ROCKDALE, Texas — Alpha Joyce Traylor, a great-grandmother living in Rockdale, was given the fright of her life on the morning of Dec. 23, when an electrical fire sparked in her residence.
“It started in the bathroom and I came out that way," Traylor said, explaining her narrow escape.
Traylor was able to make it out the front door with her life and a few family photos, as her house burned to the ground. She’s now without a home and lost two of her beloved pets to the flames.
Traylor's grandson Billy Walker and his church ministry were immediately at the ready, and are helping her meet her basic needs.
"My wife Celeste started a GoFundMe page and we raised a little bit," Walker said. "Street Ministries has helped a lot, other people have helped... We’re just trying to raise enough where she can get a down payment on a rent house and a deposit.”
Street Ministries 25:40, a nonprofit Christian organization, couldn’t do without its most dedicated members like Walker. When the organization’s leader and founder, Jason Hale, learned that Walker’s own family had become the ones in need, the church stepped in with clothes and other donations.
“When Billy called me that morning, I think it was around 7 a.m. that the fire happened," Hale recalled. "I said, ‘what do you need right now?’ And he said that they don’t have any clothes but what they’ve got on their back.”
On Wednesday Hale, Walker and the ministry conducted a car wash for one of the nonprofit’s major donors, who provide funding for disasters like the house fire. But the family needs more money than what the ministry alone has to give. They hope a GoFundMe will help brighten the future.
The campaign created by Celeste Walker can be found at the following link:
Fundraiser by Celeste Walker : To help my husband family (gofundme.com)
Additionally, Street Ministries 25:40 will accept donations specified for the family. Those interested can connect with them through their Facebook page.