Case managers help give hope by getting donated furniture to clients whose furniture was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma as they prepare for Memorial Weekend when Volunteers from Lakeland will come in to help rebuild homes.
Beginning Saturday as many plan on relaxing and enjoying the holiday weekend, others will be repairing doors, roofs, hanging drywall, replacing ceiling and paneling to help the residents of Hendry and Glades counties continue in their recovery efforts.
Staff are busy planning for more volunteer groups coming this summer from Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. They also hope to challenge local businesses and individuals to help pitch in as well with donations and volunteer time.
C.R.E.W., Inc
863-983-2390
121 Central Avenue, (around back)
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A Methodist Church from Lakeland volunteers their time to help out victims Hurricane Wilma rebuild homes and lives. They sent CREWs to Ortona and Buckhead Ridge in Glades counties as well as a CREW to Clewiston in Hendry County. They installed new doors, repaired roofs, ceilings, walls, floors, installed carpet and flooring, and helped rebuild hope in the lives of the hurricane victims whose either did not have enough resources, insurance or assistance from FEMA and others to repair their homes. We have more CREWs coming from Ohio, Indiana, and Philadelphia in June and July.
As they hammered, painted, and repaired CREWs worked wonders in helping those they were helping regain hope in their own survival as well as in the goodness of mankind overall. We were certainly an answer to their prayers, as one client cooked and prepared donated food for her volunteers. At another’s house the wife of a seriously ill patient worked side by side the volunteers trying to get their home to livable standard so that her husband could move back into the house and sleep in the hospital bed, instead of the easy chair. We installed a new door, providing a fire exist, and helped repair a roof for Spanish speaking woman and her disabled son at yet another home.
Local businesses and individuals donated chairs, hot water heaters, office furniture, beds, home furniture, clothing, personal goods, siding, carpet, paneling, drywall, lumber, other building supplies as well as volunteer skilled and unskilled labor. They have also donated gas and use of trucks to help deliver items to homes that had no way to pick up donated items. CREW staff and board members have donated time, goods and labor outside of work as well. In addition, local business, churches and individuals have helped provide food, showers and a place to sleep for our out of town volunteer CREWs.
We are building relationships with Community Workforce Development, city and county officials, attending and participating in Hendry and Glades counties EOC meetings, working with United Way, Habitat for Humanity, South Florida Empowerment Alliance, UMCOR, PDA, FEMA, USDA, Catholic Charities and various grants and organizations available to continuing the funding of CREW, Inc. and our clients. These relationships will continue to assist us in the mission of rebuilding lives of local residents.
We have reached out to the Hispanic community by doing an hour program on the local Spanish station. In addition we have publicized the work we have done to help one Clewiston Hispanic family in the United Methodist Bulletin. We also have three Spanish speaking case managers who have been instrumental in helping us to reach this community. We are helping build a home for a disabled Hispanic in July who gave 35 years of service to his community. We built a handicapped ramp for a disabled Hispanic teen that could not get out of his home without help.
We have made arrangements to use office space with United Way’s 211 one day a week in Harlem to help reach that community as well. In addition we are planning to help repair homes in the Harlem area by sending volunteer work CREWs in June to this area. We have also helped by making referrals to local agencies to help this community as well.
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