Help Javana & Jason Rebuild After a Devastating Fire

Hi everyone, my name is Taylor, and I’m reaching out to ask for your help on behalf of two of the most important people in my life, my best friend in the entire world, soul sister Javana and her amazing boyfriend, our close very friend Jason, who is known also by “Hodge”.

This past weekend, while they were away at a music festival their apartment caught fire. The fire was believed to have started due to roofers leaving something flammable on the building during a heat wave in Chicago. Their unit took the brunt of the damage.

When I got the call from Javana, she was emotional and asking if I could rush over to check on their cat, Truman, and see what had happened. When I got there the street was shut down, fire trucks everywhere, and I saw smoke still pouring from their building. Windows shattered. Flames and water damage had taken over everything. Thankfully, Truman is okay but everything else is destroyed.

Their home wasn’t just an apartment, it was their sanctuary. Javana has been navigating a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and has poured so much into creating a space of healing, comfort, and joy. She works as a dental hygienist and has picked up overtime shifts to pay for her therapy’s for MS. Hodge is one of the most uplifting people you’ll ever meet and is the happiest when bringing all of his friends together, especially at their apartment. Their place was the spot — lots of dancing (Hodge is an awesome DJ), dinner parties (Javana loves cooking for everyone), board games, laughs, and lots of silliness. They were the only ones out of our friends who had a table big enough to fit us all to gather and do things like that all in the name of creating memories with people they love.

They came home from the festival to find out their apartment, and everything in it, was destroyed. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, their car began smoking and broke down too. The cost to fix it is $7000… and they unfortunately need a car through all of this.

While they do have a small renters insurance policy, it’s not nearly enough to cover the loss. And with Javana’s medical expenses for MS treatment already being a heavy burden, this fire is a devastating blow. She moved to the U.S. from Asia to go to college at University of Missouri with just one suitcase. Now, after 10 years of building a home filled with one-of-a-kind items, belongings from her dad who sadly passed away, memories, and things that helped her feel grounded through chronic illness, it’s all gone.

Right now, they’re staying with me and my fiancé. Even the few items they managed to salvage reek of smoke, and are soaking wet. Their building is completely unlivable. Their neighbors were able to enter their units, but since Javana and Hodge were out of town when it happened, they missed the small window to gather things before legalities kicked in. They had to wait days to be let in, and what they saw broke their hearts.

I’m creating this GoFundMe to help them get back on their feet, to replace basic essentials, find a new place to live, repair or replace their car, and to soften the financial hit as they begin to rebuild from nothing.

They are the most generous, positive, giving people I know. I’ve watched them show up for their community time and time again and now I’m asking our community to show up for them.

Every dollar, every share, every kind word means the world right now. Let’s help them rise from this and build something beautiful again.

With so much love and gratitude,

Taylor

Their beautiful home before

After