On September 23, a large fire broke out in a home on President Street in East Newark, a tiny borough spanning just about 0.12 square miles in Hudson County. One resident said she heard her neighbor screaming and ran to the window to see that a fire had started next door.

^{_{“I’ll never forget the sound of her screaming. We all knew we needed to leave quickly because our homes are all connected.”}}

The fire destroyed a total of 18 units in the six connected homes, displacing 35 people on a street in a small town where everyone looks out for one another.

Stephanie Suarez was returning from a vacation in Peru. Once her plane landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, she began receiving text messages and phone calls from her friends and neighbors. “I called my mom right away to find out if my brother was ok and I was really worried about my cats.”

Her brother Jorge was home, and he managed to lure their frightened cats Risotto and Titan from their home. He and his aunt brought the cats down the street to an apartment building where residents brought water, snacks and cat treats to a conference room for them. For a period of time, Stephanie and Jorge watched as fire fighters worked to put out the flames. Within a few hours their neighbors’ homes were destroyed – everything was charred. Their own apartment was uninhabitable due to smoke and water damage.

“In the moment, you’re kind of scared, but then you look up and there are a bunch of people telling you you’ll be ok, asking if you need help – and the feeling was instant,” said Jorge.

^{_{“It made us feel like we weren’t in this alone, everyone was here to help.”}}

More help was on the way. A Red Cross Disaster Action Team arrived and began meeting with the families affected, working with the Borough of East Newark to turn the community center across the street into a reception center. Many families had a safe place to stay, but several families did not. The Red Cross mobilized a shelter strike team that helped turn the local recreation center into a temporary shelter. While the shelter was set up, families gathered and had dinner donated by a local pizzeria.

Eight people, including two small children, stayed in the shelter overnight. The next morning, those eight and all of the other families affected saw a small but mighty community come together to help them.

East Newark Mayor Dina Grillo brought in Hudson County Health and Human Services who quickly arrived at the shelter to offer temporary housing along with the mayor, as well as food assistance during the families’ recovery. Several restaurants donated meals for the families who stayed at and those who came to the shelter for information. Red Cross volunteers met with families on Thursday and provided 35 people in 17 families with emergency financial assistance to further help with things like food, clothing and other immediate needs. Volunteers with Red Cross Health Services assisted several families with replacement of medications.

After Stephanie and Jorge met with Hudson County staff and a Red Cross caseworker, they were able to enter their home with firefighters to retrieve more belongings. While walking back to their car to head over to the hotel, Stephanie stopped to say goodbye to a Red Crosser, saying,

^{_{“We can’t thank you enough. All of this help means so much.”}}

In the next few days, Red Cross volunteers will reach out to all the families to check on how they’re doing and to offer any additional resources available to help with their road to recovery.

HOW TO HELP

Help people affected by disasters big and small, whenever and wherever they occur across the country, by making a donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).