Lost our Home in a Fire

Hi, I am Jay.  My wife is Shirley, and our daughters, Tricia and Dana are devastated.  We have lost everything in a fire that burned down our home.  In the early hours of the morning of November 29, 2016, we were awaken by smoke entering a window from a fire raging on the backside of our home.  After Shirley called 911, I tried desparately to hook up our hose and begin spraying the outside, but the fire was roaring out of control.

Shirley, Tricia and Dana tried to find our other members of our family, our three dogs and a cat.  Only one of our dogs could be found and saved as everyone was literally running for their lives.

We only have left what we were sleeping in when this happened. For me, that was my boxer shorts and a burned t-shirt I had on when trying to put out the fire.

Kind assistance from Red Cross will allow a few days in a motel, but beyond that, we will have no place to live and no means to pay.  I am only on Social Security and Shirley  works as a nurse at a correctional facility. She no longer has the necessary clothes to go to work at the present time.

My recent heart by-pass surgery drained our savings and caused us to fall behind on house payments. Just recently we were able to come to an agreement with our bank to lower our payments, but in the process the bank took over the home insurance. The insurance does not cover the contents. We have nothing left and no means to replace anything.

We are proud people and have never needed public assistance.  But now we are so far down, that we cannot see any hope for light at the end of this.  We are blessed that we are alive and were able to save one of our dogs.  We are thankful that there is this opportunity to tell our story and seek help.  Any amount anyone can contribute will be so greatly appreciated.