Jon Gemelke get on his feet after Westside fire.

The reason I'm writing this GoFundMe page is to support two renters I have who were affected by a preventable and tragic fire that occurred on 12-29-23 at 2120 Naegele Rd in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I also want to raise awareness of the current increase in homelessness in the Colorado Springs area, which is having a negative impact on our community.

On 12-29-23 4AM, I received a call from the Colorado Springs Fire Department, notifying me that a building owned by my wife and me had burned down. When I arrived at the scene, part of the property was still smoldering, but the fire department did an excellent job of putting it out. They prevented the fire from spreading to the main building, other nearby buildings, or the large tree line along Fountain Creek. The 3000 sq ft garage suffered significant damage and may be a complete loss. The building was rented by 2 outstanding men who are business owners in Colorado Springs. While my family was impacted by this event, my renters, Jon Gemelke and Jason Pastuch, will have a harder time recovering from this loss. John and Jason lost all their property inside the building. This event will not only affect their personal lives but also the lives of their employees and their businesses. They run Jon G Remodeling and Emergency Systems Compliance Services.

The source of the fire is still being determined by the Colorado Springs Fire Department, but the preliminary cause seems to be a homeless campfire located at the back of my building and along Fountain Creek between 21st St and 25th St. There has been a significant transient and homeless problem in this area for about two years, as well as in other areas of Colorado Springs. It is frustrating because of the number of calls that have been made to the Colorado Springs Police Department regarding this issue over the past two years. I have made two calls to the Gold Hills precinct this month due to these homeless camps that may have led to the fire that destroyed my building. However, when officers are sent out, all they do is tell the homeless individuals to vacate, only for them to return to their camps and belongings in the same spot the same or next day. Nothing is being done to address the root of the problem. I have informed the police that the homeless have had campfires in the back of this building. Due to this ineffective management of the homeless problem, two local business owners and myself have suffered significant losses, impacting families and employees who are unable to work or may lose hours.

Let me tell you about Jon Gemelke’s character. He used to be homeless himself and was on the streets since he was 13 years old. After struggling with addiction and moving around the country for 27 years, he ended up in Colorado Springs. He graduated from the Springs Rescue Mission in 2005 and has been clean for 20 years as of July of this year. He is a man of faith and attends the Awakening Church. He has a wife and three kids, aged 28, 16, and 13. Despite his difficult upbringing, he gives back to the community and volunteers at Street Outreach once a week. You may have heard of Sock Man in Colorado Springs - Jon G helps distribute 13 thousand pairs of socks to the homeless each year and is a member of the Sock Ministry. He has been a great friend and renter for the past six years. I want to help him because I know he would give you the socks off his feet. The irony of this man losing his possessions and tools to do his trade and support his family is the reason I decided to start this GoFundMe. Unfortunately, he did not have renters insurance.

Jason Pasthch is another great man that started his businesses 3 years ago in Colorado Springs. He has 5 local skilled employees that are good guys. On the day of the fire Jason, his crew, and myself took it upon ourselves to clean up the homeless camps for 400 feet along Fountain Creek. It filled a 20 yard dumpster. The contents of the clean up was stuff that should not be allowed to be by a public water way. Needles, propane grills and tanks, tents, human poop, drug paraphernalia, tons of trash, bikes, 5-8 wigs and a sign that said “ this is ROCKSTARS turf, Enter and you will be hurt. It took us 3 hours to clean it up with shovels, pitch forks, trash cans and wheel barrows. The day after the fire I did a sweep of the creek out of frustration and spotted a young guy and girl swinging a hatchet along the creek 50’ feet from where the large fire burned the building down the day before. I contacted CSPB and they camp and removed them with citations for making a camp fire in city limits. They walked away and most likely will be back the following day.

Please consider donating if this story compels you to help Jon Gemelke get back on his feet. All donations will go towards buying new tools and work-related items for Jon. Any amount over 50K will go to the Springs Rescue Mission. Thank you for taking the time to read this.