Hurricane Ian: SWFL organization in search of a new home 6 months after Ian
Lee Association for Remarkable Citizens, an organization that serves individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families living in Lee and northern Collier County, lost one of their group homes to Hurricane Ian.
It was located in North Fort Myers on the river, and it would be difficult to rebuild at that site.
“For our residential programs we had two homes, each licensed for six residents,” said Angela Katz, executive director of LARC. “Those individuals live in our care full time. Some have family that they interact with, some don’t. We care for them for as long as they need us to. The home was built in the 1940s and it was gifted to us in the 90’s.”
LARC serves more than 300 individuals annually, and participants range from 14 to 80. LARC offers vocational training, youth programs and employment services, and other community inclusion services. Its main campus is in Fort Myers at 2570 Hanson Street.
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Katz said right before the hurricane, they lost a resident to cancer.
“We had five residents at the time,” said Katz. “We evacuated like everyone else. I thought maybe the house would make it. It was impacted by about five and a half feet of storm surge and is a complete loss. When our residents evacuated, they had their overnight bag and that was all they had. It was hard to explain to them that not only did their home go away but all of their favorite treasures went away as well.”
Katz said the organization is in desperate need of help. The emergency order after Ian expires on March 30, and they have gotten a 60-day extension for the displaced residents to stay at the other home.
“We are going to rebuild a home, it won't be on that property,” said Katz. “We’d have to bring the property up to FEMA flood standards, which would mean building the home 13 feet higher than it is right now. And that doesn't work for our population. So we are building a new home in Cape Coral. But we’re a year away from that.”
Katz said finding a replacement home has been a bit challenging.
“We’ve been trying to find a transitional home that we could rent in the interim,” she said. “Property Management companies won't rent to us because they say we are a high liability. They say that the way we care for our residents is considered subletting. We don’t see it that way. I've offered to take out extra liability policies. Still no luck.”
The organization is able to use the remaining house as a temporary fix.
“The other group home that we have is in Cape Coral and it’s licensed for six also,” said Katz. “A permanent situation is if a realty company or a private property owner would rent out their home in Lehigh Acres for a year.”
To donate call Angela Katz 239-334-6285 ext. 210 or visit https://larcleecounty.org/
Erica Van Buren is the underserved communities reporter for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on Twitter: @EricaVanBuren32
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: southwest-florida-larc-in-search-of-new-after-hurricane-ian
