Single Mom & Recovery Advocate Displaced After Fire — Please Help Us Rebuild

Hi, my name is Jenni Demerest, and I’m writing this with a heavy heart and hope in my hands. I’m a single mom to my amazing 10-year-old daughter, MaKayla (or “KK” as we call her), and we’ve just experienced a series of events that have completely turned our lives upside down.

Until recently, KK, our dog Dean, and I lived in a recovery home in Glen Burnie, Maryland—a home for women working hard to rebuild their lives after addiction. I was the house manager there, and also lived in the home full-time with the women I supported. It wasn’t just a job—it was our home, our community, our family.

This past weekend, I was on a short trip to North Carolina when I got into a car accident. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but my car was damaged. While I was still trying to process that, I got the kind of call no one ever wants to receive: there had been an electrical fire at the house.

Within days, I learned that the home would not be reopening. In an instant, seven women, KK, Dean, and I were left homeless. I was able to salvage some of our belongings, but not everything. The house is gone. Our stability is gone.

Now, I’m doing everything I can to hold it together—for my daughter, for the women who relied on me, and for our future. But I need help.

What We Need Help With:

A safe place to stay while we figure out our next steps

Funds for a storage unit, and ideally 2 months of rent for it to hold what we could save

Childcare support while I continue working

Money for food and daily necessities

Help repairing my car, which I rely on to get to work

Just about anything to help us start over again

I’ve spent the last few years helping others rebuild their lives. Now, I’m humbly asking for help to rebuild mine.

If you can donate, any amount makes a difference. If you’re not able to give, please consider sharing this story. Your support—whether financial, emotional, or through spreading the word—means the world to us.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this and for standing with us in this incredibly difficult moment.

With love and gratitude,

Jenni, KK, and Dean