CREW's March monthly report

MARCH MONTHLY REPORT

CREW volunteers and staff sprang into action this month. Volunteers worked all month and staff began planning for the upcoming fundraising dinner. With spring in the air we attacked the remaining Hurricane Wilma damaged and destroyed homes with new energy.

We also said farewell to two employees whose grants ended March 31st. Our Mitigation Coordinator, whom we expected to loose as well, will stay part time for at least another 30 days.

Although we are no longer funded to help with the FEMA close out project, we have continued to do so. We are still trying to find funding for three clients we had hoped to get from the City but have been unable to do so. We still have had no answer to phone calls, letters or emails to the City of Clewiston of FEMA. Board Members have agreed to follow through with this with the City, and Trish is following up with FEMA.

On March 1, 2008 St. Luke Lutheran Church (http://www.stlukesfedway.org/#) in Federal Way, Washington sent a group of 8 highly skilled male volunteers who worked on the house we are building for Pamela. They completed framing, sheeting the roof, adding shingles and completing siding on the entire house. They also installed 9 windows and the 2 exterior doors. This group contributed a total of 647 hours for an in kind donation of $12131.25. They were hosted by the Community Presbyterian Church who also fed the group for an in kind donation of $56.00. The First United Methodist Church also fed this group for an in kind donation of $56.00.
On March 8, 2008 the Lutheran Laymen’s League (http://www.ndlll.org/mission_work.php) returned from North Dakota to work on the rebuild, unfortunately this did not happen due to contractors not passing inspections on their work. So, we had this group work on four other projects. This group consisted of 6 men and 1 woman. The group began working at Brenda W’s home tearing out old flooring and installing new underlay, they also installed new drywall on the ceiling throughout the house; they also sent a few to work on flooring underlay for Rafael. The group sent a couple of the group to tie up some loose ends for Leopold to help get a final inspection to pass, and then went to work at Brenda J’s house, installing new cabinets and replacing drywall in the ceiling there as well. This group donated a total of 591 hours for an in kind donation of $11081.25. In addition, the donated plumbing parts for one family valued at $50.00. They were hosted by the First Baptist Church and First United Methodist Church fed the group one night for an in kind donation of $49.00. The Community Presbyterian Church also fed this group for an in kind donation of $49.00.

We have also helped CRWRC (http://www.crcna.org/pages/crwrc_drscurrent.cfm) keep some volunteers busy who are working in Palm Beach County this month. We had a group of 4 volunteers 3 men and 1 woman, come and worked at B. West’s house installing and finishing drywall throughout the house. This group of volunteers was from various places (Kansas, Ontario and Michigan). This group also worked at Eunice’s installing some new screens on the windows, for Cynthia’s repairing a leaking roof and repairing some interior drywall. They also completed the ceiling drywall repair and painting for Ana, they relocated some insulation for Robbie in the attic and repaired and painted some drywall for Debra. This group worked a total of 252 hours for an in kind donation of $4725.00. This group worked here for three weeks (Feb. 23-March 15).

CRWRC sent another group the week of March 17 – March 19. The group consisted of 2 men and 2 women. The group worked finishing drywall and painting for Brenda J. This group was also from several different places (Ontario, Michigan and Colorado). They worked a total of 56 hours for an in kind donation of $1050.00.

On March 15, 2008 Covenant United Methodist Church (http://www.jesusatcovenant.org/) sent a group of 9 volunteers from Port Orange, Florida. This group was hoping to work on the rebuild; unfortunately this did not work out again, due to contractors failing inspections. We put the group in to complete the ceiling repairs and painting for Brenda W. They worked all week and have completed all the drywall repairs and painting. They worked a total of 349 hours for an in kind donation of $6543.75. This group was hosted by First United Methodist Church of Clewiston, who also fed them on two different occasions for an in kind donation of $98.00. The group consisted of 5 men, 3 women, and 1 youth.

We had a total of 32 volunteers from 4 groups this month work 1895 volunteers hours for an in kind donation valued at $35,531.25. The meals the churches provided to theses groups adds up to a total in kind donation of $308.00.

As of March 31st in Hendry County 62 cases have been assigned to case managers who have updated recovery plans in all of these cases. There are 15 cases assigned to a case manager that are pending documentation before they are officially opened.

In Glades County, 9 cases have been assigned to case managers and 7 of these have updated recovery plans completed or in the process of completion. There are 3 cases assigned to a case manager that are pending documentation before they are officially opened.

In March 18 cases have been closed in Hendry County, with all clients’ needs being met or client’s refusal of services. 1 case in Glades County has been closed. To date there are 0 unassigned cases in Hendry and Glades County.

