June Update!

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Since June 1st things have really taken off. We have had 4 groups of volunteer come in and work on 10 clients homes. One local crew tarped 2 roofs. 1 crew from Lakeland worked on 3 clients homes helping with drywall, plumbing, painting and demolition. 1 crew from Palm Harbor tarped 2 or more roofs. 1 crew from Pennsylvania rebuilt a fence for 1 client, did drywall, cool sealed roofs, laid tile and carpet, and skirted a mobile home for 2 other clients. The group from Lakeland was back twice and plan to come back again. A group from Ohio is currently here and has done debris cleanup and are currently working on replacing drywall, ceilings, windows, and studs. Grace Relief Disaster Ministry from Punta Gorda did debris removal for our clients this past weekend as well.

Donations included tools to help CREWs get their jobs done, including a number of power tools, a fence stretcher, post hole diggers, and tarping plastic and furring strips. Volunteer groups that have come this month have pledges donations of $1700 total. Donations have also included use of latters, trucks, drills and other tools. $6000 from the Community Relief Fund to be shared between two counties. Several local business and individuals also donated supplies, furniture, labor, food for volunteers, and use of tools and trucks.

We have a total of 672 cases including open, closed, unassigned and referrals back to Palm Beach LTRO. Within the month of June 250 cases were opened, reviewed and the homes assessed by case managers. 317 cases total in Hendry county have been assigned, reviewed and homes assessed for damages, 49 in Glades County. 79 cases have been closed in Hendry county, 34 in the month of June. 11 cases have been closed in Glades county, 3 in June. There are currently 174 unassigned, unassisted clients. June was the most productive month we have had since the new Case manger supervisor came. We currently have 7 case managers but loose funding for at least 5 possible 6 of them July 1st.

2 secretarial positions (part time) have helped through a grant for the month of June but they are also leaving July 1st as is our 3rd secretarial staff who has worked part time for a couple of months now. We will have no staff in these positions beginning July 1.

Case Manager Supervisor, Executive Director and Volunteer coordinator participated in FIND training that helped us learn from other LTRO experiences. The Executive Director and Volunteer Coordinator also began their CERT training course to become first responders for Hendry County to help our residents out in the event of a disaster. The Case Manger Supervisor will also be taking this course.

At long last the DRD (Disaster Response Database) is up can running and we have entered most of the data, the girls have been working steady using the computers full time just entering this information. 332 cases have been inputted in to the Hendry county data base and 75 clients into the Glades county database. It took two volunteer computer WIZs, a board member and his friends, our own FIND and Lutheran Disaster DRD friends, and our Case management Supervisor a lot of time and patience and volunteer time to get it working.

We have partnered with many agencies to help facilitate help to our clients. We have partnered with United Way, UMCOR and PDA. In addition we have assisted USDA by providing a local place they could meet with clients and help them qualify for low cost loans. We have also assisted getting information to the Empowerment Alliance which resulted in $10,000 of supplies and services to clients. In addition we are assisting the Rotary Club in finding a good use for $30,000 which will be spent on clients rebuilding their homes as well. They related they were impressed at the homework we had done in regards to client resource or lack of. We have helped get donated chairs (80), cribs, strollers, diapers and other supplies to needy families. FEMA representatives Ortes Perez and Keith Denning have also been working with us. We have worked jointly with Workforce development, providing a place for them to train staff. We have also worked with United Way and helped them in promoting their 211 program and have referred many clients to this program. One of our staff through the NEG grant has been helping the local Methodist Church with office assistance in addition to completing work for us. The local Methodist Church and the local Presbyterian Church have provided shelter to our volunteers as well as meals. Meals have also been provided by the Baptist Church, local restaurants, various church members from various affiliations, and other volunteers.

Some problems include that many procedures are not in place yet, although they are being put in place and a policy manual has not been written, thus it has been difficult dealing with issues that come up without this guide. We have successfully gotten a procedure in place for handling volunteers and ensuring paperwork and information is gathered and releases signed prior to them doing any work. In addition we have been pulled at times to work on “crisis cases” instead of focusing on long term recovery needs. Polices and procedures manual is almost completed and has been being worked on diligently. Clear boundaries were presented for ensuring that all volunteers go through Volunteer Coordinator and she has completed training for these procedures. Crisis cases are being refereed to United Way’s 211 program. The Case Management supervisor was hired and trained to make referral and ensure backgrounds and complete information was gathered on clients before assisting them.

We desperately need more donation money for supplies, or money to hire contractors and skilled volunteers. We also need a Construction Coordinator, and another Spanish speaking case manager and the funds to pay them. An office person would be very helpful as well. Money to assist unregistered's would also be a help!

We are trying to pull off building a house for a client in July but due to delays from volunteer contractors drawing the plans up and the inspector’s vacation it is looking like this may not happen, we are working our best to ensure that it does. A lot depends on the cooperation we get from local contractors, the county inspector, and the weather.

Appreciation for the Case Management Supervisor, Volunteer Coordinator and Executive Director who regularly put in over 50 hours a week, often closer to 80 is appreciated. In addition be aware, they are being mandated to take some personal time and we are closing for 4 days over the 4th of July weekend to ensure that this happens.