INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The charity Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana asked for extra help on Giving Tuesday following a fire that 48 homeless veterans without lodging.

The community responded by donating three times more than what was normal on past Giving Tuesdays.

The charity announced the Oct. 26 fire in the Manchester Apartments, a transitional housing unit, was accidental.

Emmy Hildebrand, the CEO of Helping Veterans and Families (HVAF), says the group of veterans is facing a lot of financial strain. “These are really vulnerable veterans who have significant barriers to self-sufficiency. So, they might have multiple evictions, unemployment, poor credit, mental health, and physical health issues and they were in the process of rebuilding their lives at Manchester. They moved there to be paired with one of our HVAF case managers to start to address all of those barriers to self-sufficiency. So to lose everything again, I don’t think I can overstate how traumatic that is.”

Hildebrand says rebuilding will be at least a $10 million effort over 18 to 24 months and, while insurance will cover much of the rebuild, additional costs are keeping everyone housed. “There are so many costs that are not covered, like helping veterans move into permanent housing, like security deposits, rental assistance, moving assistance.”

The HVAF leader says housing the veterans in hotels during the direct aftermath of the fire has been around $4,000 a night.

Hildebrand also says HVAF is looking to hire another therapist following the fire because the need is increasing. “Over the last month our team has worked really hard to stabilize life for those veterans. Our mental health team has been at hotels where they have been staying providing extra supportive services. We’ve moved nearly half of them out of hotels into permanent housing or into other properties and we’re continuing to work the others.”

Giving Tuesday was not the end for HVAF. The group will need continued support through the rebuild.

The group says the Hoagies & Hops restaurant was a great partner before the fire, and has continued to help in its aftermath by hosting annual fundraisers.

How to donate to HFAV

• Donate money | Donate time | Donate items| Purchase Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana” merchandise