Our dear friend Jessica recently experienced a tragic life event when her house caught fire. Jessica is a single mom to two amazing children, Evan and Ella (who is in college). One can never be prepared for their home to catch fire, especially a single mother just before the holidays! Unfortunately, Jessica was not properly and adequately insured to be able to recover from an event like this.

Jessica is the most amazing person I know! She’s always giving of herself, her time, and her resources to help others, especially animals, people, and nonprofits. She’s always volunteering for our community. Now is the time for us to show her how much we care. I hope you’ll join me in giving whatever you can to help Jessica and her two kiddos get back on their feet and hopefully restore some bit of normalcy to their lives.

An anonymous donor has agreed to match up to the first $10,000 raised!!!

Here is her story:

A month ago, my son and I experienced something I never imagined could happen to us—a house fire that turned our lives quite upside down.

One morning I was volunteering at an event when the fire broke out on the bottom floor of our home. My 15-year-old son was home alone, asleep. The first smoke alarm went off, and he thought it was just a low battery. When it sounded again, he woke up to find the house filled with smoke and fire downstairs. Despite this, he stayed calm, got out safely, and called 911. I am so grateful he made it out unharmed, along with the foster cat we were caring for.

 

Coming home to the aftermath of a fire is something no one can fully prepare for. Once the flames were extinguished, it was clear our home was uninhabitable. I immediately turned to my insurance company for guidance on what to do and where we could stay. Unfortunately, I discovered a hard lesson: my insurance coverage limits were far below what we needed to recover. I take responsibility for not reviewing my policy closely, but I also wish to have been better advised on the coverage we truly needed. Being a single mom your just trying to make things make sense financially for your family and never did I thoroughly process that a fire would happen.

 

The financial reality has been overwhelming. My policy limits cover a fraction of the damage and loss we’ve experienced. While I’m so grateful that my son and our foster cat are safe, it’s heartbreaking to see the sacrifices and hard work of building a home literally go up in flames.

 

This experience has taught me the importance of reviewing and understanding insurance policies, and I want to encourage others to learn from my story. Please check your coverage limits—it’s a lesson I learned the hard way.