Behind the times

Sorry we have not been keeping up this site, but we hope to change that for good today! Here is our October Monthly Report!

October Monthly Report

October was a very busy month we submitted grant requests, quarterly and monthly grant reports to all our funders, and contractual request changes in one grant. All of this requires a large amount of information gathering, creating forms and spreadsheets, and negotiations with various agencies.

Our main focus has been our continual efforts to help FEMA (Florida Emergency Management Association) through our VFF (Volunteer Florida Foundation) grant, which was supposed to close in October, however we have almost 80 cases still unresolved. I have attached the spreadsheet to this report, with last names and addressed omitted. VFF being as concerned as we are about these families, generously extended our grant through the end of the year. The cases detail where the problems are, some are due to a long wait for inspections, some are due to failure to comply on the part of the families, some are awaiting titles and paperwork from FEMA, and some are due to the long process of applying for funding through the American Red Cross and others. It should be noted that our list is considerably longer than FEMA’s list, as we are working with families who purchased trailers on non-conforming lots (not though CREW), especially within the City of Clewiston. One of the issues we are running into is that the client hears from us that the trailers cannot stay in the parks where they are, however the park owners are assuring them that they do not have to move. One of the greatest challenges of this grant is the shear amount of time we have had to spend on conference calls and in meetings with FEMA, as well as the intense and detailed information needed for cases to be approved for funding. Clients have to prove that they truly need the money by showing income and expenses, and many are referred to Credit Counseling through our partnership with The Empowerment Alliance of South West Florida as a result. The paperwork related to all these processes is quite intensive.

We have had 26 volunteers this month. A group of 9 from Winter Haven Florida, Beymer Memorial United Methodist Church that worked on laying flooring for Leopold during the week of 10/09/07 thru 10/13/07. This group also presented CREW with a donation of $500.00. Another group of 7 from The First Presbyterian Church of Pompano Beach have been here several times before and worked on Leopold’s house returned again (they are fond of him and worked on his home before) and worked on the flooring at Leopold’s and installing some plywood and painting at for E.S. They were here on October 20, 2007. The third group of 7 came from Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and worked on completing the flooring at Leopold’s on October 27, 2007. We had three local volunteers at our monthly LTRO meeting that worked 425 hours for a total in kind donation of $7912.50. In November, we are thrilled to have Manassas United Methodist from Virginia return; we want to do something special for them. They are coming the week of November 11, 2007 thru November 16, 2007. They are sending 22 members to help with a number of different projects.

As of October 31st in Hendry County 193 cases have been assigned to case managers who have updated recovery plans in 193 of these cases or are in the process of completion. In Glades County, 10 cases have been assigned to case managers and 10 of these have updated recovery plans completed or in the process of completion. In October 47 cases have been closed in Hendry County with all clients needs being met or clients refusal of services. 1 case in Glades County was closed. Currently there are no unassigned cases. This department currently has 2 full time and 2 half time case managers that are reviewing case information. Case managers are updating the needs of approximately 5 clients a day. Another full time case manager who is reviewing and completing Means to Recovery Applications, writing reports and tracking our FEMA grant funds. The partnership between Means to Recovery (Red Cross) has been a slow process and we have currently received approval of funding for 26 clients (awaiting approval on another 3) and received actual checks to pay vendors for 25 of those clients. We have 8 more that we are waiting for clients to get all verifications to us so they can be submitted. One of our USDA referral clients is close to receiving her mobile home after a year of work with USDA and CREW. For those clients that are not able to get out to our CREW office in Clewiston, we will set up in our Labelle office or Moorehaven office when needed.

One of the computers donated when CREW first started has died this month. We have not had funds to replace yet. We are currently in need of a shredder that can handle the amount of shredding necessary to keep our clients information confidential. We also need separate hard drives to back up information stored on the computers.

During the month of October the Construction Coordinator, completed twelve assessments, and completed twelve invoices in Hendry County. The construction coordinator supervised the volunteer groups this month. The total construction costs of these projects were $1052.59.

