Clayton County woman working to recover after devastating fire destroys her apartment
Earlier this month, a fire in Clayton County at the Premier Garden Apartments displaced dozens of people and burned down 18 units.
The fire left Breyonna Reese facing the questions of "What's next?" and "How do I move on?"
More than a week after the fire, Reese said she's had to rely on therapy, the community, and donations as a solid foundation to move into the next chapter of her life. As a mental health professional, Reese has also leaned into her own training and advice she would give to others as a mechanism to help herself during her own trauma.
"I am here trying to recover and put the pieces back together," Reese said. "I have been making a lot of phone calls to insurance companies, Georgia Power, and getting all of my receipts together. A lot of days, I cry. I'm just taking it one day at a time to recover from this tragedy. Experiencing this new trauma has been overwhelming. I feel like I haven't been able to complete my tasks and duty in mental health as a social worker, so I've been struggling with that. I've had moments I had to step away and go to my car and cry."
Reese has a twin sister, Bionca, with whom she has been staying. The Premier Garden Apartment complex has allowed Reese to move into another unit in the complex, but because she only made it out of the fire with a purse and what she was wearing, the apartment remains empty.
"I still feel displaced," Reese said. "Sleeping on the couch. This is basically my temporary home. I do not have any new belongings to put in my apartment: My three college degrees that I don't have anymore, my collection of wigs that I do not have anymore. I've been receiving a lot of love from the community, from my coworkers, and from my jobs. I didn't know I had a community that cared about me until I went through this trauma."
In finding ways to claim her trauma, process it, and overcome it, Reese decided to have a photoshoot in front of the burned-down apartment building that she used to call home. This captures a moment in time that Reese said she will never forget and plans to use it as motivation to prove to others that life goes on in a positive way if you want it to.
"I want to show people that it's ok to have trauma but still move forward and be the best version of yourself," Reese said.
Reese's sister, Bionca, helped her get ready for the shoot by doing her makeup and donating some clothes. Bionca watched on as her sister posed in front of the same place where she had cried the week before.
"This was fun," Bionca said. "Helping her get ready, to help her feel good about herself again, and work on her self-confidence. With both of us being in the mental health field, we help people to figure out that situations don't define them, so it's good that she's taking her own advice - turning that inward and doing something positive."
