My name is Jeremy Beltre. A few days ago, my entire life changed in an instant. I recently left for the Dominican Republic to celebrate my daughter’s birthday — a moment that should have been filled with love, joy, and family memories. As I got off the plane, I received a call that still doesn’t feel real: my home… the place I lived in for the last 15 years… was gone. A fire took everything.

Everything I worked for. Everything I built over more than a decade. Every memory, every photo, every personal item — burned.

One moment, I had stability. The next, I was standing in another country, powerless, thousands of miles away, feeling like the floor beneath me just collapsed.

The hardest part in all of this wasn’t the financial loss — it was the emotional one. Our pets were our family. Unfortunately, we lost our cats and our turtle. That pain is something that hits deeper than people realize. You don’t prepare to say goodbye like that. They were a part of home. A part of my everyday life. The silence of knowing they’re not going to be there anymore is something that keeps replaying in my mind.

We are grateful that the humans in the home were able to get out safely. That is a blessing I don’t take lightly. But we are mourning not only the animals we loved… we are mourning the loss of normal. We are mourning our sense of safety. We are mourning 15 years of life that can never be replaced.

Starting over from zero is something you don’t really understand until you’re forced into it. I’m currently in a position where I have to rebuild from scratch. Clothes, furniture, documents, essentials… everything now has to be restarted piece by piece.

Any help — even the smallest amount — would mean more than I can ever express in words. This is a moment where I have to humble myself and ask for support from my community, from friends, from people who know what it feels like to lose something that can’t be replaced.

Thank you to anyone who is able to help, share, or even say a prayer. This has been the most difficult moment of my life, and every bit of support matters right now.