KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the last four years, a Kansas City family of 6 has called a northeast KC neighborhood home
But a fire ripped through their home Christmas day, their belongings and the memories made their were reduced to ash.
William Mendoza says when he looks at his house he feels sadness for belongings and memories destroyed.
All of the family's papers, documents, and photos are gone.
Their neighbor, Alexis Abarca, saw the smoke and flames from her window.
"Well we knew that there was a family that lived here and so we were really worried about making sure that they were okay," Abarca said.
She and her husband Manny are helping the family recover.
The Arbaca's bought items for the family and organized a GoFundMe campaign.
But after a fire like this, just going to the bank is an obstacle.
"We asked like, 'Hey what's an account we can send this to?' and they said, 'We have one, but we can't access it because we don't have our bank cards, we don't have our IDs to go to the bank," she said.
The family must replace ID's, drivers licenses, birth certificates and other official documents.
It's an incredible challenge, but Mendoza thanks God everyone is alive and well.
He says material things can be replaced, but you can't replace a life.
You can help the family via GoFundMe or by dropping off donations to the Mattie Rhodes Center Northeast, 148 N, Topping Ave., KCMO.
