LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – This Mother’s Day, a local woman faces the challenge of finding a new place for her family to live after a destructive fire engulfed their home in Sorrento last week.
The family of six is currently staying in a local rehab facility to support her son’s medical needs, but that arrangement will only last for 13 days.
The roof has caved in, leaving everything inside damaged. Amidst the wreckage, a medical bed for Renee Veras’ son, Ken, is visible. Ken sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car accident a few years ago.
Veras said Ken is partially paralyzed and non-verbal.
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She said now it’s going to cost thousands to replace his $3,000 bed, as well as several other things he needs to survive.
Veras said Tuesday was one of the worst days of her family’s life.
They have managed to salvage only about 8% of their belongings from the house and now require clothing, footwear, and virtually everything else to start afresh.
Veras says the hardest part is knowing she and her mother worked hard to make this house a home over the past six years—but now it’s gone.
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“It mean stability and a safe place for my disabled son to be as well as my other kids and to be able to spend more time with my mother because not a lot of people get that chance,” Veras told News 6.
The family has a GoFundMe set up, trying to raise $40,000 to pay for her son’s medical equipment and to help them get back on their feet.
They’re also encouraging people to drop off donations like clothes, toiletries, and other items to their storage locker at Storage King USA located at 31725 Mt Plymouth Loop in Sorrento.
Veras said to tell the staff you’re dropping off donations for the Baca family when you arrive.
According to Veras, firefighters told her the blaze started on their porch near their lawnmower, and you can see it also impacted a nearby home.
Varas told News 6 they also lost two pets in the fire.
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