On February 17th my mom, Lisl, and my brother, Pryor, had just finished moving their belongings into their new apartment. They came to stay at my house while they waited for their electricity to be turned on. On February 18th we received a call from the landlord, who is also a friend, saying that there had been reports of a fire at the condo.

The landlord went to check and found a few firetrucks and police officers waiting for him.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but here are the things we know:

• The fire began in the kitchen (again, the electricity had not been turned on until that afternoon, but the company said they could not give us an estimate of when that would happen).

• My mom and brother had not yet had a chance to take out a renter’s insurance policy due to the quick nature of their move.

• In the short time between when the electricity was turned back on and when a neighbor noticed the smell of smoke, there was already extensive smoke damage all throughout the condo—in every angle and corner.

• The firefighters (thank goodness for them!) broke down the door and sprayed a significant amount of water, so in addition to the smoke damage there is also lots of water and structural damage.

Now my mom and brother are looking at replacing ALL of their belongings. The homeowner’s policy will cover a small amount of the remediation, but there will be some massive bills to pay as everything gets put back to normal. All of the kitchen cabinets and (brand new) appliances need replacing. We have friends coming into town at their own expense to help (and we would like to pay for their travel).

We have tried to reach out to some charitable organizations. The Red Cross called the Irving FD to verify, and they were told that it was “only a kitchen fire,” which means that they won’t help us. My mom and brother are hourly employees who already struggle to make ends meet.

We are trying to raise funds for new furniture, kitchen ware, appliances, and structural and cosmetic repairs. We have friends who are donating their time. We are estimating that, to replace all of the above and make the home habitable again, it will take $25,000 plus the limited funds from the homeowner’s policy. We are also open to accepting donations of gently used furniture and household items.