After such a horrible escape from Paradise, where are we now? First, I want to say that so many from Paradise had similar experiences as we did, and many of those are not doing as well as we are.
A few days after the fire, and once some of the shell shock wore off, I went to the FEMA set up. There we had to prove that we were from Paradise and show proof of residence. Luckily, I took my papers, including my rental agreement and my license, as proof. I signed up, and a couple of days later, one of their people called to go over my application and what I lost in the fire. They went over just the basics like a bed, couch, etc. They didn’t care about all the pictures or personal items. Just the basics, and off that list, they got a number of how much money all it was worth and gave me that. They also gave me money so I could find a place to stay and live.
We were given gift cards and money from different organizations and individuals just handing us gift cards or paying for our food at the store if they found out we were from Paradise.
A week into trying to find somewhere to live, I had decided that I would save my FEMA money and live off of our income. I was on Social Security. The kids got their stipend. We were gifted a place to live for about six weeks, not having to pay for anything. The family that did this for us said they didn’t want me to worry about any more than I already was.
It was impossible to find anywhere to live in Chico, or the surrounding area as over 50,000 people were looking for a place to live. I ended up in a small town in Lake County, about 80 miles from home. I was able to get into a one-bedroom mobile in a mobile home park owned by the same people who owned the one I lived in a while in Paradise. I was grateful for that.
I couldn’t stay there for too long as I was a foster mother to one of my kids and had to have their own room. I started looking into where I could move. There still was no place vacant in Butte county, so I looked in Lake County area. I heard that because we were in a disaster, we could get a home loan even if we had a lower credit score, so I called and found out how much I could buy.
I was grateful that I had saved the FEMA money. I used that for closing costs, and we got a three-bedroom, two-bath home.
Since then, with the help of some counseling and busy raising two young children, life has been tolerable. The battle with PG&E was long and the wait to get any reimbursement for all that we lost is even longer.
I am grateful for family, friends, and total strangers who have helped us get through the last three years. Still have a ways to go in the healing process, but it is moving along and moving forward is less of a struggle.
Thank you for reading this post. If you have any comments, you can go to my contacts page and leave a message there. Have a great day
Wow. What a crazy, difficult experience that was for you guys! It’s beautiful to hear how many people chose to help along the way. Thank you for sharing your story.