Carrie Watts is trying to get in the Christmas spirit for her children. It’s been a struggle. A little more than a month ago she arrived home after picking up her daughter from a church program to find her home in flames.
“When I drove down the driveway towards the house, I could see the flames shooting up from the roof. I immediately called 911.”
Fire crews worked hard to control the blaze but it was too late for a house built of pine. 
That night was life-changing. The home she had worked hard to create for her son, ten-year-old Mason, and her daughter, six-year-old Maleigha, was destroyed in the fire.
Carrie, fiancée Cam, and her children were assisted by Red Cross with a hotel room for a few weeks and have now found a rental house.
“When you lose everything, you need everything. My joy has been robbed but God is able.”
Friends, family, and strangers have been generous with donations of used clothing and other items lost in the fire and her family is grateful.
How to help
The local Red Cross helped Carrie and her family with a place to stay, just as they do for hundreds of families each year after a fire or other disaster. After that, the family found a rental house where they can live until April.
In the meantime, Carrie is struggling to provide the spirit of the Christmas season for her family, especially her kids.
“I’m not sure I have it in me because the loss has been so great this year, beginning with the death of my sister in July, and now this,” she said breaking into tears.
She is very grateful for the love shown by people in the community but the needs are still great.
The Red Cross recommends gifts of money or gift cards following a disaster because there is often no place to put used donations or even unusable items in temporary housing after a devastating loss.
Financial donations can be made at South State Bank in Clayton, Cornelia, Clarkesville, Gainesville, Cleveland, or at any of the bank’s locations.
Carrie’s friend, Virginia Stewart, owns Hangar’s Plus, located at 91 E Savannah St. Ste 404 in Clayton. Gift cards can be dropped off there so that Carrie will be able to provide a Merry Christmas for her children.
“Gift cards for meals, to stores where I could buy presents for Mason and Maleigha, or to Walmart or Home Depot to shop for replacement items we need, would be a blessing.”
There is also a Venmo account where donations can be accepted: @carrieann1987.
New year, a new beginning
Carrie and her family will be in their rental home until the spring. She is hoping to use the small amount of insurance money she will receive to begin building a new home.
“When we do build a new house and we are financially able, my first goal is to pay it forward and help other families who have been through this kind of loss.”
After all, isn’t that what Christmas is really all about?
