Boy, I have not been posting the monthly reports, oops. I will get back to that now, however, to make up for the many I have missed I am posting our yearly report here! We did great work, check it out!
This year has been an active one, not only in responding to new storms, but old ones as well. CREW has been there throughout it all for the residents or our three rural counties.
This is a picture of the track of Fay in Florida.
According to Wikipedia, “the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season …officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30. …However, the formation of Tropical Storm Arthur caused the season to start two days early…. Although not an El Niño or La Niña year, 2008 is the third most costly season on record, behind only the 2004 and 2005 seasons, with up to $45 billion in damage (2008 USD). The season began far more actively than normal. The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was the fourth busiest year since 1944 and the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the North Atlantic …Four storms formed before the start of August alone, and the season also had the earliest known date for three storms to be active on the same day: Hurricane Bertha, and Tropical Storms Cristobal and Dolly were all active on July 20. 2008 was also one of only nine Atlantic seasons on record to have a major hurricane form before August. This is also the first year four or more Category 4 storms have formed in a single year since 2005, which had 5, and was one of only 7 Atlantic seasons to feature a major hurricane in November.”
Luckily our area only had one storm to recover from this year: “Tropical Storm Fay, which became the first Atlantic tropical cyclone to make landfall in the same U.S. state on 4 separate occasions; Fay crossed Hispaniola, Cuba, and hit south Florida beginning late on August 18, slowly tracking northeastward across the peninsula. Significant flooding resulted in much of eastern Florida, along with some wind damage. After crossing into the Atlantic, Fay turned westward again and crossed northern Florida on August 22. As it zigzagged from water to land, it became the first storm in recorded history to make landfall in Florida four times. Fay weakened into a tropical depression along the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Fay eventually weakened into a remnant low around noon on August 26 while located over Alabama, and then rapidly transitioned into an extratropical low six hours later. Fay was responsible for 36 deaths and at least $180 million in damage (2008 USD).”
Tropical Storm Fay was the 6th named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season which hit our area August 19th. In our area (Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee Counties), Fay caused massive flooding, two deaths in Moorehaven, lots of flooding and wind damage. Roofs were torn apart and homes flooded. We responded by finding volunteers to muck out flooded homes and tarp roofs. We also partnered with the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church to get flood buckets, health kits, vitamins and tarps to people who needed them. We currently have about 56 clients from Fay documented, although not all have requested assistance. 20 are pending documentation to open, 17 are open. We have mucked out 6 homes and tarped 40 homes from this storm (this was prior to the cases even being opened). We worked on electrical work and repaired roofs for two of these clients in November.
But we spent the year not only helping families respond and recover from this storm, but from our previous storms, from which the community is still trying to recover.
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the 22nd storm (including the subtropical storm discovered in reanalysis), 13th hurricane, 6th major hurricane, and 4th Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season. We have closed 729 cases from this storm. We have 41 cases still open, 9 of which are FEMA cases we are assisting with. There is another 18 that will be open pending clients bringing in requested documentation and completing our extensive application process to ensure damage is truly Hurricane related.
Tropical Storm Ernesto made landfall August 30th, 2006 in southern Florida, the storm produced a storm tide of about 1 foot (0.3 m) above astronomical tide levels, though no beach erosion was reported. Winds were fairly minor across the state, reaching 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) at a station on Lake Okeechobee. Ernesto dropped heavy rainfall across southwest Florida, with a state maximum of 8.72 inches (221 mm) recorded at South Golden Gate. The rainfall caused the Fisheating Creek to overflow, and some flooding also occurred in portions of Collier County. Floodwaters entered at least 13 homes in Palmdale. We successfully closed our 7 cases with flood damage.
