On the morning of March 16th, at 3am, a massive tree crashed through the home of Laurel's daughters Katie and Colleen in Warwick, Rhode Island. Eight-year-old Noelle, Katie's daughter, was asleep in her bed when the tree came through her bedroom wall and missed her by just two feet.

Noelle is now dealing with PTSD in the aftermath of that night. A little girl who should be sleeping soundly is instead carrying something no child should ever have to carry.

The tree tore through the roof and into the bathroom, leaving it completely destroyed, and the structural damage is severe enough that the entire roof and the back side of the house have to be completely removed and rebuilt. While insurance is covering the structural repairs, Katie, Colleen, and Noelle have been displaced and are having to rent a place to live for the entire six months it will take to rebuild, because there is simply no going back until it's done.

The day-to-day costs of living, rent, groceries, utilities, and basic necessities for a little girl already going through so much, don't stop just because a tree fell through your house.

We are raising $18,000 to cover six months of living expenses while they wait to go home.

I have known Laurel for three years as one of my stained glass students, and in that time she has become someone I genuinely cherish. Laurel is the kind of person who is always thinking about others before herself, always finding ways to accommodate, to help, to show up. When I was going through a hard time, she opened her home to me without hesitation and even taught me needle felting as a way to find some calm. That's just who she is.

In those three years I've gotten to know her family too, and what strikes me most is how much they love each other. Katie, Colleen, Noelle, they are the kind of family that sticks together. That's rarer than it should be, and it's something worth showing up for.

If you've ever been through something unexpected and terrifying, you know that the hardest part isn't always the disaster itself. It's the long, exhausting stretch of rebuilding that follows. This family is doing everything right. They just need their community to help carry the weight for a little while.

Every dollar goes directly to keeping a roof over Noelle's head while hers gets rebuilt.

Please share this even if you can't give. It costs nothing and means everything.