Mountain Fire family of survivors brace themselves for holiday season by practicing gratitude
VENTURA, Calif.—The holidays are bringing up some heavy feelings for Yuliana Arias, who spent 6 months remodeling a fixer upper in the Spanish Hills— a place she says was her dream home.
“When we say we worked towards our dream, essentially we're working towards our parents’ dreams. You know, they sacrificed—you know—came from Mexico and came here, sacrificed a lot to give us a future that they never would have had,” said Yuliana.
That sacrifice is not lost on Yuliana’s daughter Yulissa.
“ They’ll hopefully one day get to have the house that they wanted because I know they were really looking forward to designing the house. So I just hope that their goals are achieved, ” said the teary eyed 13-year-old.
In spite of major difficulties, Christmas has come early for the Arias family, as non-profit Upper Ojai Relief rallied the community together to buy them everything from basic clothing essentials to brand new bicycles.
“People reaching out every day trying to see, “Oh, what can I help with? Like, what do you need? And it's just so amazing that people are so kind,” said Yulissa.
As for the dream home—Yulissa feels she already has it.
“ I feel like as long as I have my family with me—my sisters and my mom and dad are safe, and my dog, and they're all with me. And that's my home,” said Yulissa.
Saturday afternoon, Mountain Fire survivors are invited to Faulkner Farms Pumpkin Patch for a complimentary dinner party filled with activities including a petting zoo and meeting with Santa.
