'Astonishing' Kindness After Fire Leaves Single Mom of 3 Homeless

Diane McLean marvels at the outpouring of support for her family as they struggle to rebuild their lives following a shocking explosion that destroyed her apartment building in New York City on Thursday. Photo by Katarina Manos.

Diane McLean’s life was turned upside down by the sudden explosion and fire that destroyed three buildings in New York City’s East Village neighborhood Thursday afternoon, killing 2, injuring 22 others, and leaving scores homeless.

But thanks to donations from loved ones and strangers – which a friend declares “astonishing” on McLean’s GoFundMe page – the family has raised $61,000 of the $200,000 they’re hoping to secure to rebuild in just three days.

On the day of the explosion, McLean and her three young children, Rose, 8, and twins Annabelle and James, 5, “walked out of our apartment building that morning, headed to school and to work with our backpacks, and that’s all that we have left,” the single mom, 58, tells Yahoo Parenting. “We’ll never go back to our home.”

The rubble, at Second Avenue and Seventh Street in New York City. Photo by Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo.

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After 36 years in her rent-stabilized apartment, McLean instantly found herself without a place to sleep or care for her kids. (The child psychiatrist at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx unfortunately never got renter’s insurance, so they’re truly starting from scratch.) “We have lost everything but each other, our friends, and our family,” she writes on the GoFundMe page that she created to help raise money to rebuild their lives in the neighborhood – significantly more expensive than it was when she moved in – because that’s where her kids go to school and they have community support.

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For all that they have lost, including irreplaceable family heirlooms, kids artwork, and her grandmother’s china and silver, McLean says she has gained too, in immeasurable support from their urban family. A rotating set of neighborhood friends are providing the family a place to stay, while McLean looks for affordable housing for them to move into, and offered the kids much-needed cheering up.

“Friends took all of us to see the new Cinderella soon after the explosion,” she says. “And it’s funny, the advice Cinderella’s mom gave her to have courage and kindness was actually very helpful.” Since they’ve been displaced, the mom says she and her kids often discuss how they may not have much now, “but that’s what we do have: courage and kindness.”

Annabelle, Rose, and James McLean in happier times. Photo by Diane McLean.

The money pouring in online has touched the family.

“It’s overwhelming and humbling that people who don’t know us at all are putting their hearts and their resources together for us to rebuild our life,” says McLean. “As a single mother you often say it takes a village to raise a child and I know, it takes a community. I’m just so fortunate to be part of a wonderful one.”

Indeed. Her children’s school mobilized a clothing donation drive for the foursome, a local shoe store donated sneakers for each of them, and the twins’ kindergarten teachers organized a “celebration of love” party for the family. “They invited my second grader in and all the students surrounded the kids and sang songs and had a pizza party,” she says. “How wonderful is that?”

McLean is focused now on staying positive, for herself and the little ones, as they move forward, she says. “They miss their home and talk about missing it and their special things,” McLean says. “I’m trying to go day-by-day and make this a new adventure for the kids as we build a new life.” The knowledge the tragic accident could have been far worse for her family doesn’t escape her. “Everyone is safe and healthy,” she adds. “We’re all grateful for that.”

And the new beginning just may be a blessing in disguise. “I was fortunate to go back to school at a late age and fortunate to have supportive doctors who helped me become a mom on my own because I hadn’t found the right guy, so, yes, I think that miracles happen,” she says. “Look at all of the things that have happened to me. Wonderful things are possible.”

To contribute and help the McLean family rebuild, please visit their Go Fund Me page.

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