Florida Catholic | Fay flooding keeps many away from home

Fay flooding keeps many away from home

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 09.12.08

Karen Calderon, 15, a student at Estero High School, receives a pair of earrings from Deneen Crandall, left, at St. Leo the Great Parish Aug. 28. Karen lost everything to flooding from Tropical Storm Fay, and her family was forced to flee their home when floodwaters rose. “I took a backpack of clothes and that’s it. My whole life is back there.”

HOW TO HELP

To help the victims of Fay, send a check or gift card to:

• Hispanic Services of Catholic Charities, 27050 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135, or call 239-390-0687;

• St. Leo the Great Parish, 28290 Beaumont Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34134, or call 239-992-0901.

BONITA SPRINGS | Karen Calderon left the education center at St. Leo the Great Parish recently with a huge smile on her face a wardrobe that would rival any model.

An hour or so earlier, the 15-year-old Estero High School student was in tears, feeling the strain of being homeless as floodwaters leftover from Tropical Storm Fay continued to keep her home surrounded by water.

“When I left, I thought we would be back in a few days,” Karen said. “I took a backpack of clothes and that’s it. My whole life is back there.”

Her family was forced to evacuate Aug. 23 when floodwaters began rising in her community, Manna Christian, a migrant work camp that houses nearly 700 people east of Interstate 75.

“It has been so hard,” Karen said. “I don’t know where we would be without the help we have received. It is the unknown of whether or not we will be able to go back home that makes it so hard.”

At St. Leo the parishioners, Christian Brothers and Catholic Charities of Diocese of Venice Inc. set up an impromptu clothes distribution center in the education building classrooms. Volunteers helped Karen and many others get clothes that had been donated and piled high in the classrooms. Members of Los Hermanos: Edmund Rice Christian Brothers ferried families from the Red Cross shelter is Estero to the parish several times a day as needed so everyone could get some new clothes.

St. Leo administrator Father Stan Strycharz also took requests for assistance from 70 affected families that use the parish facilities for Christian Brothers-sponsored after-school and summer programs.

“I really felt I needed to make life easier on these families,” Father Strycharz said. “They really don’t have anything, just what they could carry. There are so many that need help so we started helping the people we know first.”

Parishioners from St. Leo and other parishes flocked in to volunteer or donate clothes or other supplies. Clothes were piled high on tables or on hangers around the wall.

“It has been overwhelming,” said MJ Bojacz, parish volunteer coordinator and president of the Council for Catholic Women. “This is going to go on for a while.”

Father Strycharz and Martha Vivas, director of Hispanic Services of Catholic Charities in Bonita Springs, have been trying to identify families that can be helped as the problem of finding permanent housing becomes the focus.

“We are meeting with families to find out what their situation is and how we can help,” Vivas said. “We can offer assistance on housing and utilities but they are not allowed back and may not be.”

Two migrant camps were flooded out, with Manna Christian the worst off as government officials condemned more than half of the homes even before the floodwaters started to recede.

“We could relocate them but most can’t afford to live anywhere else,” Vivas said. “Where else can an immigrant family live at a cost less than $400 a month. They pay to own their trailers. This is their home.”

She added that it wouldn’t be enough even if Catholic Charities and other agencies could help the people find another place to live and support them financially for a few months.

“They would be in the same situation because we can’t support them forever and they would still not be making enough to live somewhere where it is expensive. There has to be a way to help them and keep the community intact.”

As government officials decide on the fate of the two parks, everyone living in the shelter or with friends and family waits.

Karen Calderon is staying at her aunt’s home with her parents and two brothers, but she said they don’t know where they could go if they aren’t allowed to return home.

“We might end up on the street,” she said. “I don’t like to think about it, but it is what everyone is talking about.”

Because of the housing situation for the people who have been displaced, Father Strycharz and Vivas agree that the need for money is paramount.

“The money will be used to help people with house payments or utilities in the short term,” Vivas said.

Another alternative to donating clothes is getting people gift cards.

“It is impossible to say what people need day to day, so the gift cards are a big help,” Vivas said.

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