Hernando Today
From Flames Comes Compassion
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Published: May 8, 2008
Hernando Today
BROOKSVILLE - Kit Raymond didn't look like a
woman who'd recently lost her home and nearly all
her material possessions.
Her smile stretched wide during a visit Wednesday
evening to Easy Street Home Décor on Jefferson
Street as well-wishers offered hugs, cheek pecks
and words of encouragement.
Her plaid dress in primary colors fit her fine,
even if it was secondhand.
The only clue to her loss: her bare feet and the
black sneakers tucked under her chair.
They were the shoes she was wearing when a fire
destroyed her home in DaMac Estates, north of
Brooksville. The shoes were in good shape before
she was forced to root around in the soaked,
sooty piles of her belongings to find what turned
out to be only a few salvageable items.
Raymond hadn't yet bought a new pair and was a
little embarrassed by the old ones, so she sat
barefoot by a table full of cookies and coffee
thermoses during the Treasure Hunt on the Hill, a
monthly mixer hosted by Easy Street and nine
other businesses on the city's east side.
"They're definitely just for yard work now,"
Raymond said of her shoes, laughing.
The house caught fire when a gas can Raymond was
using to kill ants near her carport combusted.
She said the toughest losses to take are the
keepsakes, including a "box of memories"
containing the photos that chronicled the growth
of her seven children.
Her 18-year-old son James, her youngest and the
only one to still live at home, also lost his
belongings. The family's car burned, too. Raymond
had no homeowner's insurance and was only able to
salvage a few dishes and some pots and pans. She
still didn't know Wednesday whether the
foundation and walls of the block home can be
used to rebuild.
But five days after the fire, Raymond said she
still had a feeling of serenity despite the
trauma. She described the same feeling to a
Hernando Today reporter the day after the blaze,
and it was still there Wednesday.
"It's like there's this spiritual shield around
me," she said. "I'm just so peaceful."
One of the reasons, she said: "I'm experiencing
such an outpouring of love for the community."
But there's another.
Raymond works for Love Your Neighbor, a nonprofit
organization that provides food and clothing to
the area's homeless and needy residents. Now,
she's receiving the kind of generosity she heaps
upon others.
That helps her, of course, but she said it also
will help her make life a little easier for the
poor.
"I've been tasked with a mission to help those in
need," she said, "and if God needed to use me to
bring that to the attention of the community, I'm
willing to go through this."
"Now I know how the homeless feel," she said, "at
least a little bit."
Raymond is staying with Mary Jane Russell, the
executive director of the Hernando County Fine
Arts Council who lives in Brooksville. James, who
will graduate this year from Hernando High School
and is working to save money for college, is
staying with friends.
Revelers at Wednesday's event raised $150 that
night, but the amount is growing because the
businesses still have collection buckets on their
counters, said Dana Reuter, a co-owner of Easy
Street.
John Callea co-owns The Rising Sun Café in
Brooksville with his wife Lisa. The couple also
founded Love Your Neighbor. Callea said Wednesday
that he doubts the remains of the house can be
saved, but is soliciting help from handymen and
women with hopes of minimizing the cost to
rebuild.
"Like a good, old-fashioned barn raising," he
said.
The Calleas will host a pasta dinner fundraiser
for Raymond at 5 p.m. Monday at the café, 20 N.
Main St. Papa Joe's Restaurant is providing the
baked ziti, Chick-Fil-A the beverages. Several
local businesses are donating items for door
prizes.
"You never realize how great a community this is
until something like this happens, and then
people come out of the woodwork," Reuter said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Fundraiser dinner for Kit Raymond, who lost
her home in a fire last Saturday.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Monday, May 12.
WHERE: Rising Sun Café, 20 N. Main St.,
Brooksville.
COST: $20 donation requested, but any amount
welcome.
CONTACT: RSVP requested. Call John or Lisa Callea
at 848-0090 or 428-9434.
Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( hemi_girl ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
She has 7 children and the youngest one is 18 and lived with her.....where are her other children and aren't they going to help their own mother out??
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Posted by ( oicu17 ) on May 9, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Is that all you can think of, maybe they live in another state and they're not able to come to her aid. Maybe with the economy and gas prices being what they are it's just not in the budget. I would say Good Luck to her and keep her in my prayers at night.
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Posted by ( SpringHillConcernedCitizen ) on May 9, 2008 at 5:41 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
What hemi_girl brought up, is a very interesting, unanswered question that other inquiring minds would like to know the answer to. So, yes oicu17, this was what hemi_girl was thinking of.
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Posted by ( hemi_girl ) on May 9, 2008 at 6:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I only asked a question and I didn't expect the 3rd degree.....maybe they do live out of state, but you don't have to come all the way to Florida to help your mom out so don't get all huffy over a simple question. A lot of people are praying for this lady besides you............after all, someone who burned her own house down using a can of gasoline and a match in a residential area during a drought to kill ants would be someone who is in real need of prayer.
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