Help our Family Rebuild from an Unexpected Tragedy

My family was left homeless after a tragic morning on December 31, 2024. A car with two shooters opened fire on our home while my family was asleep early in the morning last Tuesday, before the sun even came up. As can be seen in the photos, they sprayed dozens of bullets into the front of our home and my car. The bullets reached as far back as our first bathroom located behind our kitchen. They also penetrated the entire living room in the front of the house, the front bedroom where we housed our dogs, the kitchen, and my car which has caused issues with my ignition and anti-theft mechanism. Thankfully, my bedroom and the back area where my two toddlers slept was left unharmed which kept us physically unharmed.

The police have caught at least one of the assailants: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12DRgUCF3WS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We don’t know this person or why they would even do something like this and it has left us completely shaken where we don’t feel safe to return home or even to the neighborhood. It strikes us even more for the simple fact that shootings are not common in our area and we’ve never experienced anything like this before.

Since then, we’ve been staying in a hotel and are in the search for a short-term rental so we can finish out the school year for my oldest child (4). Once the school year is done, we plan to move to Houston to be closer to my family. Over the last week since the incident, I have missed out on a week of work, my youngest (2) was infected with Covid, and I had to rehome my dogs who I regretfully don’t believe I’ll be able to take care of anymore. I have created this campaign to recoup lost wages & belongings including our living room furniture and set us up for stability. This campaign will help with six months of rent, utilities, groceries, and therapy for my youngest who is autistic (for which we had to miss a session due to his Covid infection). This situation has created another strain nonetheless as I already work paycheck-to-paycheck to maintain the bills and keep food in our bellies. (I still owe almost $400 in back rent as I fell behind when my oldest got sick a few months ago and I had to stay home to take care of him.)

I imagine it’ll be difficult to find short-term rentals so we may have to stay in hotels for a little while which is exponentially more expensive. Our landlord has been gracious in relieving us from the rest of our lease agreement. We would greatly appreciate any donations that folks are able to provide as well as any resources that anyone can share to ease the situation. This ordeal has left me mentally and emotionally spent, but I will be returning to work by the end of the week to get us back on track. Thank you & God Bless!