after undergoing construction the Rivas family home in Toms River was close to completion when it was burned to the ground in an arson attack what's worse it was part of a biased crime spree according to New Jersey's attorney general the Rivas family is not Jewish but the perpetrator apparently thought they were as he was caught on camera painting swastikas on several other homes as part of that bias crime spree but now the Remus family is getting support from a new Coalition of Toms River residents and from the Orthodox Jewish Community as Melissa Rose Cooper reports as part of our ongoing series exploring hate that focuses on anti-Semitism racism and extremism this is not real this can be happening to us all our hard work and just Brenda Rivas still can't believe her eyes this Manchester lot is where her almost finished dream home once stood but last week and what still feels like a nightmare it was torched to the ground and then I thought like who or why authorities say the fire was part of a biased crime spree that included anti-semitic graffiti being placed on more than a dozen houses in the area the suspect Ron Carr was arrested and charged with 36 criminal counts Riva says she was told her home was targeted because the suspect believed the Jewish family would be living there but rivas's family isn't Jewish like I had to get off social media because you know when the reports got out there were people saying that we were making it up that that we were paid actors but the situation is all too real for Rivas and her family who poured everything they had into building their home it's really sad because this is not the kind of thing that you think should be happening in 2023 you know you don't expect somebody to just go around burning houses down it's crazy when you read the story you're like there's no way this is real but it really could have happened to anyone so members of the community are now stepping in to help last week Friday we had dumpsters here we had everything you know ready to go Yehuda Friar didn't hesitate to offer his support having family that lived through the Holocaust he says any sign of hate towards anyone is just unacceptable this is America we have the right to our freedom to our religion and stuff like that and someone to go burn something down just because he thinks it's a synagogue you know that's just disgusting you know straight up disgusting and I mean poor family that that's not even Jewish gets their house burnt down it's just it's disgusting Frank nicolado says the tragedy has truly brought neighbors together there's been some some slice shall we say between between certain segments of the communities for various reasons and that is all that is all being resolved ironically partly through this people are coming together people's people's hearts are opening up and we want we want people to to believe in the town that mayor wants people to believe in the town and to do the right thing and get us all together and rebuild this house for the revises Riva says she's grateful I'm determined on rebuilding because it's not just about me anymore it's about showing people that you know bad things happen but better things can come and that God has everything under control and more importantly for my parents so far nearly five thousand dollars has been raised through a GoFundMe that was set up for the family members of the community saying they'll continue to show their support until the rivases are finally in their home for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper leadership support for exploring hate is provided by the Sylvia a and Simon B Poyta programming endowment to fight anti-semitism with additional major funding from Sue and Edgar wachenheim III Charlotte and David ackert the Peter G Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney fund and Patti Askwith Kenner additional support is provided by the tiger Baron Foundation Nancy and Morris W Offit and Josh Weston [Music]