This department currently has 2 full time and 2 half time case managers that are reviewing case information. Case managers are contacting clients to get needed documentation as quickly as possible. We have 71 total open cases and 18 more not currently opened because they are pending documentation.

Since March of last year, C.R.E.W. has been working with FEMA, Hendry County, and the City of Clewiston to find suitable housing solutions for FEMA clients still housed in FEMA units as of April 24, 2004. Originally, FEMA gave C.R.E.W. a list of 65 families whom FEMA believed would be in need of additional assistance. Additionally, the city of Clewiston supplied a list of approximately 20 other families residing in FEMA mobile homes on non conforming lots inside Clewiston City Limits. Of these cases, C.R.E.W. was able to help the majority of these families find permanent housing solutions. We were able to close one more of them in March. We have been unable to close 22 of these cases. Three of these are in need of funding that we expected but did not receive. The rest are either waiting on permits, in the process of being set up, or waiting for the families to raise the money needed to transfer their titles.

Our construction coordinator has assessed 10 homes. He supervised and assisted in getting needed materials and having jobs lined up for the volunteers mentioned above. The work they did included drywall, electrical repair, flooring, plumbing, framing, windows, and door installation, porch repair, siding, siding repair, installing cabinets, painting, trim carpentry and roof repair. The total cost of the projects done by volunteers was $8,039.44.

We received in kind donations this month as well. We received a box of nails fro the Manassas VA group, a mattress and box spring from a member of the FUMC in Clewiston, paint from two clients to use on their houses, and a giant tarp from a client. The total value of the in kind donations was $275.00.

Clewiston Families that received FEMA trailers held an appreciation dinner at the La Hacienda Restaurant in Clewiston. It was hosted by Reverend Benjamin Escorcia of Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal church. They presented a certificate of appreciation to CREW. FEMA also received a certificate of appreciation, one of their staff members, Elamaris Fernandez was moved to tears related that in all their years of service she could not recall any other community thanking FEMA for their service before.

Trish and Renee attended the Disaster Donations Management Training, Florida VOAD Meeting and ESF 15 Coordinators Meeting in Tallahassee this month. Trish, along with the other officers of the Florida VOAD received a plaque of appreciate from Alex Amparo, Director of Emergency Management from Volunteer Florida and the State Emergency Response Team (SERT). While their, Trish was also able to present some appreciation awards that we have been holding on to for a while to Danielle Kearney from Lutheran Disaster Resources Reverend Karen Thomas from the United Church of Christ. During this time, back in Clewiston, Imelda attended the local Family Services Network meeting and Anthony traveled to Ft. Myers to attend a meeting for agencies requesting funding from the United Way. Trish also attended a United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades Board Meeting, the Hendry County Emergency Services Council, and the Hendry Glades Homeless Coalition meetings this month. Trish served as a volunteer serving breakfast to the Homeless Coalition’s “Breakfast with the Easter Bunny” fundraiser. Trish also attended local Democrats monthly meeting and passed out fliers for CREW’s fundraiser. In addition she met with Marvin Hammentree the Disaster Coordinator from the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and Bill Roy and Gricel Hernandez, Disaster Recovery Representatives from the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. We toured three homes that have recently had volunteers work and they were able to meet the homeowners. The First United Methodist Church of Clewiston also hosted them for dinner when they came for an in kind donation of $21.00. Gricel Hernandez, Disaster Recovery Representative from the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church has been here 3 days a week since the beginning of the month helping our with case management. Trish has been hosting her at her house providing her place to sleep to save the Conference’s money, as well as FUMC of Clewiston has been feeding her each Wednesday night for an in-kind of $21 for the meals, and approximately $100 for shelter. Trish and Renee also attended an event for individuals who donate to the United Way through payroll deduction, of which we both do. This is the first time CREW has been included as we had not prior been contributing though payroll deduction.

CRWRC has been here non stop since the beginning of February, sending volunteers 5 days a week every week, however, we had to say farewell to them at the end of this month. They originally canvassed our area and provided CREW with damage assessments right after the storm in 2005. Since then they have sent funding and volunteers to help us continue our mission. We also presented them with a certificate of appreciation this month as well.

As far as our mitigation program, in the month of March we had a total of 21 new applicants for mitigation. There are 100 clients entered in the Hurricane Relief Database and this completes the contract amount. CREW has received 6 more inspection reports, and 5 have been given to Cat 5 to complete. CREW is now awaiting only 14 more inspection reports to complete the contracted amount. There are now 68 homes complete and 18 are in progress. CREW will continue in its effort to mitigate 100 or more homes in the Hendry and Glades Counties.

