Rebuild Our Home—Rebuild Our Lives

Hello friends,

On January 29th of this year, our lives were shattered when our forever home was involved in a horrific fire. Courageous and skilled local firefighters from 4 stations were able to bring the fire under control and save a portion of our home. This left one half of the living area destroyed and the remaining rooms were transformed into melted and blackened walls and floors - completely uninhabitable. Thankfully, there was no one hurt during the fire as the only person home was able to escape shortly after the fire started from sparking fireplace embers.

I have a bright, loving 11 year old daughter and a recently-graduated, 20 year old son who deeply loves his family as well. We are a very close-knit family and have been forced to live apart for the foreseeable future. For the well-being of our children, we have been fortunate enough to temporarily relocate them into the home and care of my parents until we can make our home begin to resemble what it once was. My wife and I have managed to stay in the unfinished basement of our home where less damage occurred. However, we have no power and there was NO INSURANCE on the home.

Additionally, almost 1 year ago, my wife’s mother, who was living with us and in our constant care, passed away. This has devastated my wife and this horrible fire has only multiplied the mental anguish 10x over. She is truly struggling with all of it on a daily basis.

We have appealed to the Red Cross, local churches and simply reached out to everyone we know. Although helpful, the generous and sincere responses will in no way get us through the duration of this crisis. Our most immediate need is obviously financial in order to try and clean up and remove debris from the home and provide adequate meals.  Perhaps if some financial aid begins to trickle though as a result of this campaign, we will only them begin to formulate a realistic plan for rebuilding. Those needs will be addressed as we painstakingly move into that phase of the overall plan.

I am working hard every day as I am a proud and skilled stonemason. Being dependent on the weather, work slows in wintertime, but I am hoping it picks up in the warming weeks to come. Regardless, my income alone will not support the almost insurmountable journey which lies ahead.

As my options become more and more limited, I am hereby issuing my humble plea to the caring masses in hopes that this horrible episode in our otherwise normal lives will have touched others in a way that perhaps moves them to act as the hands and feet of Christ here on earth. There remains inherent goodness in people today and, along with God’s mercy, that is where I am staking my most heartfelt hopes and prayers.

Thank you for anything you may feel led to donate - no matter how small - and know that it will be used for nothing but good to truly rebuild shaken lives.

May God richly bless you!
Sincerely,
John, Danielle, Hope and Tyler Blackley
Trinity,  North Carolina