MANITOWOC COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) – A Manitowoc County family is beginning the process of rebuilding their home after it burned down while they were on vacation in Florida.
Michelle Gelling said she found out during a prayer call with their church when the request turned out to be for her own home.
“Finally, the woman on the prayer call said, it’s a fire and she said, it’s your house,” Michelle Gelling said.
Her husband Nick was back in Manitowoc, driving to the scene, while Michelle and the kids watched the flames on video from out of state.
The Gellings said their son, who was at home, escaped uninjured. In Florida, strangers stepped in with meals, prayer and support.
“The beautiful thing… compassion and empathy… instead of seeing differences, but commonalities,” Gelling said.
The Gellings own a roofing and siding company. Weeks before the fire, they had pledged 100 roofs to Habitat for Humanity. They said that mission now feels personal.
“I feel like, with our recent effort for donating the roofs to Habitat for Humanity through our company, it just makes it all the more real because it’s so much more personal to us and like we knew it was important, but now we’re on the receiving end of community support and outreach,” Gelling said.
The Gellings said they are working through the insurance process and trying to line up temporary housing as they head back to Wisconsin.
Michelle Gelling said she is holding onto hope that a few irreplaceable items like family photos and her wedding dress may have survived.
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