Dolly Parton said Beyoncé would have ‘Jolene’ on her country album. Did it make the list?
TENNESSEE

Year of recovery: Faith, family stronger for Gatlinburg immigrant family after wildfire

Rachel Ohm
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

PIGEON FORGE - Faith and family have taken on new meaning for Allan Rivera and his family in the three months since they lost their home and belongings in the November wildfires.

"The biggest change I think at this point is my love for my family and for life is growing and is more than it used to be," said Rivera, 29, holding his 2-year-old son Nathan on the porch of their new rental home on a recent afternoon.

In the last month, Rivera's girlfriend, Lelin Romero, has picked up a job making pizza at a local Pizza Hut and they've taken in two new tenants to help them make their $1,500-per-month rental payment.

Allan Rivera and son Nathan prepare to drive Lelin Romero to her work on Feb. 14, 2017.

Irma Betancourth is also a Honduran immigrant who was displaced by the Gatlinburg fires. She came to live with the family a few weeks ago and has taken on an important role in their household, helping to care for the children and make dinner when Romero goes to work, in addition to helping pay the rent. In exchange they've provided her with a place to live while she looks for her own permanent home.

Betancourth works two jobs - one at a hotel and another at a laundry facility and said when she's not at work "I continue here my job. I cook. I clean."

The other tenant the family has taken in is from the Dominican Republic and will live in the second cabin on their property. Still, Rivera said, "I don't count on him too much," because there's the possibility he could go back to the Dominican Republic and then they would need to find another tenant.

Like many of displaced fire victims, Rivera and his family are receiving $1,000 per month from the Dollywood Foundation, but those benefits will run out in June. In the meantime, Rivera said it's important that they save money, a key reason why his wife has taken on a new job.

"The money you get is hard to get, but it's very quick to spend it," he said. He said the disaster has changed his spending habits. "Before if I liked something, I would just get it. Now after the wildfires, I have to be careful," he said.

There are other things that have changed too. For one thing, Rivera said he's more humble and he appreciates more the help of others, including his own family. He also said his faith is growing.

Since the wildfires, he said, it's easier to forgive those who may show prejudice toward him because of his culture or how he speaks, in broken English with a Honduran accent. He tries to stay focused on the good memories, and not the things the family lost, and encourages other survivors of the fires to do the same. He says it's important to be resilient and trust in the will of God.

"Right now, I'm feeling like a new tree," Rivera said. "Not really a new tree, but right now I’m feeling like starting again from the very beginning. It’s harder but the only difference from before to right now is - I don’t know how to explain it - I think someone and I don’t know who is that someone, but there’s an energy, something inside giving me strength, support, even hope that things will be better than it used to be."

Related:

Recreating tax info challenge for owners of burned Gatlinburg business

For Gatlinburg couple, rebuilding a home is rebuilding a business

Simon plays with his brother Nathan.