Nonprofit helps rehabilitate Highland Park family's burned out home

Rehab Highland Park helps family after house fire

A nonprofit that specializes in helping families following a disaster have been hard at work helping the Ruff family after their home was destroyed in a fire. No one was home at the time, but the family lost everything in the process.

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - On a street in Highland Park, a burned out house is once again becoming a home.

For the Ruff family, a lot of happy memories were made inside their home. But for Ebony and Chris and Chase and Enzo and the rest of the Ruffs, life turned upside down in November 2022 when a fire wrecked their home and burned their livelihoods.

No one was injured in the blaze - but the family's possessions were lost.

"I raised my first child here and also have my second child here," said Christopher Ruff. "We were working on bringing it back and putting a lot into it besides the memories.

"We put blood, sweat, and tears into it. To see it go down, it kind of hurt us, but we knew it was a blessing that would be coming from somebody or somewhere," he said.

That blessing arrived in the form of Rehab Highland Park, a local nonprofit that specializes in restoration. Their next mission is getting the Ruffs back in their home.

"I'm confident that we can get to the finish line on this one, but it's going to take a little bit of time," said Maurice Turner, president of the local agency.

Beyond the immediate family, Veronica Ruff, the grandma and matriarch of the group is excited to see her relatives return as her next door neighbors.

"I want to see it come back to life. And I want to see my family next door to me," she said. "Family is everything for me. Without family, you have nothing."

The fire, which started after an electrical mishap led to a blaze, displaced the family for months. They're staying elsewhere these days and weren't sure how long it would take to get rehoused. That's when Turner came on the scene.

"Next thing I know Mr. Turner was calling me - Rehab for Highland Park it was wonderful - It was just amazing," said Veronica.

But there's a lot of work on the way.

"There's floor joists, there's roofing rafters that gotta be replaced, plywood on the roof, there's quite a few things that need to be safe before we can get to the roof event," said Michael Locke, of Complete Home and Building Maintenance.

"It's a good neighborhood. It's a good community and it's good to give back to the community and I'm glad to be apart of that. I really am," said Jeffrey Owens of ABC Supply.

Both businessmen are helping donate supplies and time to the home's rehabilitation. The community's outpouring of love and support has been a sign that work is worth it.

"We hope to get this house done and they can start moving back in here," said Turner. "It's really people helping people that is what we're about. And just like I always share, when we all do a little, we can do so much."

The group is still looking to raise money to help support the costs.

Learn more about how to donate here: rehabhighlandpark.com