My house but mostly my property which is right on the water received over $30,000 in damage. I wasn't able to get any help because my damage wasn't covered. The water table has changed. I lost two wells and now am looking at replacing three septic systems. I've lost beach front. I can't afford and…
Sandy began... We were in Bayside with family, not home where we really wanted to be. We kept in touch with several neighbors who had decided to tough out the storm at the Anchorage, our home...their texts were a link to what was happening and what we would need to know... We watched local news…
I opened my eyes to an overcast murky world that would not lift, foreshadowing reality: a world that would become too stark, too awful, too present, to bear or to escape. A light rain fell, winds gusting with deceptive lack of force, lulling one into false optimism, soon to be shattered. I woke crumpled against…
For every day that a person with "special needs" due to a disability is "in the system" - I believe there is a danger that this person will fall deeper into the system. A primary and core goal should be to prevent that from happening, and to do that by erring on the side of…
Here's one that really confused me. I call it the "FEMA Loop." My Mom has a physical disability which makes it very difficult for her to re-locate to just any old place. And the place she re-locates to, needs to have certain "features" in order for her to reasonably be able to make use of…
This experience was the most devastating experience I have every had. I lived in Oceanside in a 144-unit garden apartment complex on the first floor. On the night of October 28, I went to sleep after sitting in my living room in the dark. I am a single mother with two teenagers. My son was…
