Just days before Christmas, a nightmare unfolded for several St. Rose families, but their community has rallied around them.
A fire on the morning of Dec. 17 has left seven families displaced after a fire to an apartment complex at 506 E. Club Drive broke out. Everyone was able to get out of the building and to safety, but the complex took significant damage.
Children who lived in the building were boarding the school bus while the situation played out.
“Those kids came to school – they were worried,” said Jamie Mason, a counselor at St. Rose Elementary. “(After gathering information) we were able to tell them hey, everybody got out, nobody got hurt.”
One St. Rose Elementary mother, Jytte Birden, lived at the complex and took action when the fire became a threat.
“She had gone outside for something … she heard her neighbor yelling for help,” said Mason. “She opened her door and there were flames everywhere … she got everyone out of those apartments. I told her little boy, ‘your mom is a hero.’ She sprung into action … the situation could have been much worse.”
Lives were saved. Nevertheless, the situation still left families without a home, just over a week before Christmas.
That didn’t sit right with many in the local community who were determined to help.
Mason emailed the St. Rose Elementary faculty and began organizing donations of clothes and toiletries for students and their families who might not have a home to return to. She also took to Facebook to rally community members. Resources poured in.
“Those are my babies,” Mason said. “My child’s nine … these kids are her age or about her age. I knew they’d have the need, and I just needed these babies to have something. And everyone’s been great. We have some very giving people here with very big hearts. It happened a week before Christmas.”
The situation struck a different kind of chord with her as well. Mason’s mother-in-law and father-in-law lost their home in a fire in May of this year, her mother-in-law passing away in the fire.
“(Her family members) stayed with us, so I know what (the St. Rose families) were going to need after a fire,” said Mason.
Mike Nabut, owner of Birdie’s Food and Fuel, the Ed Reed Foundation and IMTT partnered to provide holiday food baskets for the families. Attorney Loyd Bourgeois donated, as well as Magnolia Companies of Louisiana. United Way of St. Charles coordinated relief efforts. Councilwoman Michelle O’Daniels rallied community members around the cause.
Other residents adopted families. including Becky Thomas, William and Councilwoman Michele DeBruler, Melissa and Chad Calongne and Baileigh Helm.
Thomas lost her home to a fire when she was a teenager, so the cause resonated with her.
“I was dating my husband back then, when I was 15 … his dad and a woman he was dating were in town from Mississippi. It was right after our house had burned down. I remember her taking me aside, putting cash in my hand and saying, ‘Honey, every girl needs new clothes. Go get you some new clothes.’ And that stuck with me. I’m about to be 65 and I was 15 then, but I remember it like it was yesterday. So, I just remember the good that was done for us, how that made me feel,” Thomas said.
“People need, at times … you never know when it’s your turn to pay it forward. And you never know when it’s going to be your turn to need, and you’re going to hope that someone is there for you.”