Volunteers are the back bone of CREW. This year we have been blessed with 349 volunteers from all over the country. We have had 38 different groups come and help with repairing our community. These groups consisted of 3 Lutheran groups; 1 Catholic group; 3 Multi-Denominational groups; 4 CRWRC groups; 30 Methodist groups; 3 Presbyterian individuals; 2 Baptist individuals; 5 Pentecostal individuals and 52 Individuals not affiliated with a church group. These groups worked on 101 homes, one of which was built from the ground up and the others they worked on making repairs to walls, ceiling, floors, roofs, cabinets, siding, skirting, installing windows, building handicap ramps, demolition, and debris cleanup and tarping roofs.
In 2008 we had a total of 308 volunteers that we have documentation for. These volunteers worked on several projects while they were here. They contributed a total of 8104.5 volunteer hours with an in kind value of $151,959.38.
We received cash donations in 2008 totaling $1100.00 from 2 volunteer groups and 1 business in town. Community Presbyterian Church provided housing for 1 group for a total in kind donation of $56.00. First United Methodist Church of Clewiston provided housing for 16 groups for a total in kind donation of $2782.00.Calvary Baptist Church provided housing for 2 individuals for an in kind donation of $40.00. First Baptist Church of Clewiston provided housing for 1 group for an in kind donation of $140.00. Meals provided by churches or Hendry Regional Medical Center total an in kind donation of $2090.00. Overall, $16,865.81, received from several different groups, and businesses.
We also did tremendous work in the area of case management, thanks to The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and UMCOR who funded this project. From our original 794 clients, we had 35 open cases when 2008 ended.
We have closed 81 cases this year. Of these 81, 25 were closed thanks to CREW meeting all of their needs. The others, after providing case management, 19 were referred to other agencies, 22 were closed due to clients refusing services by not completing required paperwork or following up with application process, 3 cases were closed due the damages not being in the living area of the home (i.e. shed or garage), and 2 more cases were closed because the families were able to meet their own needs and make all repairs. Of the cases we have closed, we had 59 females, 22 males, 36 Hispanic, 28 black, and 5 were Caucasian. Their age groups were: 7 fell between the ages of 20 and 29, 12 between 30-39, 25 between 40-49, 18 between the ages of 50-59, 13 between 60 and 69, and 6 were 70-79 years old.
At the end of the year we had 35 open cases and 16 more pending cases. Due to our waiting lists, and limited number of new disasters, we are not taking on new clients, unless they can fund the projects themselves or have very extenuating circumstances. Of our open cases, 26 are female, 9 male, 17 Hispanic, 13 black, and 5 Caucasian. One of them is 20-29, 7 age 30-39, 5 age 40-49, 11 age 50-59, 3 age 60-69, 5 age 70-79, and 3 age 80-89.
Partnerships are another great accomplishment CREW has made. We would never have been able to complete as much as we have without the help of our partners. Through our partners, grantors and donors we have been able to buy not only the supplies and materials that our volunteers use, but have also been able to hire local, licensed contractors (thus helping the local economy) to repair roofs, put on new roofs, complete electrical and plumbing work for our rebuild as well as many of our repairs. Especially with the financial troubles builders are facing in today’s economy, this has been especially helpful.
Our partnerships with faith based groups are our crowing achievement.
The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the Disaster Recovery Center of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and United Methodist Committee on Relief have funded our staff members for 2 years. They, along with United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries and Lutheran Disaster Response have provided volunteers and funds to repair and rebuild homes and lives. While working on homes, many of these volunteers have also ministered to the souls of our hurting clients, and provided emotional and spiritual support to our clients and staff as well.
The First Baptist Church of Clewiston, Calvary Baptist Church, Community Presbyterian Church of Clewiston, First United Methodist Churches of Moore haven and Clewiston, and Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal ME have all housed our volunteers as well as fed many of them and had them join in their worship services as well.
First United Methodist Churches of Clewiston and Moorehaven as well as Community Presbyterian Church of Clewiston have also funded some of our projects. In addition both the First Untied Methodist Church of Clewiston and Moorehaven gave CREW office Space when we first needed it.
Community Presbyterian Church of Clewiston also donated us the use of their shed to store our tools, donated furniture, appliance and materials.
