Asante employee, Laurie, shares her story and gratitude for community support

More than 100 employees were displaced from the recent fires. Because of community support, they all received assistance to help them through these tragic times while they continue to care for patients.

Q: Describe your experience of loss due to the wildfires. How have your lives changed and what are the steps you’re taking currently to get back to some sense of “normalcy?”

Laurie: Our lives changed so much at first. We were numb, we cried and we felt like our world came crashing down. This tragedy has to be the hardest thing we’ve ever dealt with. You can’t imagine—it was horrific. We couldn’t sleep or eat. As we deal with the loss of everything, we were so grateful for all of our family and friends who are there with us through this horrible tragedy. It’s so nice to have people who care and love us, and that’s what got us through and helped us realize we wanted to rebuild and go back home. So, through this, my husband and I became stronger, and thank God we have each other to pull us through this. Our love for each other and faith has helped go on. Through all of this, I had to deal with my neurological problem as well. I’m getting better every day.

Now, for normalcy, what’s that? Where do we begin? Well, I started running and exercising again so I can build up my strength and stamina. I’m back at work it feels so good it gives me reason to go on, as for my poor husband he’s been my rock. He’s lost not only his home and everything but also his job at Hansen’s Motorcycles. The shop burned down and he’s trying to get back to normalcy, but thankfully he’s working again. It’s been hard, but we get up every morning and take a deep breath and go on.

Q: How has it felt receiving support from Asante through the Compassion Fund?

Laurie: In my role with Asante, I have fed everyone in the hospital and I know everyone, so taking care of the staff and employees for me has been a blessing, and to receive it in return has been so amazing when I needed Asante the most, there they were. We are so grateful to Asante for helping us when we needed the most. my husband and I can’t express how thankful we are. Thank you so much you touched our hearts and we will never forget this.

Q: How does it feel that the community contributed to help support you and other Asante employees?

Laurie: It felt so good knowing that our community was behind us when we needed them. To have a caring, selfless and generous community has eased our pain. We’re all so thankful and grateful for our community for the help and compassion that was given to us all. Thanks again.