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Hernando Today

From Flames Comes Compassion

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By TONY MARRERO

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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