Pastors and lay leaders from Community Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church of Clewiston and Moorehaven, Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal ME, First Baptist Church of Clewiston, Calvary Baptist Church have served on our board or our unmet needs committee and always volunteered whenever we asked.
Calvary Presbyterian Church in Coconut Beach, Florida sends money to us each month to help defray the cost of our cell phones.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response and other faith based organizations send us volunteers on a regular basis.
Catholic Charities has also provided immeasurable assistance to our clients as well, and their staff members are part of our unmet needs committee. In addition, they paid CREW over $4000 for our executive director’s participation in the National Pilot Project which gave direct assistance to several of our clients. Their staff members have served on our LTRO and Unmet needs committees.
Church World Service provided us with start up funds. United Church of Christ has given us funding for dozens of projects.
Volunteers often donate money while they are here, and several churches and other agencies and individuals read about us or hear about us and donate money or volunteer.
We have partnered with many community agencies as well.
Such as The Empowerment Alliance of Southwest Florida, shared staff with them, and given office space to one of their employees who provided credit counseling and helps low income families finance new homes responsibly. They have also funded projects for many of our clients. They also have provided credit counseling and workshops for first time home buyers to clients we have identified have that need.
We also work with the United Way of Lee Hendry and Glades. They have paid 50% of the salary/ benefit package for our Executive Director this year. In addition they have funded a small amount of direct assistance to clients. They have also given us use of our current office space, and through their 211 referral sources we have been able to goods and services to our clients.
Our partnership with Volunteer Florida Foundation has funded our FEMA Close out Project, our Mitigation Program, and provided direct assistance to those in FEMA housing. It has also provided invaluable training to several of our staff members.
We also assist the Homeless Coalition of Hendry and Glades, Family Services Network and the Emergency Services Committee by attending and participating in their meetings to help improve the life of our clients through out our two rural communities.
American Red Cross (local and national) have helped our clients immeasurably, giving donated supplies after Tropical Storm Ernesto, serving on our unmet needs committee, and providing funding to clients through their Means to Recovery program.
Centro Campesino has made repairs that were storm related and non-storm related for several of our clients which we referred to them. This year they did $16,647.00 worth of home repairs for our clients!
We also have partnered with government agencies as well.
The City of Clewiston staff assisted us in many ways, teaching us building codes, assisting with uncooperative clients, and more.
Hendry and Glades County SHIP program, USDA Rural Development, Emergency Management of Hendry County and Emergency Management of Glades County are also partners. Two of our staff are CERT trained and will assist Hendry County in the event of a disaster. Our Executive Director serves on the Glades County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. The local workforce development board through their NEG grants funded case managers for part of the year as well.
Financially, CREW has done wonders.
For 2008, CREW brought in $429,982.44 in cash through grants and donations and $191.908.46 in in-kind donations. We spent $463,926.84. This amount includes $161,988.08 in wages, tips and other compensation, payroll tax expenses were $9,825.92. $254283.44 was spent on contractors, materials and other direct assistance to clients. $20105.15 was spent on mileage for our staff members in order to cover our three-county area.
In addition we have received in kind funds, in the amount of $191,908.46 for the year.
One of our greatest accomplishments has been our ability to keep our administrative costs at 5% of our total budget.
In-kind donations 2008 $208,555.46
In comparison here’s our previous years income
2007 $576,005.54
2006 $66,310.68
In-kind donations 2007 $379,819.50
We have been blessed to be able to help so many and find so many wonderful people and agencies willing to give their money and time to make our community better. We still have a lot to go. Here is an outline of what we have ahead of us.
Remaining Needs
As of the end of the year we have quite a few remaining needs, from 2005-2008 storms.
1. We have recently agreed and received funding to assess the needs that were left unmet by the LTRO in Okeechobee from those affected by 2005 storms.
