As a matter of course, when I present VIND activities to our Board of Directors or to a similar group, I like to share “feel good stories.” It is the exact paycheck people need when doing this type of work! Therefore, as grantors, I would like to share a little about the cases on which we worked during this quarter, all of these examples from 2004 Hurricane cases from this quarter.
Case #1: A local homeowner received a letter warning of a potential citation of up to $250/day from code enforcement. Her sister went to the city office to advocate on her behalf and was handed a card from a code enforcement officer about VIND. (I had spoken at the Volusia-Flagler Board of Code Enforcement just days before). After case management, the home was repaired well in advance of levied fines. While the smiles and tears of gratitude from happy clients is the best of paychecks, this one included a bonus….another client….
Case #2: .…who came to us directly from the code enforcement officer asking for assistance prior to sending out a letter of warning. He was pleased with the work done and was open to establishing a relationship with VIND. This client was a bit fussy, not really wanting to deal with the paperwork of case management and hardly believing that help came without a price tag! His roof and damaged ceilings were also repaired in a timely manner at no cost to him. However, he believed in payback! With a pawn-shop owner friend, he purchased nearly $1200 worth of used tools at an extreme discount and donated them to VIND.
And our friend in code enforcement? We have two more potential clients in case management at his recommendation!
Case #3: After months of working on getting replacements for storm damaged manufactured homes, one client was not eligible for any program. A very sweet lady, whom case managers loved, was a lung cancer survivor. The mold intrusion because of a roof leak was worrisome for her. A contractor from a local church who had lead several church mission teams to Mississippi after Katrina, offered to lead a local mission as a “reunion” of the Katrina teams. “How nice to do mission work without having to spend a fortune on gas!” The team was wonderful and in one day, one very long day, the construction was complete. The client graced the volunteers with bountiful tears of gratitude. The next day when VIND’s Rebuild Coordinator stopped to finish any post-construction cleaning that might need to be done, the floors had already been scrubbed to a sheen. She asked if she could keep the leftover mold-prevention paint used on the ceiling. In a week’s time, she had painted the entire mobile home’s ceilings and walls. She had moved from victim to survivor with the help of volunteers, and from survivor to thriver by her own exuberant joy!
Mary-Ann Luther, Program Coordinator
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