TULSA, Okla — A Green Country mom has started a new non-profit known as Carabelle's Legacy in honor of her 22-month-old baby girl who died in a house fire.
Saturday afternoon the non-profit held its first fundraiser.
The 1 Life 2 Many fundraiser hosted by Carabelle's Legacy kicked off National Fire Prevention week to build awareness, inform the community, and impact the families who have experienced a house fire.
Maria Morris lost her daughter Carabelle Douglas in a house fire in 2018.
Morris was asleep when the fire happened, she said she woke up to the fire and jumped out of a window.
When she realized she didn't have her daughter she went back in to get her but it was too late.
“I wake up in the hospital two days later at the burn unit and I’m rocking my arms. I have tubes breathing for me down my throat and I’m rocking my arms like where my baby is because I can’t talk and the nurse looks at me and says you don’t remember? Your baby died in that fire", Morris said.
Following that Morris said she went down a dark path that led to homelessness, drug addiction, and at one point being incarcerated.
Once she was released she helped other non-profits which led her to start her own.
This non-profit's goal is to help others who have lost everything in a house fire and to honor her daughter.
“Carabelle’s name means god’s promise and so I just started to build this business. It started as catering for women who have been involved in the justice system and I wanted to do more", Morris said.
To this day Carabelle's Legacy has assisted four families and is currently helping two more.
“The assistance out there only goes so far so we want to stand in the gap between that limited assistance that you get and complete restoration", Morris said.
The money raised at the event Saturday will go toward her mission which she said is helping her to heal from what she has gone through.
“It feels like all the pain and anguish and depression and grief and devastation that I’ve been through wasn’t for nothing. To do this means that her life had a greater purpose than I could’ve ever imagined", Morris said.
Carabelle's aunt, Michel' Dudley, said, “I know for sure that my niece is going to continue to change lives and continue to live on with all the people in this room and now there new people that know about her that didn’t know about her before and that makes me really happy".
Morris said they received about $1,100 through Saturday's event, in addition to an additional $25,000 grant they were awarded by the Oklahoma Justice Fund.
Morris said even though the main fundraiser is over, people can still donate to Carabelle's Legacy online or you can get involved.
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