On March 12th, 2020, like many businesses, ours was shut down. Five years later to the date, we lost the business we built out of that situation, and a large majority of our personal property to a fire.

Backstory:

In an effort to keep access to life-saving skills through and after the shutdown, we sold our home and purchased a property with a large barn to renovate and launch our swim program out of.

We moved from a larger home, so this space was where the majority of our personal property, and daily life activities were contained.

The barn, all of it's contents, as well as the attached structures (office, library, yard equipment, children's play space, toys, gym, stable) and all the equipment we used to build and maintain it were all lost to the fire, smoke damage, and water damage during emergency response.

Additionally, we have incurred expenses and losses residual to the initial event (home displacement, medical bills, hired services, and legal fees).

We are heartbroken on many levels, but primarily for the loss our community has suffered a second time. We have built this space of refuge together- through hard work, donations, and sacrifice this became yours as much as it was ours.

Though the swim program was what many came for, it was the culture of family first, and a community that watched out for & helped care for each other that made it so much more than swim lessons, for all who visited our home. We opened this space for personal enjoyment, celebrations, holiday donation site, fundraisers and support groups. We wanted everyone to love it and use it just as much as we did.

We have had countless moments of working through challenges and overcoming obstacles together. This space has been a place for the community to come together to empower and celebrate those we hold most dear.

We're holding onto the support, prayers, and hope of our community that we can rebuild - but this journey is going to be difficult without humbling ourselves and asking for financial help.

We've created this GoFundMe to ask for help in getting back on our feet - starting first with the demolition, haul away, and mitigation of the fire debris, and then rebuilding of the structure. Currently, insurance has denied the "structure" element to our claim.

We will hopefully know more about our personal claims soon; however, at this time we only want to ask the community to help recover and reopen our Gem City Swim space.

Our primary focus is to rebuild this portion of the structure, and return the program to the community as quickly as possible.

Any amount you can give means more than words can express. Sharing your story, favorite memories, and this page are greatly appreciated too.

Thank you, from our family to yours for all you have done thus far. We lean on your support daily, we end our days saying thanks for all we have been blessed with through this tragedy, and we are eager for the day we reopen our home to you all again.