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Director's Report Nov 2007 |
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Written by Charles Busby
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Nov 10, 2007 at 02:43 PM |
NDRI Director's Report November 2007
Dale Kimball, Director
It is our pleasure to furnish you with our quarterly report regarding the progress of Northshore Disaster Recovery, Inc. (NDRI) / Slidell Storm Center whose purpose is to respond to those who were uninsured or underinsured and whose unmet needs will not be covered by other relief systems private or public. We provide spiritual, emotional and physical resources to those affected by Hurricane Katrina, including the rebuilding of hurricane damaged homes in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes of Louisiana. Our primary focus at this time is those whom are living in FEMA trailers, elderly citizens and those determined to be most at risk as we approach Hurricane season once again.
NDRI was established in Oct 2005 as the Long Term Recovery Organization for St. Tammany. We are located on the campus of Aldersgate UMC at 360 Robert Blvd. During the months of Oct 05 thru Dec 05 the center was involved in relief efforts ranging from food, water and clothing distribution to tree cutting and house gutting. In January 2006 the center and its staff switched gears to begin the long term recovery process by entering into the reconstruction phase. In May of 2006 we opened a satellite center in Bogalusa, Louisiana to support the recovery efforts in Washington Parish. To date NDRI has rebuilt 436 severely damaged homes; repaired 826 moderately damaged homes, and completed 6,345 other Unmet Needs cases ranging from medical assistance to transportation. These numbers do not include the hundreds of homes that were gutted and cleaned out in the months immediately after Hurricane Katrina. To date we have served 7,578 clients and NDRI has put over 23,450 volunteers to work since September 2005, we have logged 938,000 man hours of volunteer labor, the equivalent of $ 16.9 million in free labor. NDRI has hosted volunteers from 47 states and 14 foreign countries. Ohio, Illinois and Indiana have been our top 3 states sending volunteers.
Funding for NDRI projects comes from private and faith based donations and grants. Among our grantor agencies are Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way, AmeriCares, CRWRC and the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps. NDRI averages $1000.00 per client assistance. Of the 436 plus homes NDRI has rebuilt we averaged $18,000 in materials
and 2500 man hours of volunteer labor. NDRI currently has 72 home rebuilds in work and 41 projects pending for funding. Volunteer labor will not be an issue for the next year; we already have more than 250 volunteers a week scheduled thru Sept 2008. We are constantly investigating new funding resources to continue our work.
NDRI now consists of 81 organizations working in partnership and collaboration to serve the people of St Tammany, Washington and Orleans Parishes. The partnerships include 42 Faith Based organizations from a wide range of denominations, 27 Civic Organizations ranging from Rotary Clubs to College Fraternities. The balance of the organizations is Government Liaison Representatives. The support provided to NDRI by each partner varies from financial resources, to volunteers and housing, to construction materials and warehousing. Our success is attributed to the fact that no one organization has to do it all, each just has to do his part as best he can.
Our staff at NDRI, which is paid for by a grant from The United Methodist Conference of Louisiana, via the United Methodist Committee on Relief, now consists of a director, who doubles as the grant writer, an administrative assistant, who manages volunteers and housing, an administrative assistant, who manages finances, four case managers who continue their outstanding work with victims of this disaster, three construction supervisors, who manage the home repairs and materials and a crew of local volunteers to answer phones during peak times. The grant from The United Methodist Conference for salaries ensures that all grant money and private donations made to NDRI go directly to supporting the unmet needs of the community.
NDRI continues to assisting in funding and providing case management for the rebuilding projects of UMCOR, Faith Bible Church, Sovereign Grace Fellowship, Compassion Ministries, Disciples Disaster Response, Presbyterian Disaster Recovery, and Church of the Brethren, Christian Public Services, Lutheran Disaster Relief and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. In addition we are providing case management, construction site identification and resource management for Mennonite Disaster Service and Lutheran Disaster Response who provide their own construction crews and construction supervisors.
We continue to seek options for permanent warehousing and long term volunteer housing support. We have secured 80% of the funding and the land to build a 5000 sqft volunteer housing and office facility in Slidell. We will break ground on this project in November of 2007, with completion in February of 2008. This facility will be utilized to continue recovery operations in St. Tammany, St Bernard, Washington, Orleans and Jefferson Parishes over the next 5 years. We are still seeking warehouse space in either St Tammany or Orleans Parishes.
Due to the lack of public transportation in St. Tammany Parish one of the greatest UnMet Needs that was identified is the transportation of clients, who lost their automobiles to flood water and require transportation to doctor’s appointments, grocery stores and other service related destinations. Thanks to a grant from UMCOR we have been able to purchase a small bus and will be able to provide the transportation needs to clients on a registration basis. We are currently in the process of refining this service.
The Long Term Recovery Committee continues to meet monthly and is growing in support from both local and national group participation. NDRI has enjoyed the support of local and state governments from its beginning. We currently have representation from 81 organizations partnering in our Long Term Recovery efforts. We are proud that our organization has active participation from over 42 Faith Based organizations from all denominations; all unified and centrally focused on the recovery efforts in St. Tammany, Washington and Orleans Parishes. Our latest, partnership is with “The Rotary Club of Little Rock Arkansas. They received a grant and would like to partnership we NDRI to fund the rebuilding of 20 homes in the hard hit Lacombe area. NDRI would provide the labor and management of the projects.
Due to the extreme backlog of cases in the Greater New Orleans area, NDRI in conjunction with UMCOR will be opening Master Recovery Center in East New Orleans with satellite centers in St Bernard, The Lower Ninth and Up Town area of Greater New Orleans. These centers will provide case management, project oversight, site supervision, materials, equipment and volunteer labor to clients in the Greater New Orleans area. NDRI will also be making all of their current resources available to the existing LTRC operating in the area. Since announcing this expansion project NDRI has received over 750 cases for rebuild from various organizations operating in the area.
NDRI in cooperation with Save the Children and VOA, operates 2 community centers, one located at each of the FEMA trailer parks in St. Tammany Parish. These centers are designed to service the needs of the more than 900 residents of the 2 parks.
We provide recreational and educational services on a weekly basis such as movie night, bingo night, weekly tutoring for school children, counseling, weekend events, field trips and much more. NDRI has been successful in keeping the local community involved in this process by encouraging local church organizations, civic groups and high schools to plan and execute the various events.
As you can see, many great works are taking place. Thanks to the dedicated staff, the countless volunteers and the many organizations that have the faith to fund our efforts, we will help many families who otherwise would not have the means to rebuild their lives and get back in their homes.
Should you have any additional questions or comments regarding our activities, or need additional financial information, please feel free to contact me at 985-781-7990.
Thank you for your support and God Bless.
Dale Kimball
Executive Director,
Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc. |
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Last Updated ( Feb 07, 2008 at 10:06 AM )
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