COLORADO SPRINGS – The damage from last week’s “bomb cyclone” is still impacting many in El Paso County.
One of them is Jessica Armstead, a single mother of five whose car was crushed by a massive tree.
After falling on some hard times, Armstead and her kids are currently in transitional housing. With her car now a total loss, the community is stepping up to help her get a new set of wheels.
Armstead wasn’t able to speak with News 5, but her neighbors shared what happened on that fateful day.
Jennifer Blew said, “All of a sudden I heard this huge crack.”
It was last Wednesday when Blew saw something she’ll never forget.
“I watched this tree fall on our neighbor’s car and I was just shocked.”
High winds and blizzard conditions uprooted a tree in her neighborhood and it crushed Armstead’s vehicle. She’s a client of Partners in Housing.
Karen Kantor, development director at Partners in Housing, said, “At Partners in Housing we guide families that are in housing crisis…one unfortunate incident, not unlike a tree falling on a car, can kind of derail their financial future.”
Blew said, “She’s a single mom and we very quickly found out that she didn’t have comprehensive insurance coverage on the car and so I think kind of the wheels started spinning.”
Blew said she hoped the city would take responsibility as the tree was on their property, but she had no luck with that. So neighbors decided the best route was to start a Go Fund Me page.
Blew said, “She deserves for us to come around her and to get her a reliable and safe vehicle for her to transport her kids and get to work. It’s really important for her.”
People across Colorado Springs quickly responded.
Blew said, “I think I posted the Go Fund Me on Sunday evening and within 24 hours we had raised probably $3,000 or $4,000.”
Kantor said Armstead wanted to “convey how incredibly overwhelmed and thankful she is to the community. She never thought that the community would get together and help her in this way.”
The goal is to raise $8,000 to get Armstead a vehicle. As of Tuesday night over $5,300 had been donated.
