The Castles stood outside, watching the fire burn through their Waukesha rental home in complete shock. When the fire department extinguished the flames, only the structure of their home was left. They had lost everything.

This is the story of a bad thing happening to good people. This is also a story of hope and a generous community.

Stacey Castle, mother of four, was home with her two sons and daughter when the fire started. She immediately got them out of the house and went back to put out the flames. Her efforts didn’t work however, so she evacuated as well.

Stacey’s son and husband arrived after the fire department, and all six of them huddled into the ambulance on that chilly day, wondering what to do next. They had no renter’s insurance.

“You have so much going through your mind,” Stacey says, “Even now when I think back, I can’t remember a lot of that day because there was so much happening.”

Luckily, the Red Cross was called, and the Waukesha County Disaster Action Team responded within an hour of the fire. Within three hours, they had the family of six thinking of the future and set up with food, clothing and shelter.

“Between the Red Cross and the ambulance personnel, everyone was so nice,” Stacey says today, sitting on her couch in their new rental, recounting the events of that September, “The people from the Red Cross were very nice, non-judgmental and good with the kids.”

After the fire, the Castles spent 21 days in a hotel. “Two of my kids had their birthdays while we didn’t have a home,” she remembers.

The Castles had a hard time finding a place to rent on such short notice---and a place that could fit six people. Stacey and Steven had to get what was left out of their old home. They had sold their van right before the fire, so they only had a car that could hold five. Everyone had to be strategic when it came to getting dropped off at school, dinner and other normal activities---everyday things Stacey and Steven wanted to maintain even though life was not.

When the community heard about the fire, they responded. A friend of a friend knew someone who owned a rental, and the owner was kind enough to let them move in right away. They contacted their Red Cross caseworker, and the organization helped secure their unit---but they had no furniture. That’s when friends from the kid’s school stepped in to help.

Stacey was very involved at Hawthorne Elementary, where two of her kids go to school. Someone once told her she couldn’t say anything about the school until she knew how the school ran, and so she jumped right into volunteering with several organizations, and now serves as Vice President of the Parent Teacher’s Association.

After the Red Cross secured their rent, the school secured items for their new home. Steven went to work the first morning they were in their new place. When he came home he found that volunteers from the school had brought a couch, television, beds---all the furnishings the Castles needed.

“Nobody’s really given me anything before,” Stacey says, “And I never asked for anything, but everything worked out.”

Today, they are a tight-knit family, grateful for what they have. “I don’t know what I have to complain about,” Stacey says.

Her kids are going to the same school that came to help, and Stacey is so grateful for the help from the Red Cross and the parents of Hawthorne Elementary. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to stay in the area and get back on our feet,” she says.