Oliver & Marilyn - House Fire

Fire Recovery. Oliver and Marilyn, long-time Edmonton residents, lost their suite and belongings in a fire just before Christmas.

Oliver was outside the home when an explosion and fire erupted in one of the suites on the floor above theirs. Marilyn grabbed their cat, Fergus, and exited.

With only the clothes on their backs, the Red Cross put them up in a hotel for two anxious nights and then our family was able to secure an Airbnb for them through the month of December.

Oliver and Marilyn were able to find a new apartment for January 01, though in a tough rental market their costs have increased, and now begins rebuilding while trying to make ends meet. Oliver earns a living while gardening in summer and providing snow removal in winter. As luck would have it, this winter has been unseasonably dry.

Donations will go to Oliver and Marilyn and will help to, quite literally, put food on their table (and in Fergus's food dish) first and foremost. Donations would also help with the difficult start-up cost of beginning anew (utility hook ups, furnishings, and the incidentals that a person doesn't even realize are gone and until needed).

As someone who has experienced and witnessed the rebuild after a fire (coincidentally also in Old Strathcona near Christmas), I know how difficult it is to reorient and the expense of making a new and empty place a functional home again.

Oliver & Marilyn are two of the best people you could know and are so happy to be safe and alive and together. They would feel so blessed and relieved with any help others might be able to manage.

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All the Best to you in 2024