I'm Travis Johannes, the son of Michael and Janay.

Last night, my parents lost everything they owned in a house fire. They were asleep in their bedroom, when at 3am my father heard popping noises and my mom smelled something weird. When she lifted her head to look, she saw the glow of flames, yelled, and both ran to the door to escape without even the clothes on their backs. If they waited any longer, I wouldn't even have my parents. As it is, I lost two of my childhood pets in this.

Both of them were rushed to the hospital. My father was released after about 8 hours with second degree burns to his back and shoulder, but my mother (got the worst of it) remains in observation and treatment for second degree burns down her right arm, hand, and side of her face, smoke inhalation, and a cardiac event -- she had just got out of a treatment program for a heart irregularity that almost took her life 3 years ago.

I'm not asking for too much. I've set the goal relatively low (I've seen people ask for $100k) because, as they say, anything helps. I'm not expecting to build them a house, I'm even not assuming we'll be able to buy a new trailer right now. As long as I can tell them they'll have enough money to get a place to live and rebuild some of the pieces, I know they'll have hope again and something resembling their lives back. But, if we do pass the goal, just know it's all going to picking them back up.

Thank you for reading, and you have my sincerest gratitude for your donation. My parents will appreciate it, as do I.