Single mom of three now homeless after fire destroys home on Christmas, asking for any help they can get

Click here for updates on this story

    PRICHARD, Alabama (WALA) — A single mom and her three kids are homeless after a devastating fire tore through their home in Prichard early Christmas morning.

“It was scary. I ain’t never imagine on Christmas when children supposed to be waking up to their gifts and we supposed to be smiling and having fun, but our Christmas we lost everything in the blink of a eye,” said Courtney Carter.

Lingering signs of Christmas on a once familiar path now leads up to an unrecognizable pile of memories for Courtney Carter, her 11-year-old son and 7 and 3-year-old girls.

“It’s just been tragic… like it’s unbelievable.”

The place they’d been renting and called home for the last 5 years reduced to a heap of rubble.

“We have nothing. We have to start all the way over.”

An inferno robbing them of everything they owned, ripping through the house on Roosevelt Street.

“Clothes, shoes, my children’s school work… everything we owned in the last 5 years.”

Facing a home in ruins, Carter says it’s a blessing that no one was there when the blaze ignited.

The family had spent Christmas Eve at Carter’s mother’s house and fell asleep there.

“My momma just lost a son on Easter, imagine her losing her daughter and two grandchildren on Christmas, that would have been horrifying.”

Carter says her priority now is finding a new home.

“I’m just lost for words, just really lost for words. I want me and my kids a home. We deserve our own home. We don’t want to be homeless.”

Carter is asking for any help they can get.

She’s thankful for the support she’s already received from the Prichard police and fire department along with people in the community and even out of state.

She says anything will help during this time as they try to get back on their feet.

A fundraiser is up on Facebook for anyone who can help.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.