United Way Disperses Over $170K In Support Of Flood Relief Efforts

June 12, 2014

United Way of Escambia County has disbursed $177,596 to local non-profit partners in support of local efforts to help Northwest Florida recover from the devastating floods that impacted our community April 29 and 30.

The funds were raised online at www.helpNWFLrecover.org, at recent telethon/radio-thons at Cordova and Santa Rosa malls, and from local contributors to flood relief.

A total of $46,876 was donated to the disaster fund through May 20, and was distributed to local United Ways based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) assessment of loss and impact.  Any donor restrictions were disbursed to the United Ways based on donor instruction.  Using these considerations, local United Ways received monies from the fund as follows: United Way of Escambia received $35,324, United Way of Okaloosa/Walton received $6,430, and United Way of Santa Rosa received $5,122.

United Way of Escambia County’s board of directors supplemented funds by adding $150,000 of their reserve funds.  The intent of all funding is to assist local survivors and non-profit organizations who need help recovering from damage sustained.  United Way of Escambia County reported that funds received locally have been awarded through an allocation process by which non-profit agencies submitted an application that was reviewed by community investment volunteers.

Recommendations from these volunteer panelists were then reviewed and voted on by United Way’s board of directors.  The end result is that $177,596 has been disbursed to meet local needs as follows:

American Red Cross received $16,786 to assist survivors through case management of those adopted from the callers who reached out to United Way 2-1-1 and were determined to have unmet needs after application to FEMA.

AmeriCorps St. Louis received $4,600 to support an extension of their four-member team for a two-week period so they could help coordinate the assistance of field teams assisting survivors in need of mucking and gutting, food, housing, clothing, furniture and other assistance.

ARC Gateway Chapman Group Home received $17,250 to help return their Chapman Group Home to active status so they could continue to provide assistance to special needs residents served at the home.

Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE) received $20,714 for materials that they can share with field teams who they recruit to help homeowners with recovery from damage.  This will be essential to homeowners who will otherwise go without the support of a paid contractor.

Catholic Charities received $23,750, United Ministries received $15,500, and The Salvation Army received $14,286 to assist with case management of survivors that have called in to 2-1-1 asking for help.

Early Learning Coalition (ELC) received $4,400 to help eight partner childcare centers recover from flood damage. The centers were vetted through an application they made to ELC to determine what would be necessary to return them to capacity for school readiness. This funding will help enable them to continue serving the low-income families supported through the subsidized childcare program.

Learn to Read of Northwest Florida received $1,500 to replace office furniture lost in the flooding.  While the owner of the building is replacing sheetrock, carpeting and other building materials that had to be extracted from the building, Learn to Read did not have the funding to replace the furniture or supplies they lost.

Legal Service of North Florida, Inc. received $5,200 to assist with an AmeriCorps case manager who could help them double their response to survivors who needed legal assistance.

Manna Food Bank, Inc. received two grants totaling $46,150 to help them return to service.  Initial funding was allocated to purchase steel tables for food sorting and subsequent funding has been awarded to help re-establish critical infrastructure needed to facilitate client interviews, volunteers and staff.  Additionally, it is hoped some funding will help mitigate heat in the surviving warehouse where volunteers and staff will be working throughout the year.

St. Vincent de Paul/Alfred Washburn Center received $7,460 to assist in the recovery of the supplies and strengthen capacity to return to full service after severe flooding of the grounds and building damaged appliances, food stores, tarps, tents and sleeping bags.  The center supports the area homeless.

“The Arc Gateway is grateful for the help in restoring one of our group homes that was flooded. The money will go a long way towards restoring the lives of the women who lived there,” says Charles Brewer, Executive Director of The Arc Gateway.

While United Way of Escambia County has been grateful that long-time donors have helped the organization support so many partners in this time of need, there are many unmet needs remaining.  If you would like to join the recovery effort, United Way is continuing to receive donations through the secure site: www.helpNWFLrecover.org.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News