Southgate Senior Center overwhelmed with donations in wake of devastating apartment fire

SOUTHGATE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Inside the Southgate Senior Center is like a mini convenience store. From clothes to shoes to shaving cream, it’s all free. Everything you’d need is there for those who lost everything they had in a Tuesday fire at the Meadows of Southgate senior independent living apartments.

“These guys (were) banging on our door saying, ‘Get out. Get out,'” apartment resident Tina Merz said. “So I just got out with what I had on.”

Merz escaped in a hurry and her husband Glenn was at work when their apartment building quickly went up in flames. The married couple of 46 years was now left with only the clothes they wore that day.

“We only get social security and a little bit where he works,” Tina Merz said. “He only works part time, so it’s hard.”

The Merzes are just two of the 129 seniors now left with no place to live. The senior center has turned into a shelter where the couple and others displaced are sleeping on cots.

“My photos, (photos of) my grandkids, the stuff in my home, I lost everything,” resident Eva Campbell said.

Campbell is also staying at the shelter, thankful to have a new comfy outfit, courtesy of donors.

“Yes, they did all come from donations,” Campbell said. “The coat, the shoes, yup.”

The entire room was filled with clothes that were all donated by the local Downriver community. The city had to cut off donations after just one day as the supplies were already becoming too much to sort.

“We are really a family of communities Downriver and that’s what’s heartwarming,” Southgate Mayor Joseph Kuspa said. “Incidents like this really bring that home.”

The American Red Cross was also on hand to assist those affected. They respond to house fires on a daily basis but with 129 seniors impacted, it makes the situation much more difficult. They are there to help them find housing, and keep them comfortable until it happens.

“Until the last person is out of this shelter, we’ll be here,” Steve Luedders of the Red Cross of Southeast Michigan said.

As for Tina and Glenn Merz, they have to find a new place they can also afford. Having lost everything, they still find reason to smile. After all, what’s most important is still standing at their side, and there’s only one thing more they want to say.

“I just want to thank you,” Glenn Merz said.

“Thanks everybody,” Tina Merz added.

If you need assistance from the Red Cross, you can call them at 1-800-RED-CROSS. There is also a resource fair happening on Wednesday at the Southgate Senior Center for anyone needing assistance.