Reyes Family
Photo credit: Mason Trinca @mason_trinca
I met Sandra when we were both in high school at Ashland High School. She had just arrived from Mexico, and I was volunteering as a tutor in her ESL class. We were paired together and became friends.
Over the years, I would run into her around Ashland and she was always so sweet and kind. Her daughter ended up in the same class as my niece Ruthie in elementary school, and every time we ran into each other at a play or event at the school, she ran up to me and my sister to say hello and ask how we were doing. My sister went to a birthday party with her, and Sandra was so generous and kind, making sure she had enough food to eat even though they didn’t know each other well and couldn’t communicate well. She doesn’t speak much English so we have only ever communicated in Spanish. It always broke my heart how many people couldn’t experience how big her heart was because of the language barrier. Sandra and some of her family members work in the service industry, working hard to serve the community of Ashland and the Rogue Valley, were already greatly affected by the impacts of COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9th, 2020, three of Sandra’s siblings lost their mobile homes in the horrendous fires that ravaged Phoenix, OR. They lost everything. Ten of her family members, including twelve month old twin girls, are currently living in Sandra’s mobile home in Ashland, which was fortunately spared.
Photo credit: Mason Trinca @mason_trinca
Sandra is one of the kindest, sweetest people I have ever met. When I first reached out to her after the fires, her response broke my heart... she said, “Thank you for remembering me”. She burst into tears as she described to me the scene the destruction where their homes were burned down to the ground. She shared that when the fires first started, they didn’t know what was going on, about the evacuation notices, and couldn’t locate one of her brothers for hours. And despite all of this, she offered to drive by and check on my mom’s house for me who also had to evacuate.
They have little other family or resources in the area. While we have helped direct them to local disaster relief resources, they are not only reeling from the loss of one home in their family- but three. They are looking to rent an RV for some of the family members, so please let me know if you have any leads on that in southern Oregon. In the meantime, anything you can donate to help with their immediate needs would be so greatly appreciated. Anything raised will go towards a new home for her siblings, as well as immediate needs for her family members who lost everything (clothing, food, etc.).
Thank you so much for your generosity. ❤️
Melea Tejedas
(Milwaukie, OR)
*Adding an update, per recommendation from GoFundMe, that I will be withdrawing the funds on behalf of the Gomez family and delivering to them.*
