WEST PARIS — Even as community support and aid poured in, doubt remained Tuesday over the long-term future of a 21-member extended family displaced when a fire razed their sprawling farmhouse. 

Tuesday dawned with increasing donations from local residents, who supplied the multiple families living at the Ellingwood Wood address with basic goods: a warm meal, water, clothing and food for their dogs, pig and cows. 

The family remains in lodgings at a nearby motel, provided through the American Red Cross, which has managed to extend their stay through Thursday. After that, the long-term lodgings for the members, who include 11 children, is uncertain.

A second trailer was brought to the site, bringing the potential bed space up to 12.

Melissa Heath, who lived on-site and is a longtime friend of homeowner Donald Hodgkin, said the hardest part has been trying to bring some semblance of normalcy to the children who have to go to school. 

“They’re here, doing what they can because they want to help,” Heath said. 

Hodgkin spent Tuesday trying to coordinate relief efforts for the five families who called the large farmhouse home. 

“It’s still a whirlwind,” Hodgkin said. 

The Oxford Hills School District has made $1,000 in Walmart gift cards available, Superintendent Rick Colpitts said. Additionally, the students will receive free meals at the school. 

“The principals and teachers have been informed of their situation to ease the anxiety in the classroom as best they can. It’s tragic,” Colpitts said. 

Hodgkin said that initial hopes of rebuilding atop the foundations of the building, which remained largely intact, were overturned after a contractor inspected the ruins.

Now, hopes lie that someone will donate the fill, foundation and new modular homes.

“It’s just wait and see,” he said.

While basic needs for the families have been met, a co-worker for Heath has established a fund in her name at Norway Savings Bank and Oxford Credit Unions, while another community member donated two storage containers worth of clothing and furniture.

Other efforts, including a GoFundMe account — an online fundraiser — has been established in their name, Heath said. 

Calvin Mason, a local businessman, donated his time and a backhoe to clear debris as the family plans its next steps. 

“He didn’t have to do it. He’s been here all day,” Hodgkin said. 

The large family and friends who came to live in the home over the past 11 years grew with need; hard times necessitated it. Hodgkin, who welcomed them all, said Monday night that a nephew and his young son showed up after being evicted, asking for a place to stay. 

“We’re exhausted. We’re trying to rebuild — we have to,”  he said.