In working with The Empowerment Alliance of South West Florida, we have provided clients with credit counseling and budget planning; conducted Home Buyer Education Workshops in Clewiston, Labelle, and Immokalee. We attended the Housing Coalition as well. Our staff representative is working on attending core curriculum classes to get certified through the Florida Housing Coalition.

For the FEMA Close out project, all families listed on FEMA close out grant with open cases are currently in the Red Cross CAN system. Most of the efforts this month have been on obtaining permits. Two trailers have been moved to conforming lots and in the process of being set up, five trailers have permits granted and we are working with FEMA and CREW contractors to move these trailers.

In the month of October the mitigation program has received a great response. There has been a total 22 new applicants for mitigation. 11 have been entered into the Hurricane Relief Database and 11 are on hold for completion of paperwork. A total of 27 new inspection reports have been received. There are now 39 clients certified to receive mitigation. There are 30 clients awaiting contractor estimates. 3 more homes have been completed by Lifestyle Shutters. 8 homes are in progress with Glades Roofing and have been since the beginning of October. The Mitigation process for the above homes has been delayed because of internal problems the County Building and Zoning are having. The completion date for the above homeowners has been reset for November 30, 2007. An initial deposit of $9201.73 has been made to Glades Roofing for 8 homes. The total cost of these projects will be $28830.46. There are a total of 73 Clients entered in the Hurricane Relief Database and 11 on hold awaiting completion of client paperwork. Staff members Anthony Dukes and Renee’ Mergott attended an Orientation/Training for Volunteer Florida Foundation and My Safe Florida Home on October 22-24 2007 to benefit the success of The Mitigation Program. We have been advertising the program through the use of flyers and going from door to door in the communities of Hendry and Glades Counties. Crew has met with S.H.I.P. Coordinator Aida Barnhart of Hendry County in an effort to gain clients for Mitigation. There has also been advertisement by the local radio station (WAFC FM @ 99.5) as well as Spanish radio (Radiofiesta @ 590 AM) to reach a broader clientele. C.R.E.W. will also be meeting with S.H.I.P. of Glades counties to inquire about mitigating homes in their area.

Our Executive Director serves as a Board Member for the Florida VOAD and is on their case management committee, participating in weekly phone conferences for the case management committee. She also serves as a member on the local Homeless Coalition Board, as well as participates in the community wide Family Services Network both have meetings monthly. Our blog site and You Tube site is being regularly updated, and celebrated National First Responders Day this month. Grant writing and searching for new available grants is also a daily task for our Executive Director. Grants were submitted to 100 Best Communities and UMCOR this month. Quarterly grant reports were sent to PDA, UMCOR, and CRWRC this month as well. She also participated in the United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades Counties Campaign Kick Off at Harbor side on October 31st.

Our staff members volunteered our time running a both in Clewiston’s Fall Festival and participated in National Make A Difference Day on October 27th. We said good-bye to our case manger Hilda, who was an incredible asset to our agency, and left only because of a wonderful job offer from her former employer. We also celebrated the personal achievement of our case manger Laisa who obtained her GED this month.

At the request of some funders, we are in the process of opening a savings account so that we can earn interest on funds from grants until we need them. We should hear about UMCOR grant request on November 9th. We are still awaiting response from PDA. I am unsure when announcement on 100 best communities will be decided. We will be submitted invoice to the City of Clewiston for the FEMA close out costs they promised to pay this month. We will be asking for substantially less than what was offered due to our ability to find funding through the American Red Cross Means to Recovery Grant and other funders.

Our finances as of October 31st are as follows. There is $46,691.91 in our account, including all grant funds. This includes the following accounts.
1. CRWRC $15543.44.
2. VFF-Mitigation Grant $13,898.33.
3. VFF-FEMA Close out grant has balance of -$242.48.
4. VFF-FEMA Private funds has balance of -$2,713.09
5. UMCOR funds has balance of $16,196.51.
6. PDA funds has balance of -$3,156.66