Aviles and Rice-Gonzalez update

Here's an update, just received, from Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez. (See my original post, here, about the fire in their home.)

We want to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support. We’re so fortunate to have a loving and powerful community around us and we apologize for not being able to respond to everyone.

We will get back to folks individually in addition to this e-mail, but one of the saving graces of this technology it allows us to say the same thing in one fell swoop, especially when each time we talk about "what happened" it brings back a lot of our pain and loss.

We’re thankful for the many offers we’ve had to stay in spare rooms, crash on couches, stay at guest homes and other accommodations. There were so many that they would support a "Charles and Arthur" gypsy tour for the next year, at least.

From Cassandra offering her place to us while she crashes with a friend, to the youth of the Bronx Pride Center organizing a bake sale, to Eva Yaa Asantewaa posting the info on her blog (http://infinitebody.blogspot.com/2008/10/fire-at-home-of-arthur-aviles.html), to Bill Aguado from the Bronx Council on the Arts's generous offers, to Elizabeth, Jorge and my mom and family offering their cars for us to get around and to the cards with checks or donations that have appeared out of the blue, we are moved to tears with every offer and every act. Arthur and I share the phone messages from our respective cell phones and the e-mails with each other and each voice, each note is received like a much needed hug.

We’re strong guys but this has been very difficult. And we miss Canela immensely.

Here is a general update:

• Mrs. Ross is settled in with Mr. & Mrs. Phillips who live across the street and have known Mrs. Ross for nearly all of the 50 years she has lived on Manida Street. If you know her and would like to send a note they can be sent c/o Mr. & Mrs. Phillips, 852 Manida Street, Bronx, NY 10474.
• Arthur and I are staying at a furnished apartment that Pregones Theatre in the Bronx has for visiting artists. It’s private and quiet and a short bus ride to BAAD! Jorge, Alvan and everyone at Pregones have been great lending support and stepping back to give us space.
• We are dealing with Canela’s remains and will have a small ceremony at some point to honor her life and all the love that she lavished on us and the love we gave to her for the 9 ½ years that she was with us.
• Arthur and I are helping Mrs. Ross navigate the logistics and legalities following the fire - dealing with public adjusters, her insurance agency, etc.
• The damage needs to be assessed and catalogued by the public adjuster and Mrs. Ross’s insurance company before we know what is salvageable from our place.
• As you may know, insurance companies strive to pay as little as possible, so until the adjuster battles it out, we won’t know how quickly our apartment will be habitable again.
• Thankfully the physical damage to our apartment didn’t go beyond the busted windows and skylights, several holes in walls through out the apartment, the destruction of some property and the smoke damage to all the clothes, coats, linens and furniture. (The Red Cross was helpful with tips on how to salvage clothes, so we’ve been able to get some clothes out and clean them.) But it could be several months before we are back in our home.
• Arthur and I are now working to balance our lives by returning to the joy of the work we do at BAAD! and with creating and expressing our respective arts, taking up our other responsibilities while we deal with all the post fire logistics to support Mrs. Ross.

So for now, in response to all your offers for assistance, we are in a ‘holding pattern’ and will have a better idea of what to ask for in the coming week or weeks. But things that may come up are help cleaning our place to sort out what is trash and what is salvageable before the official cleaning company comes in to remove the debris. Then we can assess what we need to have replaced in terms of furniture, beds, coats, etc. Mrs. Ross’s property is covered to a certain extent with her insurance, but we, as her tenants, are not, and unfortunately we didn’t have renter’s insurance. (Which we discovered is not that high, but that’s relative.)

So for now, we will hold your good thoughts, prayers and offerings close to our heart. They have all been very healing. We hope to see you at BAAD! or around soon. And with all the love, support and resources Arthur and I will get through this.

With Love,
Charles and Arthur