Members of the Peekskill community have rallied forces to help over two dozen victims of a devastating fire.

A total of 16 units of the Hillcrest Park condo complex went up in flames after a fire broke out in a second-floor unit on Jan. 5.

Some pet cats died in the fire, and one person was taken to the hospital with burns.

Two weeks ago, Roger Simon was among the 25 people who were left homeless with basically just the clothes on their backs. "We were very close to losing our lives, we had to leap off the second deck," says Simon.

The community, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army have been helping Simon and the other victims, and now another charitable organization called Tzu Chi is stepping up to help.

A member of the Tzu Chi group happens to live in the Hillcrest Park complex and asked the organization to help.

In the Chinese language, Tzu means compassion and Chi means relief. The group set up at the Peekskill Salvation Army building today to hand out donated items and give each family a $1,000 gift card. "They need the money to buy groceries. It's wintertime, their clothes, furniture - they need everything," says San-San Chiang, from the Tzu Chi Foundation. "There is help. We're a real community here and the needs are being met," says Capt. Rickie Armour, of the Salvation Army.

The organizations say their help won't stop with today's event. They say they will continue to help all the victims with everything they need until they can get their lives back. "People we've never even met have given us tons of support, so it's making us get through the day much easier," says Simon.