Michelle Wifladt and her two young daughters were asleep in their third-floor Rockhill Apartment unit Tuesday when the sound of blaring fire alarms and shouting neighbours pierced the early morning stillness. Panicked, Michelle and her boyfriend, Mickey Gordon, quickly dressed Vayda, born just 12 days earlier, and two-year-old Hevaeh.
Mickey grabbed his phone. Michelle took a diaper bag.
SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 all we left with because I seriously thought weSA国际影视传媒檇 be going back in,SA国际影视传媒� said Michelle in an interview with Yellowknifer.
But Michelle didnSA国际影视传媒檛 go back to her daughtersSA国际影视传媒� first home SA国际影视传媒� she couldn't.
By 9 a.m., Rockhill Apartments SA国际影视传媒� a 54 Avenue building that provided transitional housing through the YWCA NWT SA国际影视传媒� was totally gutted, ravaged by a roaring fire that left 33 families homeless, including MichelleSA国际影视传媒檚.
SA国际影视传媒淚 was completely devastated. I thought weSA国际影视传媒檇 be going home and I did not think weSA国际影视传媒檇 be losing all our belongings we worked so hard for,SA国际影视传媒� the young mother told Yellowknifer.
The fireSA国际影视传媒檚 SA国际影视传媒渦nbelievableSA国际影视传媒� path of destruction left Michelle shocked SA国际影视传媒� but it wasn't a first for her.
In 2015, Michelle and Mickey were forced from their apartment after the Polaris Apartments building, located just blocks from Rockhill Apartments, burned to the ground.
Mickey Gordon, centre, holds his daughter Hevaeh alongside his girlfriend Michelle Wifladt in front of the charred remains of Rockhill Apartments 聳 their former home. On Tuesday, the couple rushed out of their unit with Hevaeh and their newborn baby Vayda. They lost everything.
Three years later, Michelle, now a mother of two young children, was left without a home again.
After attending a temporary shelter at the Fieldhouse along with other displaced families on Tuesday, Michelle and her family were re-housed the next day, receiving the keys to a Rockridge Apartment unit.
The unit, also located on 54 Avenue, is one the many Northview-owned spaces secured by the YWCA on the day of the fire.
Across the street from MichelleSA国际影视传媒檚 new unit lies a charred heap of concrete and steel: whatSA国际影视传媒檚 left of her former home
ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a new reality Michelle has come to accept.
SA国际影视传媒淚 have realized that everything can be replaced,SA国际影视传媒� said Michelle. SA国际影视传媒淲hat happened has happened and I canSA国际影视传媒檛 change it SA国际影视传媒� ISA国际影视传媒檓 ready to start over with my family,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
The difficult do-over, Michelle said, has been made easier thanks to an outpouring of support from family members and strangers alike.
SA国际影视传媒淭he girls didnSA国际影视传媒檛 have anything. Now they have a bunch of clothes, toys, shoes. ISA国际影视传媒檓 just so grateful for everybody who was donated.SA国际影视传媒�
Michelle said her children are doing well, and that theySA国际影视传媒檙e too young to fully grasp the gravity of TuesdaySA国际影视传媒檚 tragedy.
But Hevaeh, Michelle said, is aware theySA国际影视传媒檝e been uprooted.
On Thursday, two days after a devastating blaze gutted their home, Mickey, Hevaeh, Vayda and Michelle moved into their new YWCA NWT-provided unit at Rockridge Apartments. Thanks to generous donations from relatives and strangers alike, Michelle says her family now has all the essentials they need to 聯start over.聰
She saw (the remains of Rockhill) and she was saying, SA国际影视传媒極h no. Broken,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� recalled Michelle.
By Thursday afternoon, Michelle and her family had moved in to their new home.
The YWCA NWT is working with community partners and businesses to deliver furniture and essential houseware donations to families in need. New beds were brought into the displaced tenantsSA国际影视传媒� new units, a move Michelle called SA国际影视传媒渁mazing.SA国际影视传媒�
A crib for Vayda SA国际影视传媒� one of the family's desperately needed items SA国际影视传媒� was donated Thursday.
After losing so much, Michelle said sheSA国际影视传媒檚 choosing to remember what has remained SA国际影视传媒� her family.
