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A diocesan Catholic Charities program that started last December is still coming to the aid of Herkimer and Montgomery County residents affected by June 2013 flooding.

Catholic Charities' Disaster Response and Recovery Office (DRRO) - created with a $500,000 grant from Catholic Charities USA - has assisted about 155 clients and manages 119 open cases.

A recent $2,500 grant from Dominion, a national power company, will likely be used to replace windows in a client's home, program leaders said.

The client, June Putnam, said the agency's involvement has been essential in getting her life back to normal after the floods damaged the basement, garage, sun porch and barn at her 35-year-old modular home on Route 80 in Fort Plain. Her car was also flooded.

Raging water
The flood waters "came raging down through the valley," Ms. Putnam recalled. "I called 911. They told me to stay inside and they sent boats for those of us who couldn't get out. It was the worst I've ever seen there."

People's belongings - tires, sides of sheds, parts of porches, water tanks and more - washed up onto her property "from everywhere," she said. Her own ruined possessions filled a 50-foot-wide, six-foot-high portion of her driveway.

"It took everything," she said. "It was a major, major loss."

Ms. Putnam, a senior citizen on a fixed income, received $5,000 from FEMA flood insurance and about $6,000 from the state to begin replacing and repairing. But her damage was so "astronomical" that she's grateful Catholic Charities case managers came into the picture to help fill the gaps.

Catholic Charities helped her buy a clothes dryer and a rug shampooer, since volunteer workers had saturated her rug with mud as they came in and out of her home. The agency also helped her apply for winterization help.

"Most everything is put back together, and I have replaced the things I thought I couldn't get along without," she said, adding that new windows would be a "wonderful godsend."

Strangers who care
But she's most thankful for the moral support her DRRO case manager, Brandon Ronca, has given her: "He is the kindest, gentlest, most decent young man. He hasn't forgotten I'm here and he continues to call me.

"It means an awful lot to me, because in this world, how many people care? The rest of the people sent money and forgot that I lived. I've lived 80 years, and this is the first time total strangers have really acted like they cared."

Catholic Charities' DRRO has one case manager for Herkimer County and one for Montgomery County; the director and another employee also manage cases. The agency has advocated on behalf of clients for financial assistance from a local recovery group, other community organizations and the State of New York.

The agency has raised and spent close to $150,000, "and there's still much, much more needed," said director Wilhelmina Murray-Davis. She's seeking donations of money, building materials and work by skilled volunteers.

Work ahead
Many clients still face land erosion and home foundation issues. Catholic Charities has helped with infrastructure work, driveway and porch repairs, mold and stream mitigation, and basement work; the agency has purchased items for clients ranging from humidifiers to water heaters, furnaces, other appliances and furniture.

DRRO case managers are working with a construction coordinator and a congresswoman to secure funds for one client whose trailer needs to be moved because the ground beneath it is unstable.

Another client "lost everything," Mrs. Murray-Davis said. "She was able to find an apartment, and we furnished it."

Fourteen of their clients will take a state buyout, which municipalities have resisted because the properties will become green spaces. Catholic Charities did "behind-the-scenes advocating just to get them on board" with phone calls from area residents and community meetings, Mrs. Murray-Davis said.

Managers' ministry
Case managers view their role as a ministry.

"You understand right at the point [of intake] that this is more than a case," Mrs. Murray-Davis said. "This is a person with feelings who has suffered. Their faith has been tested. This is not just a job. Your heart really has to be in it.

"People really don't want to talk about disasters," she continued. "It's kind of like talking about death. Most of them are suffering from PTSD, and [they] get so overwhelmed. [At a time like that,] you're trying to keep yourself together, your family together. You need people to come in to sit with you, hold your hand and walk you through it."

She wants to raise awareness about the lingering effects of surviving a natural disaster and encourage prayer for the survivors.

"These survivors suffer every time there's a storm," she said. "They really need to feel like they're not alone."[[In-content Ad]]

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