NEW YORK, NY November 20, 2009 —Elected officials and community leaders in Brooklyn are rallying around the family of three victims in Wednesday's Crown Heights fire. Rose Etienne Jean was working when the fire claimed the lives of her two young children and her partner, Myrtel Jean.

Councilwoman Letitia James says a fund has been set up at Carver Federal Savings Bank to help pay for funeral expenses and for Jean, who's now destitute. Says James: "She literally just has the clothes on her back.... She was burnt out of her apartment.... She lost everything and so there's not insurance, no resources, there's nothing."

Jean is staying with family members in Bedford Stuyvesant for now.

The funeral for the three victims will be held on November 29, so that family from Haiti can attend.

Critics of the city's new fire dispatch system say fire trucks were delayed and went to the wrong address. But the city says callers to 911 failed to give a specific address, and the dispatch system was not to blame.

Donations for the family can be sent to:

Carver Federal Savings Bank 1281 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 11216 (718) 676-8761

The Jean family is also asking for white suits for the deceased boys. The donations can be made to the Hebron French-speaking Seventh-day Adventist Church, in care of Pastor Roberne J. Saint-Louis at 1256 Dean Street. The phone number is (718) 778-6454.