JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville teacher is on a mission to help a student whose family lost almost everything in a house fire just a few weeks before going back to school.
The fire broke out about 8:30 p.m. at the Broadway Avenue home on the city's Westside. Though Drew Tobey’s family escaped the flames, this is far from their first dose of adversity this year.
That’s why Monet Baker-Weatherspoon, who teaches Tobey’s youngest son, is stepping up to make sure the family gets the help needed to navigate the overcome this latest hardship.
“I kind of told (Tobey’s son) if he needs me to give me a call, so when I saw him calling me, I knew that it was serious,” Baker-Weatherspoon told News4Jax on Tuesday.
By the time she arrived, everyone was standing outside with little more than the clothes on their backs. The house had gone up in smoke, leaving the family without a place to call home.
“You could take a kid to the game, take them out of town, take them to the beach, but what are you to tell them when their house (burns down?” she wondered aloud.
Tobey is grateful her three young children and stepdaughter made it out safely. But there was nothing she could do to preserve any of their belongings, including the family vehicle.
“We lost a lot this year,” she said. “I mean, we lost their father, their grandmother. We have just lost so much. Now we lose our house. … It was the only that we basically had left.”
Fortunately, firefighters managed to save two items that are precious to the family: a photo of the children’s father and the flag that was draped over his casket at his funeral.
“As long as my family is okay, I am okay and that is all that matters,” she said. “I believe in God, that he will get us through these times that we are going to have.”
Having spent several years as a substitute teacher, Baker-Weatherspoon has come to know all kinds of struggles. She's hoping people will come forward and lift up this family.
"I remember a time when I couldn't catch a break and I just wish that we had a community of people who would understand that a little bit more," she said.
A GoFundMe account has been created to provide the family with food, clothes, hygiene products, school supplies and other necessities. You're also welcome to donate clothing you don't need.
One of the children wears a 36-inch waist and size 10.5 shoes. Another is a small size in juniors and wears size 6 in girls shoes, while a third is a medium in juniors and needs size 6.5 shoes.