Community comes together to help teacher in time of need

Thursday, May 18 is a day that will be forever imprinted in Renee Keating’s mind.

It was a day when the house she lived in with her two daughters, and the one that had been in the family since it was built in the 1930s, became engulfed in flames during the afternoon. 

Only a couple of miles down the road from her house on New York State Rt. 79 (NYS Rt. 79),  Keating was working when she got word there was smoke coming from the area where her house was located.

When she rushed home, the fire trucks were already there. The house, and the memories inside, were under siege from the fire.

“It was unreal,” she said.. “At first, I was completely hysterical and then I was in shock as the fire fighters were trying to put it out. I’ve been trying to process it ever since.”

No one was home at the time. There were no injuries.

Twelve years ago, Keating put an addition on the house. She said that the project is a total loss, and it is still being determined if the house is a total loss as well.

Keating, who has been teaching at Caroline Elementary School for 23 years, started as a pre-K teacher, and then moved to teaching kindergarten. For the last five years, she has taught first grade.

The news traveled fast, not just in the school but in the Caroline and Ithaca communities.

A GoFundMe page was started with a goal of raising $10,000. With the high cost of building materials, any rebuilding of the house will likely be expensive. By the weekend, that goal had been shattered.

As of Wednesday, May 24, the GoFundMe’s goal had changed to $30,000 and $22,167 had been raised on 236 donations. The weekend following the fire, dozens of people showed up for two work days to clear debris, salvage what could be saved and offer the family support.

“The community and Caroline school has been amazing, with food, support and messages,” Keating said. “I’ve heard from school-mates from high school that I haven’t heard from in years. Some people I don’t know, donated. We’re just tremendously grateful and hope that it will help with the rebuild, because we’re going to need it. It’s been really heartwarming. I’m kind of private so it’s a little bit difficult to have so many people reach out, but we’re also just incredibly, incredibly grateful and blessed that the community has pulled together.”

The donations have come in and so have the kind words. Keating said nothing can erase the pain of losing a family home — one where she and her two daughters have lived their entire lives, but the support has given her some much appreciated perspective.

“It’s still so surreal, I feel like I’m walking around in a daze.The support and love that we’ve felt has really been incredible. I don’t even know where to begin to thank people,“ she said. 

After the initial shock of losing her home set it, so did the reality of what’s next. Keating and her two daughters did not have a place to sleep that night and their belongings were lost in the fire.

Soon, the historical and family losses also set in. Many original pieces of woodworking done by her great-grandfather were lost as well as priceless family heirlooms, including multiple paints done by her aunt.

Again, the community stepped in to help. Keating is staying with her parents, and the support refocused her thoughts on what had been saved, instead of thinking only about what was lost.

“People have been really helpful with that, we just went out and bought a few things because for three days I was living in the clothes on my back,” she said. “The thing about the loss is we have a lot of family in the area, the hardest thing is thinking about what can’t be replaced. We lost a lot of family heirlooms and paintings, but we were able to save a few things.”

Keating said this is a loss that is traumatic, hard to fathom and will not be sorted out quickly. A cause of the fire had not been released, as of May 24. At that time, it was unclear if the house could be rebuilt or if it is a total loss.

The brightest light however, she said, is that she can still come home to her two daughters, wherever home may be.

“The thing I really try to focus on the most is the fact that no one was home and no one was hurt,” she said.

If you are interested in donating to the GoFundMe,  go to GoFundMe’s website and search for the fundraiser organized by Melissa Marion called Help Renee Keating and Family. A direct link can be found in the online version of this story, available at www.tompkinsweekly.com.

Small Towns appears once a month in Tompkins Weekly. Story ideas can be sent to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In Brief:

Road work updates in Brooktondale

Valley Road in Brooktondale will be closed until August 15 as the county highway department will be doing culvert repair work. Heading from Brooktondale to Caroline Center, the road closure starts at the intersection of Valley, White Church and Lounsberry roads.

The detour takes traffic from Lounsberry Road, to NYS Rt. 79 heading east, and ending at Boiceville Road, which ends on Valley Road.

Middaugh Road has been closed during the day since May 11 to repair a bridge, with traffic being reopened during the evening. 

According to Caroline’s town website, work will be completed on that project on June 1.