Help the Wurtemberg Family on the Road to Recovery

My name is Amber Tellez and I am creating this fundraiser for my dear friends, Erin and Mark and their beautiful family. Both Erin and Mark grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and she has been one of my dearest friends since we met 34 years ago in High School. Erin and Mark have been residents of Altadena, California for many years and loved their little community and their sweet home nestled in the Foothills. Like so many others, they were forced to evacuate quickly from their home on January 7th, leaving much behind. Erin, Mark, their three beautiful children and Alice the cat, all made it out safely. They have been lucky to be able to stay with family as they navigate this crisis.

Throughout the time of the evacuation, they received mixed reports on the state of their home. Eventually, they were able to see with their own eyes, that their house was still standing. Even with that blessing, they lost their office. It was a separate structure that held some of their most valued belongings, including their son's drum kit, other instruments, all of their HS memoribilia and many of their daughters possessions (all packed away while she was at college.) In addition to the losses they had at their home, their youngest son, lost his entire school; Eliot Arts Magnet has completely burned down to the ground. The entire community of Altadena will need years to recover from this tragedy.

In addition to that, they were renting this home and yesterday, received the news that they would not have the option to return to it. They are going to have to pack, move, and store all of their belongings in the next few weeks for an undetermined amount of time. This is going to cause them to incur many unexpected expenses. Additionally, they are not sure what is even going to be salvageable and what items will have to be replaced.

Both Erin and Mark were reluctant to allow me to start this fundraiser on their behalf. They are both deeply aware of how lucky and blessed they are in this situation and that the need in their community is so great. But I know how many people love this sweet family and how much we would all like to make the road to recovery for them, just a little bit easier. I know, there will be hours of work that will have to be done to get their life back to normal, and that will mean lost wages for both of them and the potential for financial hardships in the future. The intention for these funds is to cover the unexpected costs of this disaster that they will face and to allow them to work on healing their family and their community, without also having to worry about finances. If there are any funds left unused in this mission, they will pay it forward in their community.

Thank you for lifting up the Wurtembergs and allowing them to feel the love and support from around the globe. There are so many people in need and they feel honored that you chose to make their road to recovery a little easier.

With love and gratitude,

amber