2. Client needs
a. Need funding and volunteers for the following cases:
1) Baseboard and vinyl flooring, bathtub plumbing
2) Roof repair, ceiling repair
3) Roof, windows, flooring underlay, paneling
4) Floor tile, windows ceiling
5) Roof, flooring underlay, ceiling
6) Electrical repairs, roof, ceiling, flooring underlay, screen
7) Roof, windows, bathroom ceiling, flooring and walls
8) Roof, windows, flooring underlay
9) Roof, ceiling, and flooring
10) 4 windows, electrical and floor
11) 6 windows
12) Interior priming, painting and replacing floor tiles
13) Skirting repair,2 doors, 2 windows, ceiling, floor, roof
14) Move, set and up and skirting of FEMA purchased home
15) Baseboard and vinyl flooring, plumbing
16) Moving and placing FEMA purchased home
17) Roof repair, ceiling repair
18) Roof, windows, flooring underlay, paneling
19) Floor tile, 2 windows, ceiling
20) Roof, flooring underlay, ceiling
21) Electrical repairs
22) Roof, windows, bathroom, ceiling, flooring and walls
23) Roof, windows, flooring underlay
b. Have funding but need volunteers for:
1) Drywall repairs in 2 bedrooms and a bathroom
2) Finishing touches on two roofs started by other volunteers
3) Drywall, door skirting
4) Roof repair
5) Shingle roof, front door, skirting, level mobile home
6) Reroof, windows, drywall, entire kitchen, flooring, AC unit
7) Drywall
8) Roof and doors
9) Drywall repairs
10) Doors, drywall, windows, skirting, roof repair
11) Drywall repairs, cabinets replaced
12) Demolish and remove mobile home
13) Skirting, demolition f damaged mobile home
14) 2 windows
15) Minor roof repair
16) Ceiling repair
17) Fix leak
18) Roof repairs, drywall, skirting
19) Minor drywall repair
20) Replace doors and skirting
21) Inside electrical repairs, skirting, drywall, roof repair
22) Plumbing
23) Paint, replace doors
24) Insulation under mobile homes, skirting, drywall
In addition, funding for administrative costs, such as phone bills, internet service, mileage, office supplies, accounting, insurance, and fax is needed. Our administrative costs are very low, as we pay no rent or only $75.00 in utilities thanks to the United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades and Child Care of Southwest Florida. Calvary Presbyterian Church helps off set these costs by sending us $75.00 or more a month to offset the cost of our cellular phones.
It would be also wonderful if one day we maid enough to provide health insurance to our employees. We need to stay intact after all Disaster victims are helped with a skeleton crew (2) to continue to provide Hurricane Awareness and Prevention as well as to provide assistance to small scale disasters such as flooding and house fires. Furthermore, we want to be ready to respond should another major disaster affect our area.
er recruiters, volunteer coordinators, public relations specialists, translators, tour guides, social service referral agents (of course this is integral part of the case management), making reports to the director so that she can in turn make reports to our funders, using their own personal trucks and SUVs to pick up and deliver supplies, finding places in the community for us to store our supplies, ensuring vendors get paid, and construction coordinators (even though they have limited knowledge of construction) assisting as best they can the damages done to a home and helping the volunteers get what they need to complete the work. In order to do this they are often working after hours and weekends to meet with clients who work, and to assist volunteers who don't want to just work an 8 hour day, and often arrive late at night and on the weekends. 
er recruiters, volunteer coordinators, public relations specialists, translators, tour guides, social service referral agents (of course this is integral part of the case management), making reports to the director so that she can in turn make reports to our funders, using their own personal trucks and SUVs to pick up and deliver supplies, finding places in the community for us to store our supplies, ensuring vendors get paid, and construction coordinators (even though they have limited knowledge of construction) assisting as best they can the damages done to a home and helping the volunteers get what they need to complete the work. In order to do this they are often working after hours and weekends to meet with clients who work, and to assist volunteers who don't want to just work an 8 hour day, and often arrive late at night and on the weekends. 
