Steven Ferreiro, 16, teamed up with a real estate company to help Ryan and Ayleen Apathy find a home to live in while they rebuild theirs.
Ryan and Ayleen Apathy are nurses helping others through Florida's coronavirus pandemic. But when they lost everything, including their beloved family dog, in devastating house fire, the Apathys wondered how they would be able to provide a safe and comfortable home for their young sons.
Their colleagues launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money, and a local teen stepped in to help.
Steven Ferreiro, 16, heard about their story on the news, and, together with a local real estate company, AHS Residential, worked to get the Apathys an apartment in the Miami-Dade area where they could stay while they rebuild their home.
"I chose to help since they’re first responders in our local community and since they’ve been doing such amazing work," Ferreiro told Inside Edition Digital. "I also believed they needed help because they have a 5-year-old and a 7-year-old, and I couldn’t believe what they are going through at this moment in a different home and not living in their own."
Ferreiro was among those who met the family at their new apartment to give them the keys earlier this month.
"I know they’re going to reconstruct their own home and go back into there in the future, but while they could, it meant the world to me to be able to give them a new place to stay," Ferreiro said.
It isn't the first time the teen has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. Through the nonprofit he founded, Helping Others and Giving Hope, Ferreiro regularly donates food and other essentials to those in need.
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