Help Sarah Feel at Home in SF

Hi friends, friends of friends and/or Bay Area Community:

If you know Sarah Spellman, you know she is one of the kindest and most generous human beings there is. She is always the first to help a friend in need, and now — I'm very sad to report — she is that friend in need. 

The sad news: After living on Page St for a decade (in her current apartment for 9 of those years), Sarah lost her home February 18th in a fire that destroyed the top floor of her apartment building. We don't yet know the cause of the fire, but we know it came from the unit adjoining Sarah's bedroom. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the building was not entirely destroyed. We hope that she will be able to eventually return to a repaired apartment, but if you know anything about building fires in SF, you know that might take some time.Here Sarah is right before we were allowed into the building briefly to empty out any belongings that could be salvaged. Not pictured: the burnt out top floor of the building. 

The good news: Sarah and her roommate, Joe, are safe! They were able to retrieve some valuables from the building and they both have a place to stay temporarily. They won't have to pay rent at the unit while it's being fixed, but Sarah does need to find a new place to stay while she's waiting on the building to be repaired. If you know of a studio or one bedroom rental in SF, please reach out!

How she's doing: This has been Sarah's home for longer than any other place she's lived before. It's a devastating thing to lose a home. It's even harder when you lose everything in it and you're not certain if or when you can return. Sarah's doing ok, all things considered, but the road ahead will be a little uncertain, and she could use some support from her community. While she won't have to pay rent, she will have to pay to replace all her destroyed belongings, and relocate until the building is repaired. She's trying her hardest to salvage what she can, but unfortunately water has destroyed a fair amount. This past week, with the help of many friends, Sarah was able to save a good deal of the pottery she has made over the years, as well as a few other items and plants. While it's great news that not all was lost, unfortunately all furniture and a good deal of her clothing were destroyed and will need to be replaced.

How we can help:  At this stage, she is in recoup and recover mode, and will very soon be in replace mode. Clothing, furniture, all the kitchen/bathroom/living essentials that make a home a home. She'll need to restock on most, and does not have renters insurance to help her out. This fundraiser was set up to help pool our support and remind Sarah that she's got plenty of friends who are here for her, just as she is always there for us. If you can lend a few dollars or more, please do. Sarah will use it to replace critical items in the immediate term and to help clean her damaged items and resettle in the near term. If needed, she'll also use any funds received for legal support to help ensure she can maintain affordable housing in SF. If you can't chip in financially, please feel free to send happy thoughts to Sarah, too. Let's let our girl know that San Francisco is her home and we're not going to let this fire change that. 

Some updated photos:

Not a great photo, but that's because there's not much left to see here. This is from the unit directly across the hall from Sarah's apartment - where the building fire originated from. The fire spread throughout this entire unit and firefighters had to break out holes in the ceiling of every room in Sarah's apartment to ventilate the building and prevent the fire from spreading further. 

One of the holes where firefighters broke through...

...and the damage left on the floor. There are at least 6 of these holes and associated damage throughout the apartment. Paint melted off some walls, smoke damage touched every surface and item in the house, and water completely soaked through all rooms, leaving furniture, carpet, clothing, and electrical appliances destroyed in every room of this shared 2-bedroom apartment.

We're all hopeful that Sarah will one day be able to return to her home, but in the meantime, please join us in helping her through the recovery and rebuild!



Questions?  
If you're wondering who this is, I'm Colleen Kredell, Sarah's close friend of several years here in SF.  Our friends wanted to pass a (virtual) hat around to get a support fund going and we thought this might make it easiest to share with Sarah's broader networks. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions. Thanks!