Help Karen and Rachel Rebuild After a Devastating Fire

This morning, the unthinkable happened. A fire broke out in the home of the only other woman I have called mom, and my sister in all but blood. Karen, and Rachel unfortunately recently experienced hard times and due to this had not been able to insure their family home this year. This could not have happened to nicer people. Growing up, their home was always the home for all the strays, be it 4-legged which speaks to their six cats which all came off of the streets, or two-legged kids. Karen is responsible for so many people and animals surviving extreme hardship. She is the type of woman to give her last dime to someone else, even if she doesn't have anything left for herself. So many kids have stories of Karen taking them into her home, feeding them, driving them to where they need to be, or offering a bed to sleep in if you just needed an escape from home. I know I wouldn't be where I am in life if not for her enduring generosity, words of wisdom, and just believing in me.

Karen has also done so much work trapping and fixing the feral cat population in her slice of Sheepshead Bay. Many of her cats are semi-ferals that no one else was interested in taking. While their house was covered in smoke, Rachel and Karen were in the home pulling their cats out of closets or from under furniture. However, with the challenge of having so many indoor cats, they have very limited options when it comes to accommodations. They need their home restored because they do not want to see their cats going into the shelter system. With the extreme heat predicted this week, this is an emergency situation.

The damage to the house was extensive. They are currently without electricity or gas, have had to have all of their back windows, roof skylight, and ground floor doors boarded due to the firefighters breaking them during their response. This was an especially devastating blow as they had just paid off having some of their windows repaired from 7 years ago. This also does not include the extensive damage to their ground floor (most of the drywall is gone, there is extensive water, smoke, and fire damage). Their electrical system has been obliterated. At this point, our goals are to assess the damages, and make the top floor as habitable as possible.

Karen and Rachel do not have extended family to rely on. I am hoping that all of the amazing goodwill they have collectively poured onto others can manifest just this once. They deserve so much, and it hurts to see two people with such big hearts be in such an impossible situation. Any donation helps. With their loss of power, they have lost all of their groceries. A few bucks can help get a meal, replace lost bedding, help with any appraisal costs, or help with clean up costs.

This is an opportunity to help some truly amazing people. Let's see if we can make an impossible situation, into something possible.