SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – Just over a week ago, Ryan and Ayleen Apathy, two nurses who have been working long hours on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, left their home for less than a half hour with their two boys. They received an alert that something wasn’t right at their Southwest Miami-Dade house. That’s when then rushed back to see much of their house engulfed in flames.
Someone was on their front lawn performing CPR on their 10-year-old dog Mack. Unfortunately he didn’t make it. The family was OK, but they lost just about everything.
On Friday, they received keys to a temporary home that will give them a roof over their head for the next three months while they try to get their house back in order.
Helping Others and Giving Others Hope, a non profit run by Steven Ferreiro, saw the story last week on Local 10 and said he wanted to do something to help.
“I couldn’t imagine them every day working and having no home to go home to,” Ferreiro said.
“Today they are getting a two-bed, two-bath with AHS Residential. They are helping us out with that and they are going to be here for 3 months and we’ve already got a financial commitment for the next three months, if needed,” Ferreiro said.
The Apathy family said the surprise was wonderful and emotional when they received the keys to the temporary home.
"It's such a huge weight off of our shoulders and we can just relax," Ayleen said.
It's a place for the frontline workers and their two boys to stay and a step in getting life together after losing almost everything.
“Even throughout this tragic thing that happened to us, we’ve seen a lot of good in people in our community and this is another example,” Ryan said.
A fellow nurse has set up a GoFundMe page for the family. If you’d like to help, click here.