Large Fire Destroys Family's Home and Business

Hello, I'm Carla Sue and like most of the community of Bluffton, I was devastated to watch the fire on Thursday, July 6 ravage the Washington Square building. The building, located at 123 Marion Street, has been a part of local history and was over 100 years old. It stood next to the Annex and across the street from the downtown library. Most people know that the building was vacant for years, on the market and waiting for its glory to be restored. What many people do not know is that about six months ago, a family bought the building and moved into it while starting renovations. James and Nancy relocated to Bluffton with their four small children, putting their faith and finances into creating a resouce center for mental health and social services. However, they were met with many barriers with the latest being the building catching on fire, while they were in the home. Fortunately, their family was able to evacuate unharmed. Unfortunately, they have lost everything. Posessions are merely things and money is fleeting. However, this family is needing help. They are staying at a hotel, which is costly, and needing to continue to meet their daily needs - including food, diapers, etc. They do not have space to store any extra items, so they are living with bare essentials at this point. Please help them as they go through this difficult time while trying to maintain grace and composure for their four little ones. All funds raised will go toward helping them pay for the hotel and their day-to-day needs. Updated to Add: Numerous rumors have been circulating about the fire. Rumor 1) The family did not set the building on fire to collect insurance money. After the recent wind storm damaged the roof, their insurance carrier dropped them and they were literally in the process of signing documents with a new carrier. The building was uninsured at the time of the fire. They have NO money coming in. Rumor 2) The fire was caused by a meth lab in the basement. No. Just no. They are not drug users or dealers, there was no meth lab. They were working to create a mental health resource center for our community and were living in the second floor with their four small children. The entire building had recently been toured by community members and no meth lab was present. This family has dedicated everything they had to moving here and achieving a dream they had, only to lose it all. They left their home the morning of the fire, with nothing. Not even shoes on. Their IDs and credit cards, important documents, everything was in the home. Please help them.