A London woman is distraught after losing her home in a fire on Tuesday, and is hoping for help from the community.
Stephanie Powell didn't have insurance, and must now raise tens of thousands of dollars to survive.
She was away on a weekend trip in Toronto to relax with friends when she got the life-changing news.
Now her friends have started an online fundraiser to help her rebuild her life.
Powell tries to hold back tears as she walks through what was her house for the past 10 years.
"It's just so overwhelming and emotional, and kinda scary too"
The fire early Tuesday morning claimed the lives of Powell's two cats, Fritz and Fry, and caused between $80,000 and $150,000 damage.
Now she's on the hook for the repairs because she couldn't afford to keep the house insurance going.
"Not having stable jobs or enough money, I just couldn't afford it. I thought at the time I had a logical mind. I just said, I can't afford it, this home is a brick home, I'll be fine."
Powell says the policy cost her in the range of several thousands a year to renew, and she thought it was the best decision for the short term until she gained a stable income.
But now, the home is uninhabitable, and with her family thousands of kilometres away in her native Bermuda, friends have quickly jumped to her aid.
They started a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $1,700 in the first 24 hours.
It's a long way from making her home a home again, but right now she's just trying to figure out what her first step is.
Powell says, "It's even more devastating because now I'm relying on other people, and I don't know who to call or who to focus on, and it's this weird sense of being lost in a way."
Faced with overwhelming adversity, Powell is vowing to do whatever she can to restore her home.
