After Her House Was Destroyed, a Community Rallied Around This Teen to Send Her to Homecoming

After a devastating fire destroyed everything a teenage girl owned, her community rallied together to ensure she made it to Homecoming.

15-year-old Nicolette Salvato was only two weeks away from homecoming on October 8 when a massive fire tore through her family’s home. Luckily the girl and her family weren’t in the home at the time, having been evacuated due to Hurricane Matthew. However, nearly everything they owned was gone.

“We lost everything. We lost a pet in the fire as well. We were expecting to come back the next day hoping it was going to blow over and we wouldn’t have much of a storm,” Salvato’s stepfather Jason Johnson said.

Prior to the fire, Nicolette and her mother Courtney Salvato had been discussing her possibly attending homecoming. The elder Salvato explained, “She (Nicolette) had mentioned it so much and I said, ‘Wait for pay day and let me see what I have to work with. It just so happened that the fire, the hurricane [came]. All week, she was saying, ‘Homecoming is coming and I’m so upset that I can’t go.’”

Administrators at the teen’s school caught wind of her desire to attend the dance. They rallied local businesses to make it possible, including various nail and hair salons, as well as Angelique Bridal Boutique, who provided a brand new dress.

According to Gina Lawson, the bridal shop’s owner, she said, “Any dress she wants, she may have. [Nicolette] shed many happy tears. They were a very thankful family.”

Lawson also gifted the family new clothes and a $500 Walmart gift card.

According to her mother, Nicolette was deeply moved by the outpouring of kindness. “She had a blast. She told me that she thought stuff like this only happens in the movies and before she even went she said, ‘I feel like Cinderella.'”