Amanda’s life changed in an instant on a cold Sunday earlier this February. With weather plunging into the mid to low 30s that night, families throughout the city were preparing to keep warm. And, that’s exactly what Amanda did.
A single mother of 2, Amanda was visiting her parent’s house down the street when her life changed forever. “I had gone to visit my parents just a few houses down, but before I left, I put the dog in his crate and turned on the space heater.” While Amanda and the kids were enjoying some family time, frantic knocks came from the door. “It was one of my parent’s neighbors, and they were just saying ‘your daughter’s house is on fire!’ I rushed down the street and saw my house up in flames, my life burning away before me. I just kept thinking, why is this happening to me?”. There was nothing that Amanda could do but watch.
Amanda was incredibly humbled that she and her children were not in their home at the time the fire started, but Diesel, the family dog did perish. The San Antonio Fire Department believes it was the space heater that caused the fire and $100,000 in damages. Luckily, Amanda was able to recover some items, one of which was a family photo album.
When Amanda went to school the next day to explain to her professor what had happened, immediately her professor gave her a list of resources and helped Amanda get in touch with different agencies in the area… one of which was the Texas Diaper Bank. “I had no idea that there were so many resources available to people that need help.” When she arrived to our office, our staff had gathered up as much as we could for Amanda’s 1-year-old little boy – diapers, wipes, baby clothes, bottles, blankets, and a diaper bag. We even were able to collect some toys and animal books – which according to Amanda, are his favorite. “He loves animals! But he calls everything ‘dog’ because of our dog Diesel. I have to tell him ‘no buddy, that’s a cat!’ Or, ‘that’s a horse!’, but nope, it’s a dog”.
Because of your support, we are able to help families like Amanda’s. “It’s nothing that you ever expect to happen, like it’s from a movie… It’s so good to know that there are resources for people like me that might be down on their luck. Thank you guys so much.”
You can see more about Amanda’s story that was also featured on Fox 29 HERE.
