Welcome Home Angie

Thank You, Спасибо, Obrigado, 谢谢, Danke, ありがとう, Grazie, Merci, Gracias

Just how many ways can you say thank you? Wearing her trademark red shoes, homeowner Angie Derryberry used seven languages to express her gratitude for the volunteers who rebuilt her home. At her home dedication ceremony, Angie fought back tears as she said, “Saying Thank you just one way didn’t seem enough. There’s no place like home and I can’t believe I’m here.”

Volunteers, staff and friends gathered to celebrate the completion of Angie’s home in a devastated neighborhood in Magalia. Her home along with 18,000 other structures were destroyed in the Camp Fire that swept through Paradise and Magalia in November 2018.

After a harrowing trip to escape the fire, Angie was at her mother’s home the next day and told her. “I’m going home.” She said, “I had no idea how it would happen or the many obstacles along the way, but I was determined to go home.” She decided to only wear red shoes from that moment on.

Hope Crisis Response Network Vice President, Mark Cox said he was grateful to work with Angie and help her in the rebuilding process. “Thank you for putting your trust in our organization. We’re here to help people in your situation back home.” Angie had been cancelled from her home insurance just two months before the fire because she lived in an area that was too high risk for wildfires.

HCRN partners with volunteers who travel to Paradise and Magalia from across the country. A volunteer team from International Relief Teams (IRT) were the volunteers who framed and sheeted the house for Angie. Their arrival and their work to shape her home was like a dream come true for Angie and she immediately befriended the seven volunteers working on the project. She called them her seven dwarfs, which of course, made her Snow White. She has continued that friendship, delivering coffee and donuts to them when they return to frame other homes for HCRN.

IRT Team leader John Zawis said that his team especially enjoys rebuilding when they can work alongside the homeowner and said Angie was such a joy to build for as she was on the property and excited about every stage of the build. “We do it because we want to help people. We have the skills and the time, but there are some builds that are truly memorable. One of them was here with Angie. When you get to work side by side with the homeowner, who is enjoyable, friendly and kind; we just remember that forever.”

During the rebuilding, Angie lived on her property in an RV. She joined the volunteers in raising the first wall of the home. The volunteers wrote messages to Angie on those wall studs that week and even though the messages are now covered by drywall, Angie said she knows they are there, giving her encouragement. “The volunteers have left good memories, the laughter, the jokes and the hugs,” she said.

At the dedication, Angie wrapped up her comments, “There’s no place like home and I can’t believe that I’m here.”

Thank you, Angie, for allowing us to be part of your journey HOME.

If you would like to be a part of Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Lives, you can volunteer here or donate here.