A Cobb County apartment building served as a refuge for disabled transients trying to escape homelessness. Sixteen people were displaced this week when the building was destroyed in a fire.
A fund has been established to help residents who lost everything in the blaze, which broke out Monday night in the Shepard’s Walk apartments along Osborne Road near Marietta.
The building was owned by MUST Ministries, a Marietta-based nonprofit that provides food, housing, emergency shelter and other services to people in poverty.
“The building, furniture and all of the contents can be replaced. The lives of those in our care cannot,” MUST Ministries President & CEO Ike Reighard said in a statement Tuesday. “We hope you will join us in praising God for protecting our clients.”
Flames destroyed the roof and gutted eight units in the apartment complex. All the units were used as part of a “permanent supportive housing” program MUST Ministries facilitates to provide stability to the disabled homeless.
Each of the victim’s of Monday’s fire lost everything. MUST Ministries did not provide the AJC media access to the affected residents for this story.
“They’re all doing fine, just traumatized by how quickly the fire spread,” Reighard told the AJC via phone Thursday. “It just moved so quickly, that people didn’t have time to go back in to get anything. So everything was a total loss as far as everyone’s possessions.”
MUST Ministries has created a special fund to aid the victims with groceries, medications, hotel rooms and other supplies. Those interested in donating can visit mustministries.org/give-help.
Cobb County fire crews continued to investigate the blaze, department spokesman Ramses Rivas said in an email Thursday. Investigators had yet to determine how it started or where it originated in the apartment complex.
Leaders from MUST Ministries said the fire did not appear to be intentional, but the building will remain uninhabitable for several months.
One resident who was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, is expected to make a full recovery, Reighard said.
Volunteers from MUST Ministries have been working to relocate the displaced clients to other apartments and find temporary housing for them at motels and hotels.
Reighard said many of the homeless tenants were ailed with debilitating health issues from living outdoors for years. The nonprofit designed the housing program to give them a long-term roof over their heads.
Now MUST Ministries officials are left to decide if they can restore the building or if it’s time to relocate.
“We’re going to be there for those 16 people to help get them stabilized again in a place that they can call home, and we couldn’t do it without our partners,” Reighard said. “So just thank you to all the people that step in and help us.”
