VAN BUREN -- A brown paper bag with $20,000 in cash was recently dropped off to members of the Carter County Long Term Recovery Committee, as they continue to help families impacted by the 2017 flood.
The anonymous donation will help families like one with small children, that was relocated from a dilapidated mobile home, said Pastor Dave Truncone, a member of the LTRC, who spoke Monday to Carter County commissioners. The family moved to Van Buren and because of a housing shortage, rented a mobile home that was damaged by the 2017 flood, he said. It had a significant rodent problem and crumbling walls.
The case was brought to the LTRC by a school social worker, whose position is supported by flood recovery grant money, Truncone said.
The social worker has also identified another student whose family continues to live in a flood-damaged mobile home, he said. Both parents are facing serious illnesses and teachers have helped by mowing the family's yard, doing laundry for the family and in other ways, Truncone said.
The LTRC has applied for a $20,000 grant to help move that family into a better housing situation.
These are the kind of needs that continue to be identified, more than a year after the flood, said Truncone and Rickie Maples of Ozark Vitality, which is also working with the LTRC.
"It just takes some communities longer because of the lack of resources, the lack of capacity," Maples said. "These things just continue to be ongoing."
Some families thought they could recover without assistance, Maples said, and have since found it to be too much.
Approximately $84,000 has been raised to help with home repairs for individuals. Another $30,000 has been saved through discounted construction materials. The LTRC has received discounts from Craftons in Carter County and Home Depot in Poplar Bluff.
It has just under $50,000 remaining to go toward rebuilding efforts, according to the report.
Donations have come from fundraisers, as well as individuals.
Volunteer help has been used in the rebuilding effort and continues to be needed, Truncone said.
Anyone who would like to donate time, materials or funds can contact Robyn Walter of Catholic Charities at 573-870-0020.