We currently have $48,360.69 in the bank. We deposited $33,284.45 this month. Our expenses this month were $90,502.79. In-kind donations this month as described above total $36,806.25. We have $50 in the 2nd annual fundraiser account, -$2156.57 in the CRWRC account, $0 in the FEMA, GALA, Lutheran, NFL, Rotary and VFF3 accounts, $3,968.63 in general, -$49,041.55 in the Mitigation account, $5,726.34 in the PDA account, and $64,698.31 in the UMCOR account.

We are working on our 2nd annual fundraising dinner on April 26th; we need donations for the silent auction, and help finding corporate sponsors, and selling tickets. We have received a piece of handmade stained glass (valued at $50), $500 gift certificate for services at Hendry Regional, and several other businesses and individuals have made commitments to donate items for the silent auction. We have received payment for two individuals and one corporate table. We need addresses, personal contacts and organizations that we should send invitations too. By the end of March we had sent out 357 invitations, 169 by email, 175 by regular mail, and 20 were hand delivered personally by Trish.

We receive word that PDA will not be funding an administrative position as we had hoped. However, they are funding some of our administrative expenses.

Our LTRO (Long Term Recovery Organization) and Unmet Needs meeting is on the 4th Thursdays of the month. This month we presented eight new cases and tabled them until funding can be found. We also reviewed 25 open cases and closed 10 cases. One case scheduled to be closed we agreed to keep open and provide case management and advocacy for as she applies for housing assistance through other local agencies.

Our Board of Directors meeting is on the Monday of the prior week. Both meetings are held at Hendry Regional Medical Center. This month we met and set prices for the tickets for the fundraiser.

One issue we have been unable to resolve, due to the failure of the City Manger and FEMA to return our phone calls, emails and letters is the FEMA trailers in Clewiston. I felt it important to include how much work has been done by CREW and their partners to help resolve this. 5 full time case managers were hired for 6 months in addition to our regular staff to work on these cases, gather information, assist families in completing application for agencies offering to help, finding funding partners, volunteers and contractors to work on these cases, as well as jumping through the hoops, meetings and other requirements that FEMA placed on us, such as daily phone meetings and weekly unmet needs meetings. This funding ended in December, yet our dedication and commitment to the clients has not as we have continued to advocate for our clients, even referring them to legal assistance when they were threatened legally.

Since March of 2007, C.R.E.W. has been working with FEMA, Hendry County, and the City of Clewiston to find suitable housing solutions for FEMA clients still housed in FEMA units as of April 24, 2004. I felt it necessary to note the following totals to show how many different agencies (through our advocacy) have contributed to families in FEMA trailer that are working with CREW. These numbers represent goods and services paid for by these agencies for direct assistance to the families in an effort to move from FEMA temporary housing to permanent solutions. Note these amounts do not include money for staff or costs of case managing all these cases. The money noted below is only for direct good and services to provide permanent housing solutions.
Hendry and Glades County total amount spent $325,705.7734
v Red Cross Means to Recovery Program $156,492.58
v CRWRC $64,715.22
v United Church of Christ $6,231.50
v Volunteer Florida Foundation $49,155.39
v Rotary $9,233.86
v Catholic Charities $6262.55
v UMCOR $7776.38
v Empowerment Alliance $4750.80
v Good Shepherd Lutheran $2,750.00
v NFL/United Way $15,242.11
v Grace United Methodist Church $200
v First United Methodist Church of Clewiston $778.95
v Other private donors $1075.00
v United Way of Lee Hendry and Glades $150





WE NEED VOLUNTEERS AND FUNDS!!!!
We need volunteers who can help repair homes, but also need volunteers to assist in the office, as well to help work booths at the upcoming fairs and festivals throughout Hendry and Glades Counties. We are currently in need of a shredder that can handle the amount of shredding necessary to keep our clients information confidential. We desperately need a shredder and a volunteer to help shred the back load of paperwork, since our shredder died.
You can also help by simply shopping through the iGive portal and registering CREW as your charity of choice. Simply visit the link below to do so. http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?memberid=324218&causeid=35958

Donations can be sent to 352 W. Arcade Ave., Clewiston, Florida 33440. We are a registered non-profit and donations are tax deductible. Call Renee to volunteer at (863) 983-2390.

Visit our blog site to learn more about what we are up to and to see pictures. http://huricanerecovery.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to check out our calendar of events to see when volunteers are coming and find out what our staff members are up to! http://calendar.msn.com/trishadamslcsw@hotmail.com