Please help Maritza and her family after house fire

My name is Maritza, and I am a 20-year old college student from the Bronx, NY. On February 14, 2025, my family and I lost everything to a horrible house fire that started in the basement of the apartment building. My mother, brother, and I have lived in our apartment for 18 years, and in the span of a few minutes, our home and valuables – from family photos and handmade gifts to clothes and electronics and even cat food/supplies – were destroyed. While I am grateful to say that all three of us (and our cat) are safe, we are struggling to stay afloat financially. I never expected to find myself asking strangers for help, but rebuilding from the ground up has been more difficult than we expected. Your donation would go a long way to help us recover from this event.

I am a sophomore at Queens College majoring in Secondary Education in Mathematics. Following the fire, my family has been sheltered in temporary housing across the Bronx, and – while we are grateful to have somewhere to live while we rebuild – I am now commuting two hours to get to campus. What used to be a one-bus, 45-minute commute is now a two-hour commute requiring one bus and three trains. On top of this, I lost all my school materials including electronics (computer, iPad, calculator, phone), textbooks, and notebooks in the fire itself.

My mother, who must work two jobs to support us as it is, is now struggling because she is worried about expenses when we are able to move back in. She worries about buying us new beds, furniture, clothes, and food, among many other expenses. She carries all the stress.

My brother plays soccer, and he has lost all his soccer equipment: shoes, bag, ball, socks, and jerseys. He had to give up the sport until we can get back on our feet but I can tell that taking soccer away from him is impacting him.

Beyond all of this, we also are struggling to meet my cat’s needs as we struggle to buy food, litter, toys, etc. Unfortunately, the fire hit us at the worst time ahead of his yearly rabies appointments are coming up for which we need to budget $300 .

I want to thank those who have donated, any amount, as every dollar helps and will be appreciated. Whether or not you are able to donate at this time, sharing this page would be helpful and much appreciated. Your support means everything and may many good things come your way. Thank you.

Links to the news stories about the fire are included here:

https://bronx.news12.com/fdny-1-seriously-injured-in-unionport-building-fire

https://bronx.news12.com/unionport-fire-latest-displaced-tenants-retrieve-belongings-amid-ongoing-clean-up