For the second time in less than 13 months, the Ricigliano family is looking for a place to live and trying to figure how how to replace all of their belongings.
On Wednesday night, they were burned out of their apartment at 20 Vine St., Batavia.
The suspected cause and origin of the fire has yet to be released by the Batavia Fire Department.
A year ago, Nick and Melissa were living 132 State St., where a woman died after reportedly starting a fire by smoking too close to her oxygen tank.
"My son’s birthday is Feb. 7," Melissa Ricigliano said. "Last year, two days after his birthday, he lost everything. This year, two weeks after his birthday, he loses everything."
Both Melissa and Nick work (at Sunny's restaurant and McDonald's), but after spending the past year replacing all of their belongings, money is tight and they can't afford the expense of a new rental.
After the State Street fire, they knew they needed to get renters' insurance and started the process but hadn't yet signed the paperwork.
Meanwhile, they lost all of their clothes, a new couch, TV and Xbox.
"It took almost a whole year to buy all of our stuff back and now it’s all gone again," Melissa said.
Melissa said she's been disappointed in the response she's gotten from the American Red Cross. On Wednesday, Ricigliano was given $300 and told to come back the next day.
The next day, the woman she talked to said, "What are you doing here?" The woman said there was no more assistance available. When Melissa said, "I'm homeless and we need food," she was told she should have used the $300 for food.
The $300, Melissa said, went for two sets of clothes for each member of the family, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
Judy Nagel at the Genesee Region Red Cross said the available money for fire victims is tightly regulated by the national headquarters. Each victim, she said, is given a debit card and a form that says, "spend X amount on clothing and X amount on food."
"It's all put into a computer and there's a formula based on policies set by headquarters," Nagel said. "The computer creates the debit card. We're not able to do more than that. We don't have any control over the amount (of assistance)."
Nick and Melissa are currently staying with friends. Their children, Dominic, 6, and Martha, 3, are with family in Chili. Melissa also said the people at John Kennedy School and New Hope Church have been trying to help, as well as several others in the community.
Her sister is working on organizing a fundraiser at a town fire hall, but no date has been set yet.
Melissa said she has a message for any potential landlords: "You might want to put out there that I am a good tenant and I don’t have a curse.”
