Help Tabitha's family after devastating house fire

In the early morning of August 16, Tabitha DeBord was awoken by her dog Boo Boo, barking frantically. Confused by the abrupt interruption and the bright light from outside her bedroom window, at first Tabitha thought she had overslept and missed her morning alarm, concerned she would be late for work. Within moments she realized that the light from outside was fire, a fire that had already consumed the garage, and her car, and was working quickly along the back of the house. Tabitha rushed to the staircase that provided the only exit from her second-story apartment and found that it was too late, the fire was here, and the smoke was filling the apartment. She was trapped.

First, Tabitha called 911. Next, Tabitha needed to wake her elderly mother, Brenda, and get her dressed. Soon firefighters were at the second-story window to carry Brenda, Tabitha and her dogs to safety. A neighbor captured moments from the harrowing ordeal on video which can be seen in the post above.

Tabitha and her family had recently moved into the apartment at 3906 Arnold Ct only two weeks earlier, just enough time to unpack and begin settling into their new home. Within minutes, everything she owned would be destroyed by the fire. Family photos, personal documents, and all of her possessions are now gone. Tabitha and her family need to start again from nothing. Clothes, furniture, food, shelter; the essentials all need to be restored.

Caretaking comes naturally to Tabitha. A mother of three grown sons, Tabitha began providing live-in care to her father Chris a couple of years ago until his recent passing last August due to complications from diabetes and triple bypass surgery. Tabitha currently provides live-in care for her mother, Brenda, who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's complicated by more recent medical concerns regarding her heart and lungs. Brenda will likely need to be put on assisted oxygen in the near future.

Additionally, Tabitha has her three adopted dogs; Chloe, Elsa and Boo Boo who, because of the fire, are currently boarded at the pound. To re-adopt the dogs Tabitha first needs a place to live. Tabitha and her mother Brenda are currently sharing a twin bed at her sister’s apartment. Tabitha continues to work full-time as a cook while spending all her remaining time proactively trying to rebuild a foundation for herself and her family which includes ongoing medical visits, transportation, re-issuing of personal documents, and pulling together the essentials of daily life.

As Maya Angelou wrote, “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” By contributing to this campaign you will be directly helping Tabitha and her family rebuild the lost pieces of their home.

Thank you.