Salah Elbakri address some of the victims of the Millbrae Fire

One of the victim's living rooms full of burned debris and melted children's toys

Volunteers provided home-cooked meals to victims that met their dietary needs

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, May 7, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In the last 48 hours, The Support Life Foundation launched a dual-ended crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness, collect donations, and bring city leaders together for the Millbrae Fire Victims. This was in response to the limited help the families were receiving from relief organizations already strained by COVID19. The fire occurred at 1007 Hemlock Avenue on Monday, April 27th . Since then, Support Life volunteers were delivering home-cooked meals that complied with everyone’s dietary needs. The victims were initially told that they would be homeless after Thursday, May 7th; leaving them to fend for themselves or try the waitlisted homeless shelters in the area. By raising the victims’ plea on their platform, the Support Life Foundation galvanized the help of the 4 mediums; the local religious groups and houses of worship, civil service and policymakers, business communities, and individuals across the area. Everyone came together to strike a deal with a new local hotel and the City of Millbrae, providing a full month of temporary housing. Salah Elbakri, executive director of Support Life says, “We’re hoping to bring the best out of people, that while you’re in lockdown, you can still make a difference and be empowered to help others. Whatever you put into your community will come back to you tenfold. This must be a community effort!”

The regional housing climate has already made affordable housing extremely difficult, but COVID19 has exasperated the issue. Most of the families have children, some even have newborns. These families were already living in low-income housing; whatever savings they had, bled out by the past few months of joblessness in this pandemic paused economy.

The best solution for these displaced families is to leave the community they built their lives in, and literally start elsewhere from scratch. Without funding to move and obtain the basic necessities they lost to the fire, rebuilding will be impossible unless we get the support of communities and public institutions. “We delivered COVID-19 Care packages full of food staples and supplies to these families two days prior. We saw the conditions they were already living in, and to see them lose what little they had is devastating. My heart was torn, we couldn’t help them fast enough,” said Elbakri. After endless phone calls and outreach, the Support Life Foundation is proud to have the cooperation and endorsements of Millbrae Mayor Reuben Holober, Mayor Emily Beach of Burlingame, and Councilmembers Donna Colson and Michael Brownrigg, in efforts to raise funds. Each family needs at least $5,000 to piece their lives together.

Salah effused, “To have these leaders actively involved shows the kind of community we have, built on human compassion. We’re bringing new life from the ashes.”

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Yumna Ali
Support Life Foundation
+1 510-534-6293
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While you're on lockdown, a fire locked them out: Millbrae Fire victims on verge of homelessness