Victims from last year's apartment fire at 114 Holland St. W. in Bradford were able to reconnect and meet in person for the first time since the incident last night at the Out of the Cold Cafe.
Volunteers from the cafe thought it would be a nice way for the residents to catch up and touch base a year following the tragedy that displaced 100 people. About 40 of the residents showed up for Wednesday's event.
"We started talking about it a couple of weeks before the anniversary (of the fire)," said Jodi Greenstreet, founder of WOW Living Charity, which runs the cafe, noting the residents never really had a chance to follow up with each other after the tragedy, due to COVID restrictions.
Food and treats were provided by a patron of the cafe, which they made from scratch, and Linda Donaher of Linda's Floral Designs provided guests with pre-wrapped tulips.
Residents were also provided with gift cards, courtesy of Bradford sisters Sarah and Emily Dahlgren and their fundraiser from last year for the fire victims. With the money raised, the cafe volunteers were able to purchase $50 gas gift cards and $50 grocery gift cards for the residents. Another local donor provided each guest with a $20 Dollarama gift card.
Immediately after the fire, WOW Living stepped up to assist victims with monetary and food donations, and help with finding temporary accommodations. Greenstreet says the charity was able to assist 38 families, with many of the residents having to be relocated to towns nearby.
Kaitlyn Szentesy was one of the displaced residents who attended Wednesday night's event.
"The turnout was so great and to hear everyone else's stories of that day was heartbreaking, but it was so great to see everybody," she said.
After the fire, Szentesy had temporarily moved to her boyfriend's parents' house, until finally being able to find a basement apartment in Bradford in the fall. She says she is grateful for Greenstreet's assistance in helping her find a new place to live in town.
"She worked really hard to try and find us a place," she said. "It was like a bidding war for every apartment."
Szentesy had been living in the apartment building on the first floor for five years. She was at home that day when the fire started on the fifth floor. She had first heard the fire alarm going off in the hallway and assumed it was just a fire drill, but when her cat started acting strange, she knew something was wrong.
"I went and looked on the balcony and saw a bit of smoke, and when I opened the balcony door a pile of smoke started coming in," she said.
She was able to grab her cat and wallet before escaping the building unscathed.
Doreen Pennell, a volunteer at the cafe, says the evening brought about mixed emotions for her.
"It was so nice to get a chance to chat, to find out how they are doing, where they are now," said Pennell.
As of now, the building is still unable to be occupied, but Greenstreet says the hope is to start allowing residents back in this fall once reconstruction is complete, but no official date has been confirmed as of yet.
Greenstreet and her cousin and colleague, Patti LaRose, are now offering free counselling services to fire victims at the Bradford Community Church. Anyone interested in the service can contact WOW Living directly at [email protected].
WOW Living obtained charitable status in mid-February.
