Help my little brother rebuild home gutted by fire

This past January, at 23 years old, my little brother bought his first home. Three months later, on March 29th, it burnt down in an unexplained fire.

There are few people I’ve come across in my life that work harder than my brother, Nick. Every time I hear about the things he is doing in his life, I am blown away and inspired. He has big dreams and is willing to do anything to make those dreams happen. He may be my “little” brother, but I very much look up to him.

(This is Nick on the front porch on settlement day.)

Since he was 18 years old, his dream has been to someday flip houses. In January, at 23 years old, Nick bought a house that he intended to turn into his own. When he first showed it to me, I could see the excitement in his eyes. I saw a run-down old home. He saw the first project of his dream come true.


For 3 long months, Nick worked his tail off (with help from his amazing friends and family) to renovate the house, with hopes to move in this month- April. I would get text messages on the regular with pictures of the most recent exciting developments- the floors, the stairs, etc. During this time he was also working full-time to pay his bills. He would work all day and then work on his house all night.


The morning of Friday March 29th, Nick got the phone call to inform him that his home had been ravaged by fire overnight. And just like that Nick saw his hard-work, perseverance, and dream go up in flames, or at least the aftermath of it all.


Nick’s positivity since then has been remarkable. That day he told me, “God just wanted me to get more experience!” talking about having to do the reno over again and how it will help him get better at it in the long run. He was talking about having the opportunity to do things a little differently than before, maybe try something new here or there. His faith and belief that this was just a little speed bump in God’s great plan was beautiful. But just like I saw the excitement in his eyes at the beginning, I could see the pain and the confusion in his eyes, trying to figure out the message God was sending him.

And so it brings me to this GoFundMe Page. Nick needs your help. There was a clause in his insurance agreement that stated that he needed to have moved into the house within 30 days, or there would be a $17,000 fee.  $17,000 stands between him and road back toward his dream, and he has spent all that he has on the house and the renovation. Please help my little brother keep his dream alive.

(This is a hole in the floor where the tub used to be. It disintegrated..)