Homeless for the holidays

Posted: Updated:

By Melanie Ruberti - bio | email

GLENNVILLE, GA (WTOC) - A devastating fire rips through a family's home, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Now, they're trying to pick up the pieces and move forward.

A faulty electric breaker sparked the massive fire that left nine members of the Alexander-Ford family out in the cold and the rain.

"We sat there and watched the whole thing fall apart. From the back of the room, all the way to the front," cried Alexis Ford. "It hurt me so bad. I couldn't do anything. I felt like it was my fault, but I was scared to hit the breaker switch."

"It's a good thing no one was hurt," said Pastor Corth Nelson, a family friend as he surveyed the damage. "It could have been a tragic situation."

While everyone escaped the flames unharmed, the family's clothes, furniture and a life time of memories, were reduced to ashes in minutes.

"This is a house my grandfather had for about 20 years,"said Sylvia Alexander Andrews. "We've always gathered at that house."

"I grew up in that house, starting when I was three days out of the hospital. I'm 20-years-old now," said Alexis. "All the pictures, all the memories, all the fun times. We were going to spend Christmas there. We can't do that anymore."

Now, Alexis and her family are taking refuge in the Faith Temple Church. But their holidays and future arrangements look as bleak as the gray, rainy skies Friday afternoon.

"It's going to work out. It's going to work out," Pastor Nelson said, encouraging the family.

Pastor Nelson is pulling the community and congregation together to help them through Christmas and beyond.

"Everything that was lost can be replaced, but it's going to take time to replace it," explained Pastor Nelson. "But with the help of the community, friends and family, we believe we can get this family back on track."

While it may not be life as they knew it, the family knows they will come through this tragedy stronger than before.

"Just praying," said Alexis. "Prayer is going to get us through everything."

"Having faith in God. That's the number one thing," said Sylvia. "Knowing that we know the reason for the season."

The Faith Temple in Glennville is holding a benefit for the family Sunday, December 20 at 5pm.

If you'd like to donate or help the family out, you can call the Faith Temple at 912.654.9171. You can also reach Pastor Corth Nelson at 912.237.9009.