Help Our Family of 8 Rebuild After Losing Our Home In the early morning hours of Thursday, at approximately 4:00 a.m., our lives changed in an instant. A neighboring 100-foot tree, which had become rotten, crashed onto our home while our family was asleep. The first impact was directly into our daughter’s bedroom. She woke up to the sound of the crash as metal, insulation, and part of the ceiling came down around her, leaving her trapped in rubble until we could get to her. Another one of our daughters woke to the sound of her bedroom cracking apart, covered in dust as the ceiling and walls began to fail around her. By nothing short of a miracle, everyone made it out alive. Our home is an L-shaped ranch, and the entire “L” section has been destroyed. Four of our five bedrooms were crushed. Structural beams have broken, ceilings are collapsing, bedroom walls are leaning, and fiberglass insulation is exposed throughout the damaged areas. The integrity of our home has been deemed a total loss and it is completely uninhabitable. Even the finished portion of our basement is now becoming damp from the heat and lack of ventilation, creating additional damage. The destruction didn’t stop at our home. The tree also destroyed our family’s swimming pool—something that brought our children so much joy each summer. It is another heartbreaking reminder of just how much was taken from us that morning. Our family consists of eight people—my husband and me, and our six children, ages 24, 15, 13, 11, 8, and 7—along with our three dogs and our cat. Four of our six children have special health needs, and one of our children is scheduled to undergo surgery in just four weeks. Three of our children have already experienced homelessness and significant trauma earlier in life, making this experience even more heartbreaking. This disaster has retraumatized our family, and our children are struggling to process what happened. We are all carrying the emotional weight of waking up to our home collapsing around us. Right now, we are all crowded into two hotel rooms while desperately searching for long-term housing. Because this happened over a holiday weekend, many resources and services have been delayed, making an already overwhelming situation even more difficult. Both my husband and I work from home, and I am self-employed without employment benefits. Losing our home has also disrupted our ability to work and earn income during a time when our expenses have increased dramatically. We have been left needing almost everything. As we begin the overwhelming process of salvaging what we can, we urgently need long-term housing, a POD or nearby storage unit for the belongings we are able to save, replacement clothing and household necessities, and help covering the many unexpected expenses that come with losing a home. While we are working through the insurance process, immediate needs and out-of-pocket costs continue to grow. If you are able to donate, no amount is too small. Every dollar will help provide our family with safe housing, storage for our belongings, basic necessities, and a path toward rebuilding our lives. If you are unable to donate, we completely understand. Sharing our fundraiser with your family, friends, and community would mean the world to us. Our family has always been the first to show up for others. Today, we find ourselves in the unimaginable position of asking for help. We are grateful beyond words for every prayer, every share, every donation, and every act of kindness. Thank you for helping our family find hope as we begin to rebuild.