Help Tamika get a new place to live

Hey everybody,

I want to start by saying that anybody who is willing to help me and my family during this difficult time in our lives is sincerely appreciated beyond words.

On January 28th, while my daughter and I were hosting a 4th birthday party at the roller skating rink for my grandson D.J., somebody came and burned our house down! I just inherited this house only a year ago when my grandma passed away from COVID-19. I thought finally me and my family were going to have a stable and safe living situation; and we just found help with fixing up the plumbing issues. This house has literally been in our family for over 45 years! Now I don't know what to do or where me and my kids and grandkids are going to live. I am in shock. We think we know who did it and have filed the police report, but as of now, we literally have no place to stay. We got $515 in help from the Red Cross, but we are looking for some help so that we can try to get a new place. I am a school cafeteria worker and I only make $12 per hour, so unfortunately we weren't able to afford home insurance. I have 3 kids and 12 grandkids (with another on the way) and 2 of my grandbabies were living with me. We are so thankful that nobody was in the house when this happened, but we are just leaving it to God and praying for a blessing. If anybody is able to help, you will be greatly appreciated more than we can express. To add insult to injury I slipped and fell at the roller skating rink and had to go to the emergency room the night of the birthday party and fire. I was literally in a bed at the hospital when I got a phone call from a neighbor who said that our house was on fire. Luckily my injury was just a pulled hamstring and a cracked tailbone, but this has left us without a home!

We are just a struggling, working-class family and we are an active part of our community. Me and my daughters have all been involved in Stand Up KC and the fight for a $15 minimum wage and unions for us low-wage workers who are over-worked and underpaid. We have been involved in the movement for 8 years now because we believe that poor and working people deserve a fighting chance. We are trying to keep our spirits up throughout all of this stress and we are leaning on our friends and refusing to give up the fight for higher pay and a voice on the job. My daughter and grandson and I were even pictured in a recent article in the Kansas City Star protesting with our fellow food service workers at Starbucks who are unionizing. Here's the article: >> Kansas City Star article <<

In this, our moment of need, we would greatly appreciate any help you might be able to offer. In our movement for justice, any time somebody does something inspiring or brave, we have a chant that I would like to share to any of you who donate to help us through this crisis: THANK YOU, WE LOVE YOU!

Sincerely,

Tamika Smith