House 50 Hurricane Survivors in the FL Panhandle

The period July 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020, the Community Resource Center (CRC) was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, however, staff still worked at the CRC and fielded 1,234 calls for assistance. On October 1, 2020, we re-opened the CRC to the public by appointment as well as walk-ins. In accordance with CDC protocols, we scan visitors and staff for temperature, we conduct a symptom and travel questionnaire and provide masks for those who do not have their own. In addition, we employed volunteers who assembled food bags, made deliveries to shut-in’s, elderly and high-risk residents, and conducted sanitization of the work space for our employees. Included in the food bags were masks, testing site locations and symptoms/treatment information for COVID-19. With the incredible job loss, hours reduction and schools closing over this period, food service was the highest requested item for assistance. Volunteer hours totaled 1,264 hours for the period at a value of $18,963.00.

Rebuild Activities: With the loss of nearly all nonprofit builders, Rebuild Bay has spent the past few months coordinating the Unmet Needs Funding Table for those still struggling with Hurricane Michael devastation. The Funding table meets once per week to assist survivors with purchase of FEMA trailers, new home purchases, repair financing, lot fees, rental deposits, moving fees, storage fees, insurance for newly purchased home or trailer and other unmet needs. Beginning with the winter break, true rebuild activities will resume and volunteers have already committed to return to the area. The Unmet Needs Committee has funded 130 cases for a total of over $350,000 of which Doorways plays an important role.

Use of Funding: Doorways was able to provide deposit and/or first month’s rent for 4 Hurricane Michael impacted households; we provided 1 household with utility assistance; paid salary for 3 volunteers for a two week period when the Hurricane Michael displaced worker’s grant was temporarily suspended due to funding issues; paid insurance for 2 households who needed home owners/flood insurance; provided 5 households with lot fees for newly purchased trailers. We also purchased food and hygiene products for distribution to Hurricane Michael households and finally, in conjunction with Rebuild Bay County, we assisted in the purchase of household items for 20 families who moved back into their repaired homes in the form of a “Welcome Home Basket”.

Disaster Case Management: The DCMP program has been extended by FEMA until November 24, 2020. Unfortunately, we have three simultaneous states of Emergency at this time. Due to the fact that we anticipate the vast need and would like to facilitate a smooth transition, Doorways will absorb the cost of one disaster case manager beginning Monday, October 19, 2020 so that we can continue to work with struggling families who were not only impacted by Michael, but also Hurricane Sally and COVID-19. In addition, at the completion of the DCMP program Doorways will receive 160 cases that were not closed during the program period.

Doorways Update April 2020

We are not unlike other communities around the globe, where this past quarter brought many changes to our lives, our service delivery, and the global community.  Effective March 19, 2020 our area is under two declared states of Emergency – one from Hurricane Michael, which continues from 2018 and a second related to COVID-19.  According to our Emergency Operations Chief, this is unprecedented.    

Rebuild work:  Although we predicted embarking on the busiest time for rebuild work, we had nearly all of our non-profit builders and volunteers return home due to the COVID-19 Pandemic leaving just two local organizations.  This has obviously reduced our ability to make much progress on rebuilds/repairs.  To date we have 92 completed rebuilds.  One of our larger non-profit partners, Catholic Charities is just now starting to work on completing roofing work.  We are hopeful that work can resume soon.    

Use of funding:With Island Spirit Funding we were able to serve 14 Hurricane Survivors in the following manner: 6 clients were provided temporary shelter who needed stabilization or were awaiting housing; 2 clients were relocated to family outside of our area; 3 homeless clients were housed; 2 clients received rent assistance and 1 client received past due utility assistance.

Disaster Case Management: The Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) is currently working remotely and unable to visit with survivors due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  There are still over 300 households in FEMA trailers and/or FEMA direct Housing not to mention the households that are literally homeless.  Doorways works hand in hand with the DCMP providers in the Northwest Florida region by providing resources, housing solutions and financial assistance to many of their clients.

Community Recovery/Resource Center (CRC): Finally, the chart below illustrates the types of services that Doorways and the other organizations present at the CRC are providing daily.  In this report, we are reflecting data through March 12, which was the last day that we were open to the public.  We decided to close due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the protection of our staff and community.  We continue to serve clients through electronic means, phone calls and document drop off locations.  Effective June 15, 2020 the CRC will re-open by appointment only.    

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