Hello, my name is Jody Werner and my family has suffered terribly this year. My mother and grandmother’s house was destroyed by a fire, likely due to a space heater, on December 26th, the day after Christmas, instantly wiping out nearly all of their possessions. The home was shared with my brother and two nephews, and now they are all displaced. We lost at least one family pet in the fire, and are still searching for one more. The other three are with me for now.

The year started with mom having both a heart attack and stroke in late January 2022. By March, she had a lifesaving quintuple bypass surgery, and the rest of the year has been spent getting her nursed back to health, then this tragedy struck. They found out the day after the fire that the homeowners insurance had recently lapsed, and they are no longer covered (for the first time in the 45 years my grandmother has owned the house). This is the worst possible scenario, and I am frantically trying to make sure that my family can overcome this and get back on their feet. Every single penny will be spent carefully and thoughtfully in order to ensure that mom, grandma, Clayton, Phoenix, Evan, and the pets are clothed, fed, housed, and taken care of medically. I don’t know how much it costs to completely start over, but I do know that it’s expensive and with enough community support we can get through this and hopefully have a much brighter future.

Included are a couple of photos of the living room, where just the day before we spent Christmas together, in our family home, for one last time.

Thank you, from the bottom of all of our hearts. ♥️