On Thursday, October 17th, our family faced an unimaginable tragedy when my brother Michael and his wife Stephanie lost their home in Union City, CA to an electrical fire. The fire destroyed their living room and devastated the entirety of the house with smoke damage. Thankfully, their children—ages 7, 5, 2, and 11 months—were at school, and both Michael, a nurse in San Francisco, and Stephanie, an Employment Counselor with Santa Clara County, were at work during the disaster.

Around 3 p.m., Stephanie received the terrifying call from the Alameda County Fire Department telling her that their home was on fire. She rushed home to find her possessions burned on the front lawn and her home unrecognizable. It is then that Stephanie learned that their beloved dog, Ozzy, did not survive the fire. Firefighters did their best to resuscitate him, but it was too late. Stephanie then had to make the difficult call to Michael to break the news of the fire and the death of their family dog.

For now, the Martinez family is staying together in Morgan Hill, but the daily commute from Morgan Hill to Union City and San Francisco is taking a toll. They are faced with the overwhelming challenge of rebuilding their lives from scratch. While they thankfully have some renter’s insurance, it will not be enough to cover the immense cost of having to start over.

How You Can Help: The Martinez family needs our support to recover from this devastating loss. Your generous donations will go directly to help them with basic needs like clothing, food, housing, and other essentials as they navigate this difficult journey.

We are incredibly grateful for every donation and gesture of support.

We also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Alameda County Fire Department for their valiant efforts, the Red Cross for their swift response, and the neighbors who have offered food, clothing, and emotional support.

While this is just the beginning of a long road, we believe that with the support of this amazing community, the Martinez family will find the strength to reconstruct their lives.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.