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From insidenova.com:
An estimated 150 to 175 individuals from 35 to 40 families from the Marumsco and Holly Acres mobile home parks were left homeless when more than 10 inches hit the U.S.1 corridor in Woodbridge last Thursday. The heavy rainfall caused massive damage to the parks; 66 out of 108 units in the Holly Acres park were declared unsafe to inhabit.
Many of the displaced flood victims are staying at the Dale City Recreation Center because they have no where else to go. This arrangement will be very short-lived because the county is shutting the shelter down at 5 p.m. on this coming Friday.
Those still staying at Dale City Recreation Center – between 35 and 40 families – have until Friday at 5 p.m. before they have to leave the Red Cross-administered facility. Many of those families came to speak to the board on Tuesday, relaying their plight.
Prince William Countydoesn’t have Section 8 housing vouchers at this time. And Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart reiterated to the crowd gathered at Tuesday’s meeting that the county could not provide permanent housing to the victims of the storm.
Residents and community activists appealed to the county at the BOCS meeting.
Meanwhile, sparring between Representative Gerry Connolly and BOCS Chair Corey Stewart was heard on WTOP this morning:
But Prince William County Supervisor Chairman Corey Stewart says the county simply does not have the means to help more.
“We don’t want to give them the impression that we are going to be able to take care of their housing needs past Friday,” he said before the board of supervisors meeting Tuesday.
At the packed meeting, Stewart gave out the phone number of Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., telling the petitioning residents they should ask him for federal help.
On Monday, Connolly was critical of the county’s response to the crisis. After giving those displaced some clothes to wear and some initial food, other forms of assistance, especially alternative housing, have been slow to come.
“There aren’t a lot of affordable housing opportunities in Prince William County, and a lot of these folks are going to be in a place of deep pain,” Connolly says.
He says closing the shelter on Friday is premature.
“Declaring an arbitrary deadline doesn’t mean the problem goes away,” Connolly says.
The owner of the Holly Acres Trailer Park, Hank Ridge, admitted that he hadn’t been to the property site in a decade. He told WTOP that the county has been trying to shut the trailer park down for years:
“What is being done, can be substantiated that there are some discriminatory attitudes,” Ridge says.
Stewart called that charge “BS.” He says the park should have been condemned years ago for safety reasons and because of flooding.
If it should have been shut down for years for safety reasons, why wasn’t it? A concerned land owner would have checked on things sometime over 10 years. There is just no end to finger pointing. Perhaps an even better question might be why weren’t improvements made to the area to control flood waters? I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t the first time the creek has risen. Marumsco Creek is not some little tucked-away stream that no one knows about.
While all the finger pointing is going on, There are some 140 people who will have no where to go. There are not vacancies in low rent units in the county to accommodate these families. There is a relief fund posted on the county school website that reads:
PWCS and PWC Government Establish Relief Fund for Flood Victims, Housing is Immediate Need
Thank you for your show of support for those who have been displaced from their homes and experienced other difficulties due to recent flooding. These families’ immediate and greatest need is housing, as the shelter will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16. If you own property or know of properties available for rent – and willing to waive the security deposit, and first and last months’ rent – please let us know at www.pwcgov.org. The other donation needed is cash; and Prince William County Public Schools and the Prince William County Government are working together to collect monetary donations for the families impacted by the flood. Donations are tax-deductible and will be handled by SPARK, the School Division’s education foundation. Your donations may be submitted by credit card online, via Pay Pal, or by checks (made payable to the PWCS Education Foundation) or mailed to SPARK at P.O. Box 389, Manassas, VA 20108. Please make sure that your check mentions “flood relief” in the memo line, or that your Pay Pal donation mentions “flood relief” in the payment notes. To donate, go to poweredbyspark.org.
The system worked. The government stepped in for the emergency condition (while it was raining) they provided a shelter. Now that the emergency situation is over private civic groups are taking care of the longer term needs.
@marin, Actually the govt. is still very much involved. About 15 social workers are involved helping to find housing. When people loose everything, it is hard to get around to find housing. FEMA still needs to come in and do what FEMA does. Not sure who is hauling away the destroyed trailers and debris. At what point do you think churches would just become overburdened and roll up their support if we went with the ‘marinm way’ each and every time someone needed help?
It can’t always be up to ‘someone else.’ We all share a responsibililty to help those in need.
Come to think of it, what about homeless people who have nothing to begin with? Relative to their loss I would think they would be top on the list for assistance such as is being giving to these folks. How are the homeless being helped? Perhaps the homeless should join this group now that they are all in the same situation. Makes sense to me, or do you have to have lost something to garner sympathy, and support?
I didn’t say the govt isn’t involved. I just said that the emergency part is over so no reason to have the govt providing the emergency shelter.
To your question about ‘overburdened’. The Catholic church has been providing aid and comfort to the poor for a very, very long time. I don’t see that changing. It’s kinda part of their ‘mission statement’.
@marinm,
And I am not suggesting that churches stop carrying for those less fortunate. However, even churches have limits. How many widows living on fixed incomes send their last few dollars off to help the poor. Something to think about.
I am not focused on the 1% who are at the top of the food chain. I am focused on the middle class who have been carrying a lot to of dead weight from both ends–the poor and the rich who figure out how to get out of paying their fair share.
On general:
Earlier we were discussing dividends. Dividends are taxed as regular income. If anyone knows a way to pare them down to size, let me know.
“However, even churches have limits.” Ok, now you’re getting the picture, only now think in terms of the entire nation. We ultimately must pick and choose who we help as a nation. I’m one of the 50% who is supporting the other 50%, and I have limits too. Freedom also means being allowed to determine who you will and won’t provide assistance to with your earned income. The government is rapidly starting to withhold that freedom by spreading the wealth and all that. Charities are still the most efficient way to get assistance to those in need. If the government ends charitable contribution write offs, then there goes the charities.
I have nothing to add over what SA wrote. Brilliant.