HomeFront placed Hamilton resident Tia Dixon into an apartment, gave her children and grandchild Christmas gifts and gave them a tree after a Dec. 19 fire displaced them.
HAMILTON - The electrical fire that left Atiya "Tia" Dixon with burns to her right hand and foot just a week before Christmas damaged nearly everything she owned in her family's Hamilton apartment.
Just a television and some pieces of furniture survived the Dec. 19 blaze. And then, someone stole the television from the unsecured fire scene.
Dixon cares for her 84-year-old grandmother, 18-year-old daughter Natalia Victor, 12-year-old son Rasheem Hollins and 1-year-old grandson Marquise Saunders. With Christmas approaching, Dixon said she made a desperation call to HomeFront, a Lawrence-based nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness.
"They gave me an apartment for Christmas, gave my son and grandson Christmas gifts, provided me with food, clothing," Dixon said. "The apartment was already furnished."
Gifts included $550 worth in gift cards for Rasheem, a sixth-grade student at Crockett Middle School, she said. HomeFront also provided mattresses to accommodate all of the family members.
"I'm very grateful," Dixon said. "They gave me a Christmas tree, my grandson who's walking now, he kept knocking it down. Too funny."
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The electrical fire at Dixon's 1700 East Street Street Apartment broke out at 10 a.m. on Dec. 19 while Dixon was asleep and the only one home. She found her bed engulfed in flames, but manged to escape unharmed at first.
Despite being naked, Dixon ran back into the apartment and tried to smother the fire with a blanket. She suffered minor burns to her right hand and foot before firefighters pulled her out.
"You panic," Dixon said when reflecting on her decision to go back inside. "You think 'what in the heck is going on?' You're just all over the place."
Hamilton and Lawrence firefighters were able to contain the fire to her second-floor room.
"I'm just grateful I made it out and no one else was home," Dixon said.
Dixon said she had no insurance and was unsure how to support her family until HomeFront stepped in.
"Honestly, I was thinking 'where am I going to go?'" Dixon said. "I lost everything."
The theft of the television, which Dixon said she reported to her landlord but not police, was the final blow, she said. Dixon does not have insurance for the losses.
"You break in and steal the last thing I have," Dixon said in disbelief in an interview Thursday. "HomeFront said they would provide another TV, so I can't complain."
After the fire, Dixon said she also lost her job at a senior care center in Lawrence because she had to take time off for her burn injuries. But Dixon since landed a job at New Jersey MENTOR - an assisted living program - in Ewing and began moving into a new three-story home on Adella Avenue in Hamilton Monday.
"I'm glad no one was hurt," Dixon said. "That's all. I'm happy everything is going fine."
Dixon said she also encourages those who can to keep donating to HomeFront so people in similar situations like hers can get the help they deserve.
"People have no where to go and HomeFront is a big help," she said.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.