Helping flood survivors one family at a time

Aug. 15—As Celesa Willett talks about all the flood survivors she's spoken with in the past year, her eyes well up with tears.

As director of United Way in Haywood County, Willett has likely heard more heartbreaking tales that most.

"Sometimes I just listen to them cry — get it all out. They've probably told their story 15 times, but they just need to be heard. They didn't know me personally, but they could tell I'm local and just felt comfortable telling me their problems."

If United Way couldn't provide the type of help being requested, Willett helped those calling find other solutions. A lot of people tried to manage on their own and didn't want to ask for help.

"They were hit with so many decisions that it just became overwhelming," she said.

United Way of Haywood County received nearly $1.4 million in contributions to assist local residents with flood recovery needs. Every single cent of the donations will be used for that purpose, she said, stressing that none of the donations will be used for administrative costs for the overall United Way program.

Haywood County designated United Way as the official nonprofit for calls from individuals or organizations wanting to help with flood recovery efforts in the community.

So far, in excess of $1 million has been spent, $436,000 of which was spent in helping restore driveways and culverts to allow flood survivors to return to their property. The next largest expenditure was $281,000 used to cover unmet needs, while $204,000 went to a rapid rehousing program.

Another $120,000 was divided equally between two other nonprofits, one that oversaw grants to the agriculture community and another that doled out grants to help flooded business owners.

There are still families that haven't yet moved back into their homes, and United Way has $300,000 in funds available to help pay for things such as furniture, appliances and other needs, Willett said.

Most of Willett's interactions with the flood survivors has been through phone calls as she is assessing their needs and what her organization can do to help them, but many of those she's helped invite her to stop by and see their rebuilt homes. Her husband, a pastor at a local Baptist Church, often accompanies her.

While much has been done, there is often much more left to do, something the Willetts try to help with if they can.

Finally meeting the people she's helped through a crisis has been thrilling and a very rewarding experience, she said. She's encountered elderly individuals, those with health problems and single parents just trying to make ends meet in the most difficult of circumstances. In some way, she's been able to provide funding or help in some other way by connecting individuals with other service providers.

"Just being a part of this in some small way has been very rewarding," she said.

State help

In addition to the overwhelming generosity of the community and the region that contributed to the United Way effort, Willett praised community and state leaders who were able to secure state funding to help in the recovery effort, as well.

"I'm so thankful the state came through for us with that much money because we needed it," she said of the $44 million set aside by the N.C. General Assembly to help the counties impacted by Tropical Storm Fred.

Still, as so many predicted early on, recovery fro a disaster of this magnitude is a marathon, not a sprint, something Willett can attest to.

Some are still waiting to get back in their homes. Others who decided to just go it alone, swamp out the flooded areas as best they could and move back are now paying a high price.

"I've heard of people being sick because of the mold and having to move out," she said. "There are several in that category."

One year after Tropical Fred stormed through Haywood, Willett said those suffering damages are at different points in the recovery process.

Some are still waiting to hear from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the status of their property buyout. Others are waiting for their home to come up on the rapid rehousing list, while others have had to move out of the area all together because they were renting and their home was no longer livable.

"But a good portion of them have had homes repaired, and they are moving on," Willett said. "Some of them are still in limbo with mitigation, some that were renting have had to count their losses move on to other places. Each family has their own story."

Willett said her wish is to see people get back into their homes in as good or better condition as they were before flooded, something that offers hope.

"This community has been so generous, from $10 checks to thousands and thousands of dollars from foundations, individuals," she said. "It's been amazing to see the amount of outpouring of love for this community."