Help RaChelle’s Children Find Hope After Tragedy

In December, RaChelle — a devoted mother of three — posted in a local Athens Facebook group asking for help. She was fighting hard to lift her family out of poverty. When my dear friend Tarin Tripp saw her post, she felt the universe tug at her heart to step in.

At first, Tarin helped financially. But the feeling wouldn’t go away, and she knew she was being called to do more.

In January, during freezing temperatures, RaChelle and her children were living in their car. Miraculously, a tenant unexpectedly moved out of Tarin’s basement apartment — a vacancy that now feels like it was orchestrated by divine hands. Tarin opened her home to RaChelle and her children, offering them a warm, safe place to stay through the winter, rent-free.

RaChelle didn’t waste a second of the opportunity. She secured a job at Piedmont, determined to rebuild. When illness caused her to lose that job, Luke (Tarin’s husband) helped her find another at the hotel where he worked. RaChelle started her new job last Thursday.

But tragedy struck the very next day.

RaChelle became sick at work with severe respiratory symptoms. She was sent home. A few hours later, she told Tarin she might need to go to the hospital. When Tarin checked on her again, RaChelle was in full medical crisis. She was rushed to the ER, where she rapidly declined. Despite every effort, doctors could not resuscitate her. By the time her children arrived, RaChelle had passed away.

Her three children — a 17-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, and a 6-year-old boy — are now left without their mother, with no father or other stable family to care for them.

The Department of Family and Child Services (DFACS) has placed the children with Tarin and Luke after running emergency background checks and a home visit. Although an uncle was located, he is living in a hotel and unable to provide care.

To add even more heartbreak, Luke lost his own job on Friday — almost the same moment RaChelle passed — throwing their family into financial instability just as they took in three grieving children.

And yet, Tarin and Luke have not hesitated, despite already having two children of their own. They are committed to giving these kids a stable, loving home for as long as needed.

This fundraiser will help with funeral costs for RaChelle and provide critical support for the care and future of her three children. Every dollar will go directly to ensuring they have a safe, stable, and loving home during this unimaginable time.

Please donate if you are able. If you cannot donate, sharing this fundraiser is just as powerful.

Thank you for being part of the village that will carry these children forward with love.