UMCOR Bright Spots

IN TODAY’S ISSUE
February 21, 2008

UMCOR Helps Fund Recovery All Along Gulf Coast
Local Case Managers and Volunteers Keep Spirits Up
This Week's Quote
Recovery Stats
Miss Lucy and CRWRC Volunteers...(slide show)

UMCOR HELPS FUND RECOVERY ALL ALONG GULF COAST

By Susan J. Meister, Gulf Coast Communications

In October 2005, a hurricane-weary nation experienced Wilma, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. After destroying parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, Wilma turned northeast and crossed southern Florida in four and a half hours on October 24.

Through the generosity of donors, UMCOR was able to help several annual conferences, including Florida, respond to the damage left in the wake of Wilma and the other storms of 2005. “We used funds from UMCOR to support a number of local organizations mobilized to help with relief and recovery in the southern part of the state,” explained Marilyn Swanson, Project Director, Disaster Recovery Ministry, Florida Annual Conference.

Local United Methodist church takes lead in relief and recovery efforts

Homeowners Joachin and Rachel are grateful to construction coordinator Anthony Dukes (center) and the whole staff at CREW for helping them rebuild their home.
Photo by Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

Rev. John Hicks is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Clewiston, Fl. Located in Hendry County on the southwest corner of Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston is a town of about 6,500 people. In September, 2005, Hicks had worked to revitalize the Clewiston Ministerial Association around a benefit for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. A month later, Wilma roared through town. The church became a key distribution center for relief supplies, and Hicks was asked by the mayor to take the lead in establishing a long term recovery organization (LTRO) for Hendry and nearby Glades County. C.R.E.W. (Community Rebuilding Ecumenical Workforce) was launched— drawing strong ecumenical, community and business support. The Florida Conference assigned Gricel Hernandez to be the Disaster Recovery Representative for the area, to offer organizational advice, network with vital contacts, and provide encouragement.

Over two years after the LTRO began its work, Executive Director Trish Adams can point to a number of accomplishments. “Since our inception, we have hosted 515 volunteers, who have logged over 15,000 hours of work making repairs to walls, ceilings, floors, roofs, cabinets, siding, skirting, and windows, and doing demolition and debris cleanup,” she said. Local churches have hosted groups with housing and meals.

“In all, we have assisted over 765 families in the two counties,” Adams continued. “Our case managers have done a remarkable job to reach and assist homeowners.”

The “house made out of miracles”

C.R.E.W. has completed one rebuild for Mr. Joachin and Miss Rachel. The homeowners and staff are eager to relate story after story to prove that the new home is a “house made out of miracles.”

The very day that the case manager interviewed the couple, who were an unexpected addition to the contact list, a volunteer group from Indiana called to say they wanted to come and build a house.

“The deadline was impossible,” said Mr. Joachin, “but the Lord’s hand was in it! The day we poured the concrete, it rained all around us, everywhere but at our house!”

After the initial blitz, volunteers from Maine, Michigan, Washington, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland helped. “I used to make fun of snowbirds,” Mr. Joachin laughed. “I don’t anymore!”

More than rebuilds

Trish Adams, CREW Executive Director, holds one of the “thank you” signs that Joachin and Rachel put out along their fence to thank a volunteer group.
Photo by Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

Through their partnership with Volunteer Florida Foundation’s Disaster Recovery Program, C.R.E.W. is also involved with the Mitigation Program (through My Safe Florida Home) and the FEMA Close-Out Program. Through mitigation, homeowners strengthen their homes against natural disasters. (Mr. Joachin’s home will have shutters installed as part of this program.) The FEMA Close-Out Program helps survivors find permanent housing solutions, including helping pay to site and set up mobile homes according to county regulations. C.R.E.W. set a goal to mitigate 100 homes in the two counties, and to complete mobile home set up by the end of January 2008.

There is still substantial rebuilding and repair work to complete in Hendry and Glades Counties. C.R.E.W. is continuing to solicit funding and volunteers. For more information, go to their website and blog spot.

For more on the United Methodist recovery work visit these web sites:

UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
UM News Service
Mississippi Conference
Louisiana Conference
Texas Conference
Alabama-West Florida Conference

For More Information

Our Work

Miss Mary is ready to hang her precious family pictures on rebuilt walls in her home in Belle Glade, FL.
Photo Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

LOCAL CASE MANAGERS AND VOLUNTEERS KEEP SPIRITS UP

When Wilma crossed southern Florida in late 2005, winds of up to 125 mph lashed homes and businesses. Many of the areas affected by Wilma were still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances, which roared through the area in 2004.

That was the case in west Palm Beach County, where a team of “green shirts” from CRWRC (Christian Reformed World Relief Committee) returned in January 2008, to reassess the status of the homeowners in Belle Glade, Florida. The last needs assessment of Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances had been finished in September 2005, just before Wilma came through. Volunteer Yogi Haardyk, from Calgary, Alberta Province, Canada, is amazed at the ongoing “resiliency and optimism of the people.”

For homeowner Miss Lucy, the ongoing attention she received from case managers at C.R.O.S. and CRWRC volunteers helped her maintain a positive attitude. (C.R.O.S., Christians Reaching Out to Society, is funded by the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church to do outreach and case management in Palm Beach County.)

“(Case managers) Katie and Mayra would come because of how much time it had been since Wilma,” Miss Lucy said. “The winds of Hurricane Wilma shifted the house off its foundation and lifted shingles off the roof, causing walls to crumble and fall in two bedrooms. I was so depressed that the house was going to fall before it could be fixed,” she continued.

After Hurricane Wilma moved her house off its original pilings, Miss Lucy used insurance money to reset forty pilings and stabilize the house foundation.
Photo Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

Miss Lucy used her insurance settlement to reset forty pilings under the house. Case managers from C.R.O.S. helped with paperwork, offered support and encouragement, and connected her with the CRWRC volunteers helping to repair the roof and drywall.

Miss Mary, another survivor working with C.R.O.S., had extensive water damage and mold throughout her home. Because of her breathing problems, she had to sleep in her living room until Americorps’ volunteers helped repair the roof and CRWRC volunteers helped repair the ceilings, walls and floor in December 2007.

“I used to be a social worker myself,” Miss Mary said. “I always told my clients to be self-sufficient. It was hard for me to ask for help.”

Dawn Oliver is the Disaster Recovery Representative from the Disaster Recovery Ministry, Florida Annual Conference, who works with C.R.O.S. The area can use more volunteers to help with rebuilding. Contact the Florida Conference for more information or to schedule a trip.

Trish Adams Quote

Recovery Stats 080221

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MISS LUCY AND CRWRC VOLUNTEERS...