When someone looses most or all of their possessions in a house fire, the resulting hardship is something the average person could never comprehend.
It means completely starting over and building from the ground up, and it spurs the inevitable questions: What do I do? Where do I start? How can I go on?
Helping answer those questions and tending to the all-encompassing needs of fire victims in Texas County is Angels Home Center, a non-profit organization established based near Plato.
Established in 2003, Angels Home Center offers “burn-out” survivors assistance in the form of household goods, furniture, clothing and other necessities – all free of charge. When funds are available, victims are even given cash.
“We run on a wing and a prayer,” founder Betty Adams said. “We just kind of do what we can do.”
Adams started the organization after three friends all lost their homes to fire in a three-week period.
“I really didn’t realize until then how much you lose in a fire,” she said. “Here they were, all having nothing and in need of everything. I called everyone I knew and said, ‘We need to raise money to help these people. Let’s have a meeting and form something.’”
At first, all the donations were kept in storage. Then a local woman provided a single-wide trailer that was utilized for a few years at a location on Highway 32.
But since 2008, Angels Home Center has operated out of a large double-wide trailer on Peace Chapel Road near Plato (about a mile off of Highway M). Adams and her crew of three volunteers (including Ruth Perry, Betty Breedlove, and daughter Darcie Manion), run a “free-will donation” thrift store in the building, stocked with all kinds of items gathered from numerous sources, including churches, businesses and private individuals.
“We don’t really openly seek donations, mainly because I believe all the businesses in Houston are inundated with being asked for help,” Adams said. “But it somehow functions. God brings in what we need.”
The Angels Home store is open to the public Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., but is closed during winter months. Anyone is welcome to shop at the facility, and nothing is priced. Customers determine how much they want to put in the “donation jar.”
“People have hearts,” Adams said, “and some of them give more than they need to in the donation jar, and then people who can’t give don’t.
“But it all balances out. Every little bit helps, and we’re just grateful for anything.”
“Some people give far more for an item in the store than it’s worth because they know they’re giving,” Manion said.
Adams and her crew receive donations at the store, but are also willing to pick up items in select circumstances.
“We’re always in need of furniture and appliance donations,” Adams said. “We’ll hop in a truck and come get them when we need to.”
The trailer that houses Angels Home Center is a story in itself. The building was formerly a classroom for prison inmates in Jefferson City, and was obtained at a surplus auction for a surprisingly low price. Once purchased, the unit was moved to a site in Texas County on land donated by a Cabool man.
The man also had a well dug at the location, so the trailer has running water.
“He said, ‘I’m not doing anything with this land, so put the trailer here,’” Adams said. “Then he said, ‘you need water, so we’ll dig a well.’ He even donated the foundation, the water lines, pipes and everything to make this place function. And he doesn’t charge us anything.”
Several other local residents got involved, building a porch and stairs for the trailer, and otherwise getting it ready for business. The labor and materials were all provided at no charge.
“A lot of people pitched in,” Adams said. “It’s unbelievable how God provided all this.”
Among the amenities Angels Home Center provides fire victims are new quilts made by members of the Piney River Quilt Guild.
When a fire destroys a home, word of mouth often leads the victims to Angels Home, but county fire departments and agencies also at times mention the opportunity. The organization even has a sizeable travel trailer that is sometimes temporarily loaned out to burn-out victims free of charge, allowing them time to find other housing.
So far in 2012, Angels Home Center has helped close to 20 families restart their lives following home fires. Adams figures one of the reasons that number isn’t larger, and that more people don’t regularly donate or contribute, is a simple lack of awareness that the organization exists.
“And I don’t really know how to create more awareness,” she said. “People don’t really pay attention to people who burn out until it hits home. Just like people aren’t really aware of Relay for Life until cancer hits their family, people aren’t aware of Angels Home Center until someone they know loses everything in a fire.
“That’s just how it works.”
For more information about the organization, or to arrange to make a donation or receive assistance, call 417-458-3298.
Just like people aren’t really aware of Relay for Life until cancer hits their family, people aren’t aware of Angels Home Center until someone they know loses everything in a fire. That’s just how it works.”