Fund sees state through storms

[Guest guest]

Fund sees state through storms

Private gifts ease burdens on residents

By Kleindienst

Tallahassee Bureau Chief

Posted August 15 2005

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-

pfund15aug15,0,2211278.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

TALLAHASSEE · A new bed for an 82-year-old woman who was found

sleeping on a moldy couch. Food vouchers for seasonal farmworkers

left jobless. Security deposits for families evicted from condemned

apartments.

After Florida was gut-punched last summer by an unprecedented four

hurricanes in six weeks, more than 14,000 Florida households

desperate to find food and housing -- or just beds to sleep on --

were helped by $20 million in private donations that flooded into

the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.

Many didn't have transportation to federal food distribution sites.

Some couldn't pay their insurance deductibles. Others depleted

savings to buy hurricane supplies.

" These were families that were hurting and needed to be taken care

of, " said Sheri of Palm Beach County United Way. " The

immediate need was to get food back on their table and save them

from having their utilities turned off. Were it not for those funds,

we wouldn't be able to rebuild. "

One of those who needed help was Norma Dembinski 80, of Lake Worth,

who takes care of three grandchildren, ages 15, 12 and 9.

After Hurricane Frances, she returned from a shelter to find her

house still standing and the roof intact. But within weeks she

started to smell mold.

While her insurance company helped pay for roof repairs, she had to

tap into the only savings she had, an escrow account to pay her

homeowner insurance and property taxes, to cover the deductible.

" I was down to nothing. I had nothing in savings. I live on Social

Security and I take care of my grandchildren. I was getting

worried, " Dembinski said.

But she received nearly $2,500 from the $250,000 that the Palm Beach

County Area Agency on Aging distributed in Hurricane Relief Fund

money, enough to replenish her escrow account.

Gov. Jeb Bush set up the fund after Hurricane Charley slammed into

the state's Gulf Coast one year ago this weekend. The original goal

was to raise $5 million, but as the onslaught of hurricanes

continued, that grew by $5 million each time another storm hit.

More than 6,000 donors responded to the plea for help.

" We had donors from every state in the union and even got $50,000

from the Taiwanese government, " said Steve Uhlfelder, a Tallahassee

lawyer and lobbyist who is the fund's volunteer chief executive

officer. " The Weather Channel kept putting up our toll-free number

and Web site and every time they did it seemed we got another

$25,000. "

Children pooled their allowances and donated. Corporate gifts

flowed. Million-dollar checks came from the Huizenga Family

Foundation and the Miami Dolphins, Home Depot, Royal Caribbean

Cruises, Bank of America, Darden Restaurants and the Starr

Foundation. Jimmy Buffett staged a benefit concert in Orlando.

Proceeds from a tour of Lennon's art went into the fund.

The money was used to provide immediate assistance to families or

organizations that could not get federal help, did not have adequate

insurance or didn't have the cash to pay for deductibles.

Polk County was hit by a triple whammy when the eyes of three

hurricanes -- Charley, Frances and Jeanne -- passed through Bartow.

Much of the donated money has been spent on repairing roofs and

water damage, replacing drywall and battling mold in lower- and

middle-income homes.

" People thought they had their homes fully insured. They had been

paying premiums for years to find out the insurance wasn't enough to

cover what they needed, " said Cedric , chairman of Rebuild Polk

After Disaster. " We're looking to help those who have nowhere else

to turn to. "

Distribution of the $20 million statewide has been decided by long-

term recovery committees set up in the affected counties.

Caseworkers review every appeal for help. Administrative costs have

been kept to less than 3 percent and an outside auditor has been

monitoring the books.

" There is strong accountability, a focused approach to spending the

money and I believe it has been appreciated by the communities hit

hard by last summer's storms, " Bush said of the fund.

Among those helped was an 82-year-old West Palm Beach woman whose

home was heavily damaged during Hurricane Jeanne. She lost her

bedroom furniture, the windows were knocked out, the wooden floors

were warped and the refrigerator short-circuited. She was found

sleeping on a sofa filled with mold while water dripped on her from

a leaking roof.

The Hurricane Fund helped with a new bed and refrigerator. The city

meanwhile is helping to rebuild the home.

" There are so many people we helped who were living in horrible

conditions, " said Gottsagen of the Coalition for Independent

Living Options, which helps people living with disabilities in Palm

Beach, and St. Lucie counties, all hit hard by hurricanes

Frances and Jeanne. " Some of them, if they bought hurricane

supplies, they didn't have enough money for rent or utilities. "

The Farmworker Coordinating Council provided food vouchers to about

1,000 families, mostly migrant and seasonal farmworkers living in

the Belle Glade area. Because many crops were damaged by the 2004

hurricanes, they couldn't find work.

" Most of them earn $3,000 to $10,000 a year. Normally we don't know

how they make it, but this last year was devastating. The season was

shortened, meaning less money, " said Carolina Luna Pinto, executive

director of the farmworker group, which is still trying to find

permanent homes for some storm victims.

A family from Argentina came seeking help after buying boards to

protect the windows of their home. Although not a farm-working

family, they were able to get help from the fund to pay their rent.

In thanks, the parents donated to the migrant center clothing that

their four daughters had outgrown.

" They had never been in this situation before and they never forgot

the help they received, " Pinto said. " The father came in and filled

our lobby with girls' clothing and they continue to want to help

other people. "

Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@... or

850-224-6214.