Housefire leaves Herbs family homeless

On March 6, 2020, an electrical fire started in the garage of the Herbs family home and quickly spread.  Paul, Veronica, their son Josh, and their two grandsons, Sebastian and Malaki, were at home and able to escape uninjured. Sadly, their beloved pets, two dogs and a cat, perished. The house is in shambles. The fire didn’t spread throughout the house but water from the firefighters’ efforts did. All the soaked ceilings and insulation collapsed onto everything inside, and a layer of ash covers everything.

This is not the first tragedy Paul and Veronica have faced. Their son Josh, now 33, was born with special needs
 His twin did not survive, but there was little time to grieve while raising three young daughters and providing the care Josh needed. There were many appointments with doctors and therapists and visits to Shriners Hospital in Tampa. The focus was on strengthening his abilities and giving him the best chance at a life that will be limited. He will remain in a wheelchair and be dependent on his parents but is a happy “kid.”  He has won several events in the Special Olympics over the years but missed this year’s competition the day after the fire.

Paul developed a drug habit while the children were young. In time, it broke their marriage, and Veronica moved out with the kids into a small apartment for several years. Paul stayed in the family home, spent time with the kids when he could, and eventually got clean. Although the marriage was irreparable, Veronica moved back to the family home where she  and Paul were able to cohabitate to care for Josh, and it made financial sense. The house was paid for. Their oldest daughter, Kim, and her boyfriend moved into their garage apartment. Kim had her own history of drug abuse but had cleaned up when she became pregnant. She had two beautiful sons before the father skipped out and she faced her demons again. She was diagnosed bipolar and prescribed different meds over time but couldn’t pin down what worked to give her peace. She accidentally OD’d in August 2015 when Sebastian was three and Malakai was one.

Paul and Veronica are in their 70’s now, and social security is their only source of income. They are parenting their active grandsons and caring for their disabled son. They didn’t have homeowners insurance because it was beyond their means in their circumstances.

If you can help, please consider donating money or items to help bring them home. If you're strapped and living paycheck to paycheck, maybe you could part with $5. The goal for now is $100,000 for this family to  have some small sense of security—to realize there is help and hope. Giving in any form is the very best thing we humans can do. Whatever you can manage will count. It will count to them, to your community, and to yourself.

ADDENDUM-March 11, 2020
The GoFundMe team has requested that we verify the beneficiary of donations. Rebecca Ott, formerly Rebecca Herbs, is one of the daughters of Paul & Veronica Herbs. She is one of this campaign’s team members and will be handling the funds, merely because it was expeditious at the initiation of the campaign to name her beneficiary.