KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)- A local nonprofit is asking for the community’s help after its facility caught fire just a few days after Christmas.  

The fire happened at Steps House Inc. at 2301 Davenport Rd at around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. Those who lived in the house are now having to stay in a hotel.

“This has been our veteran’s office,” said Steps House Board Chairman, Bruce Anderson. “We’ve had a partnership with the VA to end veteran homelessness for about 25 years now and so this is where we house our staff that takes care of our veterans and over the office area on the first floor we have residential facilities for three men in recovery.”

Steps House is a residential recovery program for men who want to overcome their addiction to drugs and alcohol.

 “We house 145 men total,” Anderson explained. “45 of them are formerly homeless veterans.”

The nonprofit has been in operation for over 30 years.

They just bought several homes on Boggs Avenue through a federal grant program. However, now the one on Davenport Rd is unusable.

“Now we’re in the process of figuring out where we go from here,” Anderson said.

Anderson added that they just remodeled the inside of the building.

Office chairs, A flat-screen TV and even Christmas presents were damaged by the fire. They’ll need help to replace them.

However, Anderson said they’re grateful no lives were lost.

“There was smoke but it was the heat from the fire that set off the sprinkler system,” he said. “That set off alarms that alerted the three men upstairs and they were able to evacuate safely.”

The fire department is still investigating what actually caused this fire and Steps House is waiting on insurance to find out how much this is actually going to cost them.

Those with Steps House Inc. are working to put together a GoFundMe to help with what insurance won’t cover. They also say you can make a tax-deductible donation by sending a check addressed to Steps House Inc. and mailing it to 712 Boggs Avenue.