Family gets new home after devastating house fire

(FOX 2) - A mom and her three kids walked into their new home Thursday after spending time in a temporary shelter in Pontiac. Since a house fire turned their lives upside down, going through the motions has been tough.

But on a sunny fall day in late October, they found themselves surrounded by a familiar feeling: returning home.

"What did you guys do to my home?" one of the family's kids said, before running and giving someone a hug.

FOX 2 is not identifying the family to protect their privacy. But their reactions were still caught on camera and in between tears, the family's mom said the journey had been a long one.

"It’s been a long road, it’s been a long road," she said. "In the shelter it felt like a dark cloud was over me. It felt like I wasn’t gonna come out of it, but then it’s light at the end of the tunnel. This is the end of the tunnel."

The family of four, including one that's less than a year old, came to the Lighthouse emergency shelter after the devastating blaze. 

After getting them back on their feed, the nonprofit connected the family to Humble Design Detroit. The group helped redesign their house.

"We found out what they needed, what kind of colors they like, what the kids like to do," said Chris Decker of Humble Design Detroit. "We try to honor that in the design of the home."

For Lakeesha Donaldson, the reward on their end was just "to she the family back in housing and to be able to sustain housing out in the community."

"It’s comfortable and it’s what my kids needed," said the family's mom.