Local news coverage of the fire, CBS 2
Their Story
A hard season is not the end of the story.
Geo Vasquez is a father who is trying to live right, and he will tell you that himself.
“I've been living all my life wrong. I just want to live right.”
For a long time, Geo did not have steady work he could prove on paper. He helped his son when he could, sending money by Zelle whenever he had it, but it was never enough to keep up with what the court said he owed. When he was served with child support papers after his father's funeral, he did the honest thing. He showed up.
Showing up put him in jail.
While Geo was locked up, unable to protect his family, their house caught fire. He heard about it on a short phone call with his mother, then watched his building burn on the news from inside. The family got out safe. Almost everything else did not.
Jenny lost her pets, including her turtle, and keepsakes from her father and grandmother who have both passed away. Geo lost the photos of his grandmother he can never replace, and every tool he owns, the tools he needs to earn a living. Their IDs and credit cards burned too.
“Bad things happen to good people all the time, because they need to learn to rely on God. That was me. I was not relying on God. I was trying to rely on my own self, on my own hands.”
Then came a turning point. In court, Geo did not argue. He showed his proof. The judge saw the Zelle receipts, saw a father in a housing program who was trying, and saw that jailing him helped no one, least of all his kids. The court wiped away about $6,000 in old arrears and reset his support to $75 a month, an amount Geo can actually pay. He walked out free, to a family living in temporary lodging, determined to start fresh.
Geo also says this: “The fire just backtracked us a little bit. It ain't like we're not gonna get another spot.”
Jenny is doing her part too. She just passed both of her GED tests. Geo's boss is calling him back to work. He wants to go. He just needs his tools back, and a car that can get him there.
This fundraiser is not about pity. It is about putting a working father back to work, keeping a family together in a safe home, and letting a community be the hands that help a family rise from the ashes.
“God always been good, man.”
“I can't be sitting here worrying and victimizing myself. If I don't move and do anything, ain't nobody gonna do it.”
“All I can give my son is love and a conversation, trying to be a father. That's all I could do for now, until I get stable.”