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Article from Mountain News
Reaching Out for Help - March 20, 2008 “'Pride goeth before a fall,' says the old Hebrew proverb.
A woman we’ll call Eve, who lost her home in the [2003] Old Fire, has a simple piece of advice for survivors of the Grass Valley and Slide Fires: Do not let pride get in your way.
"[more here: http://crestlinecourier-news.com/articles/2008/03/20/news/features/features4.txt ]
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If you are turned down by FEMA because you had insurance, you must fill out and return the application to SBA. Even if SBA denies your application you will still be eligible for other FEMA programs. Volunteers are available to help you complete the application.
FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has assembled a list of ideas to help your family and friends get prepared for an emergency. Emergencies can happen at any moment; this list can serve as a great starting point to ensure that you have an emergency communications plan, a disaster supply kit, and stay informed about emergencies in your area. click on:
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Roadmap to Recovery Video Topics:
http://unitedpolicyholders.org:80/claimtips/tip_R2R_videos.html
FEMA INFORMATION ~ ALE Fund Exhaustion
Insurance/Recovery Tip: After a disaster some people prefer to replace their house with another house that's already built in a different location (and sometimes even in a different county) rather than rebuild on the same spot. While each municipality has their own rules about transferring your base-year value between counties each will allow transfers within the same county. There are also special exemptions for people of at least 55 years of age and also rules about people with disabilities. Please contact your local assessor for more information, but here are some helpful links to get you started.
State of California related rules from the State Board of Equalization:http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/200c.pdf
County of San Bernardino:http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/assessor/Documents/arp110.pdf
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The Mountain News
Reaching Out for Help
March 20, 2008
By Mary-Justine Lanyon
“Pride goeth before a fall,” says the old Hebrew proverb. A woman we’ll call Eve, who lost her home in the Old Fire, has a simple piece of advice for survivors of the Grass Valley and Slide Fires: Do not let pride get in your way.
“There is money out there to help them,” she said. “Don’t make the mistake my husband and I made. We figured other people needed the help more than we did. We were just too proud to ask for ourselves.”
Yes, she said, it’s time consuming and a big pain to have to deal with all the bureaucracy. “But I guarantee there’s money out there available for these people. And it’s tax free. It can help you rebuild your home if you were underinsured.”
That was the problem Eve and her husband faced. While they had enough insurance to cover the basic contents of their home, they didn’t have riders for the special things like her wedding ring or a painting they had purchased. They did not have enough insurance to rebuild their home.
“We were going to rebuild,” she said. “But after all the insurance was said and done, we were short funds to rebuild and meet the new building codes.”
Eventually they sold their lot and bought another house. And that’s what it is to Eve—a house, not a home.
“People who think they can rebuild and go back to their home are crazy. It won’t happen. It may become their new home, but it will never become the home they lost.”
It took her two years, Eve said, to realize she had essentially suffered a death in her family—the death of her home. “Then I could start the healing process. We were in denial of the death.”
She also realized a home is not four walls; it’s where you are together as a family. “No matter where that is,” she said, “that’s where your home is.”
THE FIRST STEP
Any full-time residents who lost their homes in the 2007 should go to Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives to establish a case file, Eve said. Did she do that in 2003? No, and that’s why she’s so adamant about it.
Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives, she said, can refer fire survivors to a number of agencies who can help them. And they have restricted funds—totaling $425,000 right now—that will be distributed to full-time residents who lost their homes and whose insurance will not cover the cost of rebuilding.
“We are trying to find people who are short of funds to rebuild,” said Dave Stuart, executive director of the nonprofit. “We will review their case, determine their shortage, prepare a case file and make sure we haven’t overlooked any additional sources of help.”
Stuart added they have a lot of grant applications out for additional funds. “We have requested $1 million from the funds raised by the Garth Brooks concert,” he said, “and we know the American Red Cross has more funds available.”
Stuart’s advice: Come in and sign up as soon as possible. “We want to process these cases as soon as we get them. The long-term recovery committee will decide who gets how much. That committee is made up of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Catholic Charities, the American Red Cross, First Mountain Bank and the Community Foundation.”
Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives is bringing in a team from UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to train their case workers for long-term recovery. They invited case workers from other organizations to participate and received positive responses from the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Rim Family Services, Calvary Chapel Running Springs and Church of the Woods.
ADDITIONAL ADVICE
Eve said she always gets the question: What one piece of advice do you have? Her answer is simple: “Unpack Grandma’s dishes and use them yourself. Put Grandma’s quilt on your bed. Pull out your Mom’s silver and eat with it.
“It’s better,” she said, “to have something get stained or broken than to have it take up valuable storage space and then be taken by a disaster—whether it’s a fire, earthquake or flood.”
Eve was fortunate in that she had sent photos from her wedding and of her children growing up to family members out of state. That first Christmas, she received many of those photos as gifts.
“We had taken photos of every room in the house,” she said, “which really helped in itemizing our loss for the insurance company.”
Now, she said, she and her husband photograph the house every year after they take down the Christmas tree. “You accumulate more stuff,” she said. “In fact, I should have a garage sale!
“Here’s some advice from someone who’s been there and made it through a disaster: You can’t recreate old memories. You need to make new ones.”
And, she added, you have to make sure you have the wherewithal to rebuild your home, if that’s what you choose to do.
Stop in at Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives or give them a call.
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