Fort Worth homeless shelter loses almost $100,000 in storage facility fire

A Tarrant County shelter helping women, men, children, families, and veterans experiencing homelessness got a devastating blow over the weekend when the main building housing donations to help residents was destroyed in a fire. 

Now they're starting from scratch and asking for the community's help restocking everything they lost.

Kevin Toth, who helps others at the Presbyterian Night Shelter, understands the challenges of homelessness.

"It was when the Covid pandemic hit. I was managing restaurants at the time, and when that hit, it went down. There were some other circumstances that I found myself here and picked myself up from there," Toth said.

Toth got his life back together, in part, through items he got at the shelter.

Now, the charred remains of donations to help some of Fort Worth's most vulnerable people get on their feet is all that remains outside the burnt walls of the shelter's storage building. CEO Toby Owen learned about it around 5 a.m. Sunday.

"It was completely engulfed at that particular point. I was saddened by it, and I was frustrated by it," Owen said.

The building housed donations of clothing, diapers, and household items to help more than 700 people staying at the non-profit's shelters.

"The winter items are the issue that I'm most concerned about because, in Texas, today is summer, and tomorrow will be winter," Owen said.

The value of everything in the building is estimated at almost $100,000. Leaders are asking the community for help replacing everything.

"The best thing to do is to go to our website, which is journeyhome.org, and on journeyhome.org, we have a way where you could give either financially or a list of items that you could purchase," Owen said.

The shelter also has an Amazon wish list of needed items.

"So many of our people, when they come here, they have literally nothing except what they're able to carry in a backpack or suitcase," Owen said.

"I went through it to be able to say, yes, there is another side," Toth said. "You just have to do your due diligence. If you have the determination to make it out of here and be a productive member of society, you can absolutely do it here."

The cause of the fire is under investigation, as the non-profit who's used to helping others is asking for some help of its own.