Durham, N.C. — A Triangle school has collected about $700 during a fundraiser this week in an effort to help a homeless woman and her two children have a happier holiday this year.

Carlotta Brown lost everything when her car caught fire last month.

Larry Green, who works at Voyager Academy in Durham, saw flames shooting out from under her car as she was driving and helped the Brown family get out safely, just as flames engulfed the vehicle.

Students at Voyager Academy raised the money to help Brown and her children move out of a homeless shelter where they've lived the last four months.

"We need help from the public to find her a job," Green said Friday. "She's a smart girl, and she is willing to work."

Brown, he said, is currently working for minimum wage. His hope is that he can help her find a job to afford her own place.

"We can get her started and get her furnished, but she needs a way to sustain that," Green said.