When Lisa Pereira heard about Monday morning's fire on College Street, she dashed down to the record store where she works, convinced it would be destroyed.
She arrived there around 7 a.m., relieved to see little damage had been done. But standing right outside She Said Boom! Books and Records stood a woman who lives and works in the building next door.
The woman, who is a recent immigrant from China and speaks little English, stood huddled with her two pyjama-clad children.
All three of them were crying.
"I guess their smoke detectors went off, they ran out and they weren't able to go in after that," Ms. Pereira said, adding that their second-floor apartment had significant smoke damage and is an unlivable environment.
Since the fire, which started in the basement of Canada Computes at College near Augusta, the staff at She Said Boom! has been on a mission to find the family a home.
They've posted a notice for donations on Facebook and on a note stuck to the cash register in the store. And so far, just over $400 has come, along with a slew of gift cards from Shopper's Drugmart, Walmart and The Bay totalling the same amount.
People have also donated clothing, which the children have been able to cull for a few items that fit, Ms. Pereira said.
But what the family really needs is enough money to secure first and last month's rent on a new apartment, she said. The children's school is nearby and the woman, who did not want to be named, said they are happy there.
"Her budget is between $700 and 800 [for each month rent]which is not easy in this neighbourhood," Ms. Pereira said. "But I'm hoping that by some kind of fluke I can find a place that's cheap enough for her."
Ms. Pereira said the family has lived in Toronto for about a year and has no other relatives in the city or in Canada. The woman worked in the building doing maintenance, so she doesn't have any employment income either.
The University of Toronto is helping recover housing and books for students living in the apartments in the building adjoined to the one in which the fire broke out.
The five-alarm fire caused $1-million in damage and displaced about 40 people.
Despite the family's hardship, the childrens' spirits have brightened as the week wore on, Ms. Pereira said.
"The kids look a little bit happier," she said. "They went to their first day of school, they were wearing something besides their PJ's, they had new backpacks and were skipping as they went by the store."
Donations can be made by visiting She Said Boom! Records and Books at 372 College St.