Our home burned down on October 31st at 11 p.m., taking with it everything we owned — our house, our cars, irreplaceable memories, important documents, including my grandfather’s citizenship papers, and most painfully, the life of our beloved Great Pyrenees, Yuri, who was 14 years old.

We live in a rural area and did not have home insurance, which has left us facing this tragedy with very limited resources. We are asking for help as we try to rebuild a safe home for our children — one of whom has Down syndrome — and to create a memorial for our beautiful dog Yuri. We also hope to rebuild shelter for the animals who survived the fire, including our chickens and dogs.

Right now, our family is shattered in ways we never could have imagined, and we are doing everything we can to piece ourselves back together. Any support, whether through donations or simply sharing our story, means more than we can express.