#savemaggieshouse Saluda NC after Hurricane Helene

My name is Amy Perez. I started this fundraiser for one of my best friends, Shirley "Maggie" Chamberlain and her husband Craig.

Craig worked for 25+ years night shift on the streets of New Orleans with NOPD, and many years as a Sergeant, all while being a present dad and devoted husband. They ended up in NC after losing everything in Katrina. Even as she was a Katrina evacuee herself, Maggie became a case manager for North Carolina State, providing services to those who had lost their homes.

Craig was placed on home hospice care earlier this year. Dealing with Craig's decline in health has already been almost more than she can handle. When the sheriff came through the day before the storm and let her know they needed to evacuate, Craig was transported by ambulance to the local nursing center in Saluda. Maggie packed 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for both of them, threw some dog food in a ziplock bag, and went to stay at a friend's house for what she thought would be the weekend. No one imagined the devastation that was to come.

Maggie's house is on the Green River in Saluda, NC and is now one of the few remaining homes along Green River Cove Road. Every home on the river side is gone, and in many cases even the land they were built on is gone. Access is limited to 4x4's and sketchy even for those. We have been able to get in this week and with the help of volunteers, start the mitigation/remediation process needed to save the house from being a complete loss. Craig's truck and their little RV were washed away, but at least those will be covered by insurance. The house has no flood insurance as it was not in a flood plain. An application has been made to FEMA and we will stay on top of that process, but the house cannot wait and the very large nursing care bills are already rolling in.

If you want to help someone that has been affected by Hurricane Helene, Maggie and her husband Craig are 2 of the most deserving people I know right now. When my husband passed 3 years ago, Maggie showed up for me and cooked food, chatted, and made life seem normal again. I had asked Maggie years ago if she and Craig would be the guardians for my 2 girls if anything ever happened to me, knowing my girls would be loved and cared for completely by both of them, even though our friendship only goes back to 2016.

I was updating every step of the way on my Facebook page, amy.perez.233781, but as of Wednesday November 13, 2024, hackers took over my account and any activity on that account is fraudulent. Please share this gofundme on your social media as I am not going to be able to use Facebook anymore.

Donations will be used when we need things that we can not get donated, help with the rebuild, and interim medical bills for Craig. If there ends up being more than is needed for #savemaggieshouse, the rest will be donated to continuing Hurricane Helene recovery efforts of the families on Green River Cove road.

I write this with tears of gratitude in my eyes, my deepest and most sincere thanks to everyone who comes along to help #savemaggieshouse.