Saturday December 11th, 2021, Roseisle's Cindy McDonald's house burned to the ground, leaving her with nothing but the clothes on her back and one Rubbermaid container of pictures of her late mother. She had left the house for a few minutes to go to the neighbours, and while away, her brand-new stove, a gift from her three children, caught fire. By the time she returned, she was only able to get her animals out before she ran back to the neighbour's house to call 911.
"But that night already, the community was already here. Like literally, the whole town was already here." her voice cracked, "It makes me a bit emotional. My kids were surrounded by their friends. My daughter, Paige, was actually in college at Alberta, and she hopped in her truck and drove 12 hours to get home. But already that night, we definitely felt the love of our community."
McDonald, her daughter Paige and her brother Jason Klassen and his family stand in front of the home, completed in June.
Waking up the next day, people were already rallying to make plans to help her find a home to live in and eventually rebuild.
"So then, at that point, you just have to move ahead. Within two days Ian Dyck came and talked to Jason (Klassen, her brother) and said, 'Uncle John and I would like to help build her house.' My family really stepped in, and Paul Martins, he stepped up and said he would be the general contractor. The most incredible part is they said they would do it and they did it."
McDonald, a single mother of three children, explained she was insured, but due to the high monthly payments for replacement insurance, she had settled on a lump sum based on the value of the old character home in 2010 or 2011. With rising inflation rates, she was unable to afford the full replacement of her home, but thanks to the kindness of family, friends and her community, she is living in a beautiful, new one-story home.
"It just came to be, in the spring of 2022, we started building on Saturdays and literally all of last year, every Saturday, we'd come together with any random group of people and do whatever the next job was. The general contractor overseeing it all, but he didn't have to be here necessarily, because there were so many skilled people that would show up and help, or really unskilled people, and they would be led by skilled people."
McDonald recalled her first night in her new home.
"It was good, but I actually dreamed about the fire that night." tearing up a little, she continued, "Crazy but true. But I think it was just, you know, being in a new place. Now I definitely feel like it's become more home. There's still lots of white walls, and it still needs lots of touches to make it feel like home like pictures of my kids. But some things I haven't replaced yet. To be honest, I didn't really buy anything new. I used all the use stuff that was given to me by the community because that made it feel more like a home. We learned through fire, it's not where, it's who you're with, that matters."
Below are pictures submitted by McDonald.
