Teacher Finds Out Her Student Is Forced to Live in a Tent for Months - When She Learns Why, She Jumps Into Action

The Hatch family lived in Grizzly Flats, California for years, until the Caldor Fire destroyed their home in 2021. Single father Eric Hatch and his four children then spent six months living in tents in Somerset.

Everyday activities were difficult especially during the winter, as the tents did not completely shield them from the cold and wind.

How a Student’s Determination Helped Her Family

But thanks to the oldest Hatch child's determination to not let the difficult situation get in her way of being a straight-A student, the family received a huge surprise: a place to live.

Layla's teacher learned that she would walk around the area looking for WiFi hotspots just to complete her homework.

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That teacher reached out to EmergencyRV.org, an organization that gifts RVs to wildfire victims, and told them about Layla's commitment to her schoolwork.

The charity, in partnership with the California Fire Foundation, arranged for a new RV to be given to the Hatch family.

The family was surprised with their new home during an interview with news station KCRA3.

“Are you serious?” one of the siblings said, while Eric Hatch thanked Emergency RV founder Woody Faircloth.

“We don't really have a bathroom. Showering is not easy and [the water] is not hot,” Layla told KCRA3 before the family was presented with the new RV.

How One Family Proved That Having Each Other Is Everything

“It really did break us all because now we're all kind of lost, but we still have each other no matter what.”

Eric was also having a hard to finding a new job because of the difficulty of taking care of his four children under these conditions.

"Time flies when you are busy, you know. Fighting the weather most of the time. I'm trying to cook and yeah shower up and get them ready for school and [help them] do homework," Hatch said.

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The family created a GoFundMe to help them transition to a somewhat normal life.

"I'm just trying to keep going forward so I can get all four of them back with me full time in a house and not dealing with this but I think they stay more positive than me, when I start breaking down they pick me up," Hatch said.

The Hatch family was only one of the families affected by the fire. According to CALFire, more than 700 homes were affected by the Caldor Fire and many residents are still homeless, living in cars, or relying on the kindness of family members and friends.

Like Faircloth noted after they presented the family with their new home, the family's perseverance and togetherness was admirable.

“What I learned today is having each other is really pretty amazing,” said Faircloth.