The fire which severely damaged an Alief area apartment in January also left Jaylah Cormier and her mom, Shameka, starting over.
Shameka remembers the moment the fire started eating up their life.
"All of the sudden we opened the door and our whole house was engulfed in smoke," Shameka said.
The complex found a new apartment for them but to keep going without the basics was hard.
"Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe this happened," said Jaylah.
"You're trying to recover, you still have rent, your rent is still due," said Shameka.
Enter Joshua Baker of the Alief Homeless Outreach Project, also known as AHOP.
"We're a new organization so we're still trying to get off the ground," Baker said.
The organization's goal is to help families in need in the Alief area. Baker tells us there are about 1,400 homeless students in the Alief school district and Jaylah is just one of the many they're trying to help.
"These families through no fault of their own, never intended to be, the problem is huge," said Baker.
"They were so gracious to us, and always checking up on us," Shameka said. "Always you know, 'Can I help you with this?'"
AHOP takes donations of clothing, food, furniture almost anything to assist the families in their community.
"When you have people that are just so loving and generous like that you just know that there is a God somewhere and there are people that care just as much as you care," said Shameka.
The Alief Homeless Outreach Project can always use donations so if you're interested you can reach them through their Facebook page.
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