Schwartzkopf Family House Fire Fund

My name is Tawny, and I am creating this page on behalf of my mom, Jody, my step-father, Todd, and my sister Tia. On Thursday, May 12th, they tragically lost their home to a house fire, which was caused by lightning striking their home. Their home is located near the Crooked Lake area in Wisconsin. The fire spread through the entire roof of the home, causing the ceiling throughout the home to collapse, leaving them with a total loss. The home will need to be demolished and rebuilt. Thankfully, nobody was injured during this devastating event, including their pets.

Unfortunately, this is not the only painful event that our family has endured over the last few years. In January 2020, my mom, Jody, was diagnosed with 2 rare neurological disorders, one of which is ALS. From the time she was diagnosed to 2021, she lost her ability to walk, eat (she is fed through a feeding tube), speak, and move her arms and legs. In July 2021, she had to have a tracheostomy and was permanently placed on a ventilator to help her breathe, which our family manages at home. When the home was struck by lightning and began to burn, Todd, along with the help of his brother Scott, friend Chris, and my sister Tia, safely evacuated my mom from the home, along with our dogs. Thankfully, EMS arrived quickly and transported my mom to the hospital, where she was safe while she awaited discharge to Todd's mom, Bonnie's, house. Bonnie and her significant other, Marv, were gracious enough to take in our family and offer them refuge while they figure out their next steps. While nobody was hurt and everybody is safe, our family is numb with pain and still trying to process the loss of our home and many belongings.

One of the most difficult and painful aspects of this situation is that their home was built by Todd, along with his friends and our family, as our happy place, our sanctuary. So many friends and family have shared in the memories of this home and understand the special place this home holds in our hearts. It was my mom and Todd's dream to live up north, and they made it happen.

That is why I wanted to start this fund to help them get their dream back. They are not the type of people who ask for help, even when they need it the most. Todd has only been working part time since covid started to make taking care of my mom his full time priority. He will go through any obstacle in his way to provide for his family and keep my mom taken care of and in her home where she wants to be. Without hesitation, he learned how to do everything he needed to take care of my mom, which would be a daunting task for most families, but he was willing to do anything to keep my mom safe in our home. Through all of this heartache and the unexpected twists and turns we have faced, Todd has never asked for help. He and my mom are the types of people who are the first to help others and never expect anything in return. Anybody who knows them knows that they are incredibly selfless and giving people. We have been incredibly fortunate to have great friends and family through these last few years who have helped out immensely and to whom we are so grateful.

The goal of this fund is to raise money to make some wheelchair accessible changes to the house while it is being rebuilt to fit our needs and make it easier to care for my mom, as well as to help with other costs and unexpected expenses.

 

Todd, Jody, and Tia, along with the rest of our family, want everyone to know how truly grateful we are from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has called, texted, reached out, and offered their support this past week. We are humbled by the loving, caring, and giving nature of the people who have reached out and feel blessed to know that we are so supported by such wonderful people. Our family also wants to give a very special thank you to the Volunteer Crooked Lake Fire Department, as well as Riverview, Doty, Townsend, and Mountain fire rescue, and the ambulance services from Lakewood and Mountain. Words cannot describe how thankful we are for their selfless efforts.

Thank you to everyone for helping support our family during this devastating time. We hope you understand how much your help truly means to us by providing a sense of relief and hope.

Todd and friends siding our home in 2015