Local Community Rallies, Helps Family Who Lost Home to Fire

When a fire struck their Montrose Street apartment in the middle of the night on Nov. 14, a week and a half before Thanksgiving, the Chaikin family was suddenly without a home.

"We have a baby and a toddler and basically everything is lost," said MaryCat Chaikin, describing the incident. The family—including MaryCat's husband, Paul, their 3-year-old daughter, Katie, their infant son, Arlo, and their 11-year-old dog, Henry—made it out of the apartment without injury, and without any of their belongings.

It's what's happened after the fire, however, that has left MaryCat feeling "uplifted."

Friends pitched in to help out, offering the family a place to stay, and Katie's preschool community has started a donation drive to help the family get back on it's feet.

"It's just the most touching thing to see that people want to help," said MaryCat.

In many ways, the whole experience sharpened her understanding about what's truly important in life, she explained.

"We're all safe, and it's really wonderful," she said. "It makes you extremely lucky for the rest of your life."

Such an experience "kind of frees up your brain," the mother of two said.

MaryCat runs an in-home catering business, Puddingstone Kitchen, and she lost a lot of her equipment in the fire, right at the beginning of the busy holiday season. She's now renting equipment so she can continue working. Paul is in graduate school, getting a pharmacy degree.

It was Katie's nursery school, Parents' Nursery School in Cambridge, that spearheaded the donation effort for the family. "Their goal was to raise a couple month's rent" and help restock the family's food pantry, MaryCat explained, saying, "It's just the sweetest thing in the world."

"People have been really nice," MaryCat said, and as a result, "We feel like eventually, we're going to be okay."

The family is now looking for a new home, hopefully in Somerville or the surrounding area. They have plans to spend Thanksgiving with friends.