Community helps grandmother whose house burned down 3 days after moving in

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Just three days after moving into a new home, a grandmother and her three adopted grandchildren, two of whom have special needs, are now homeless after a fire ripped through their home.

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Now, the family and the community are looking for resources and skilled help to get them back into the place they once called home.

Julie Hutchinson told Eyewitness News she used all her retirement and money from a former home sale to buy the new home in the Vista del Lago community that fit her eldest grandchild Nevaeh’s medical needs.

Hutchinson said she bought the home out in cash to avoid housing payments.

Read: ‘I felt hopeless’: Friends, neighbors share about child killed in Altamonte Springs fire

On the Friday of moving in, a homeowners insurance agent cleared the home for a policy and was ready to send the paperwork over the weekend.

Monday, the home caught fire before the policy ink could dry, making the home ineligible under the policy.

Eyewitness News reached out to Orange County Fire Rescue on the investigation of the fire and has yet to hear back.

Read: Child dies after fire rips through Altamonte Springs apartment complex

The same night, the new neighbor in the Vista del Lago community became family, and the community helped with boarding the windows of the home and collecting $3,000 to help with a hotel and food to get by for a while.

“We’re a small HOA, so the funding isnt there to put her up in a hotel room for a month or so, so we we’re able to get two days out of them to put her up in a hotel room,” said Christine Beikman, community member.

The community plans to rehab the home for the family, making it handicap assessable and livable again. Hutchinson said a contractor quoted the home repairs upwards of $160,000.

“They’re telling me ninety to one hundred thousand dollars in four months to do all of that, and that’s four months of being out of the house, and I need to find shelter, food, and all of that. Scares me to death.”

Read: Monday: Fire hydrant inspections to begin in Winter Springs

The family has also received help from her church, but more is needed. Right now, the Vista del Lago community has stepped in to lift the flooring and get rid of the burned items inside the home.

“I’ve never been one to ask, I always just took care of it,” said Hutchinson

With funds becoming tight for hotel stays and money to keep shelling out for food and gas to doctor visits and school for the children, time is of the essence to help the family.

The community is looking for people with trade skills to help with time and donations to help get the family back in a home.

The community is seeking volunteers to help with ADA Accessible accommodations for the family close to her grandchildren’s schools.

• Licensed electrician
• HVAC contractor
• General skilled & basic labor
• In-kind donations for building materials
• New/gently used furniture & household goods

“In the economy alone (and) the world we’re living in,” said Beikman. “It’s tough to live on a normal day, let alone have to do this.”

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