Tornado Recovery Update as of October 24, 2019
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. Paul-2 Corinthians 1:3-5
And lo, I am with you until the end of the age. Jesus- Matthew 28:19
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you. God-Isaiah 43:2
When we suffer, God is present. He hurts with us. Our Lord and Savior knows the pain of abandonment and feeling utterly alone. Jesus’ promise was the Comforter being sent. We are never alone even if we feel overwhelmed by the deep pit in our stomach called loneliness. When a heaviness hits so strong it can keep us in our bed and cause tears to form when we are not sure why. A word or event that makes us feels unwanted, unappreciated, and unloved. Still, we are not alone.
I have loved and appreciated after nearly eight months the outpouring of love and grace from so many people. It makes the presence of our Comforter real.
Here is where we are in the Lee County Tornado:
Case Managers: Three full time and six volunteer case managers are out in the community each day working diligently to help survivors recover. Through a compassionate conversation that involves a survivor telling the disaster story, explaining resources received and needs unmet, case managers help survivors develop their individual recovery plan. With tenderness and care, they guide them through their individual recovery process. To date, the case managers have served 69 families. There are still more to serve and we are working through a list of over 200 more survivors.
Construction and Repair: Through the networks of the long-term recovery group MEND and several partners like Fuller Center for Housing, Way to Serve Ministries, Community Foundation of East Alabama, East Alabama Medical Center, United Way, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Catholic Charities, the Church of Christ, Samaritan’s Purse and more, these resources have become available. Thirteen households received replacement mobile homes at no cost. They were also fully furnished. Fuller Center has built eighteen homes also fully furnished. Fourteen more families are having homes repaired. Fortunately, many families had insurance and utilizing those resources. We have two construction coordinators actively developing estimates for potential new cases while planning, coordinating and overseeing the work of volunteer groups.
Our team has also conducted a set of Disaster Housing Expo’s to help the next group of survivors who did not participate in the first build to get set for future rebuilds.
Volunteer Management: One volunteer manager coordinates our volunteer hosting component. Keeping information about registration current, setting up the logistics of housing and the documentation needed, he is the glue to a large process. So far, we have hosted 50 separate groups logging over 8,000 volunteer hours.
In summary:
Total of 292 potential survivors left to complete:
Cases to date: 69 (include closed and active)
Number of homes rebuilt: 18
Number of replacement mobile homes: 13
Number of homes with repairs: 16
Volunteer Groups: 50 separate teams with over 8,000 hours
Thank you again to all those who have served! We would love to host a group with you!
Lisa Pierce
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