and deciding for his parents, what Hurricane Helene deemed were nothing more than objects. A lifetime of sentimental collections through life and through their multitude of passions over the years... down to "damaged" and "undamaged"... and the undamaged items are amounting to very little as we move further in...

There are so many people out there who have had their lives upended... their devoted efforts taken away in little more than a few hours... we know this and we find ourselves among those that need to ask for help from a greater community... because recovery at this scale...is more than we can ever achieve by ourselves in any amount of time that matters. It can be a long time before they see any relief from Insurance, especially during a natural disaster that affects so mamy of us at once. We're asking you for a Share and if you're up to it, as little as $1 would go a long way to helping us place them in a new home to start piecing back together what remains in Helene's wake. Whatever isn't used toward getting them safely under a roof, will be for covering the out-of-pocket costs to cover damages (2k(5k as of 10/11) in labor) replenish food (700 for parents and the 5 grandbabies they watch weekly) and clothing (over 1000$ in clothes between parents, grandchildren and friend staying there) that were contaminated beyond recovery and a lot of other expenses, like basic animal care (1000 for boarding until they can get a home and dog food etc.) that will crop up before they see any relief from Insurance (including the cost of dumping what the county can't, inspection to clear the safety of rebuilding and then the costs of rebuilding such as for drywall, new flooring and an entire kitchen remodel, and of course door frames and closet doors. Anything submerged.) due to the state of emergency spanning several counties of Florida, we fully understand the strain.

Please help us. Where we have $1 or we see posts just like ours we will pay the kindness forward. We promise, through our mutual suffering and solemn-yet-quietly-hopeful tomorrow, we will do our part to encourage us all to pull through this disaster.

Thank you for anything you can do for us in this hour of need. Gary and Vikki have always put the needs of their 4 children above their own but today their needs far outweigh ours. We are doing what we can to be there for them, but we need your help to get them the rest of the way.

P.S. We hope, to whomever may read this, that your families and loved ones are all safe and if you're scared and alone, let these words find you. "We see you. We hear you. We stand by you." You are not truly alone. Look to your neighbors and help spread kindness and compassion where you can. You don't know what someone lost in this storm.