Pirtleville family displaced by fire needs help

Although Maricela Lerma and her five boys have received the promise of help by several church groups and community members, the family, who lost their Pirtleville home in a fire April 29 still needs the good will of the people to bounce back from the situation they find themselves in these days.

The Douglas Dispatch spoke with Lerma about the living conditions they are facing after the fire. Lerma said the situation has been very tough due to the sadness that represents not having the family together because of the lack of space of the borrowed house they live in right now and living with the idea of having lost everything at the fire.

“Me and one of my sons are staying with my boyfriend and the rest of the kids are staying at a different house with one of my friends,” Lerma said.

After the fire, a friend of Lerma’s offered her a house located in Douglas, which has been vacant for over a year and has been vandalized numerous times.

“The house needs a lot of repairing; it needs a cooler, a lot of windows are broken, the yard is very messy and other things like broken plumbing,” she said.

The American Red Cross stepped up and gave to the family a card so Lerma can contact with them to come up with ways to help the family.

This will help the family get closer to start doing something to repair the house. Faith groups and members of the community have also showed interest in helping the family with everything they can.

“Somebody got us a donation from Border Mart and $50 from Walmart, so that was a big help to get us going,” Lerma said. “My church, Faith Ministries, also donated some money and some furniture as well. I had some people that stepped up and donated furniture, and another church will donate part of the service needed to fix the house that my friend offered for rent.”

For Lerma, getting the house she is going to rent fixed is the main thing to do. She also feels that by doing that she will start moving things to go back to normal and give their kids more confidence everything will be fine in the future. But since her mobile home was considered a total loss, more than a house is going to be needed to do it so.

People interested in helping the family can donate clothes and shoes for boys from 8-17 years old and women size 18; also food, house-materials or any good that could bring some joy for them.

Donations can be delivered at 1805 11th St. or call (520) 255-0613 or 236-4840 and ask for Maricela Lerma. Donations can be picked up to any place in town if needed.

“If anyone could help fixing the house, somebody that could donate some windows, or anything that could help me start over I will be in deep appreciation to them. I thank all the people that already have donated something; this has been a big help to go through this awful situation,” she said.