Northwest Indiana residents receive storm assistance at Gary 'one-stop shop'

Merrillville residents Dorothea and Kenneth Collins had extensive damage to their home after the Aug. 11 derecho — their weatherhead, front door, shed, window frames and gutters were damaged.

“We need to pay the contractors $8,000,” 54-year-old Dorothea Collins said. “We still have a door that blew off, and the frame came with it.”

As they stare at thousands of dollars worth of bills, the couple is looking to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and state resources for assistance. On Wednesday, they attended the state’s “one-stop shop” to get help.

“We knew that the communities up here got hit really hard, so we brought a ‘one-stop shop’ here,” said Mary Moran, emergency management and preparedness director for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. “It’s a state initiative where we try and bring all of the agencies that have resources for disaster survivors into one spot so people aren’t having to run all over the community, and we have state, local and federal agencies here.”

Attendees could receive help with FEMA individual assistance applications, U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loan information, and State Disaster Relief Fund applications. They can also receive temporary housing assistance, crisis counseling, help reviewing insurance policies and replacing documents, support with driving registrations and licenses and public health resources, including vaccination and vital records, tetanus shots and cleanup guidance.

State Reps. Michael Aylesworth, R-Hebron; Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point; and Hal Slager, R-Schererville, in a joint news release, encouraged Northwest Indiana residents to take advantage of the “one-stop shop.”

“From prolonged power outages to severe damage, last month’s weather was devastating to many of our communities,” Slager said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the federal and state resources that can help our communities and residents in Lake County rebuild.”

Northwest Indiana residents can still receive assistance from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 at the United Steelworkers Local 1014 location at 1301 Texas Street in Gary.

According to an email from FEMA, the federal agency will also offer assistance on Sunday — from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 667 South Lake Street in Gary and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. John Farmers’ Market at 9660 Wicker Ave.

Moran said DHS, FEMA and other agencies have participated in “one-stop shops” throughout Indiana. According to Post-Tribune archives, Gov. Mike Braun said Lake County received a “one-stop shop” later because there was “so much damage broadly.”

“We just work with each county, and we come when they are ready for us,” Moran said. “Lake County had to get some logistics worked out on the building, and so we are just getting to Lake County, and there will be counties after Lake County that we do these services for.”

FEMA and the state have provided resources in Lake County since the derecho hit, according to officials.

Dorothea Collins said their FEMA application was originally denied, and she went to get help with an appeal.

“My sister called me and told me about (the ‘one-stop shop’),” Dorothea Collins said. “She said, ‘They’re giving out second chances if your FEMA was denied,’ because mine was denied the day after I applied.”

The Post-Tribune was not permitted to interview nor take photos of Northwest Indiana residents receiving help inside the Texas Street building.

Kimberly Keblish, FEMA public affairs specialist, said the agency can help with filing for an appeal. She encouraged people, if they are denied assistance, to look carefully at the letter for an explanation.

“Generally, there are common reasons,” Keblish said. “It is the missing home inspection, and it is the missing insurance documentation.”

Anyone missing home inspections can call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362, Keblish said, and an inspector can contact them and come to their home. Anyone with missing insurance documentation can submit it through their online disaster assistance profile.

FEMA assistance is available to Northwest Indiana homeowners and renters in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and Pulaski counties, according to the agency.

Since the August storms, FEMA has approved more than $105 million in assistance for Indiana residents.

Keblish encouraged anyone seeking assistance to reach out to FEMA.

“This may look like home repairs, money to clean up mold, money to live in a rental property, stay in a hotel, or money to even stay with friends or family if your home is not safe to live in,” she said. “ … FEMA may be able to help with money towards replacing your HVAC, your water heater, your furnace. … There’s a wide variety of financial assistance that may be able to help people.”

Renters and homeowners can receive help from the SBA, which Tammi Ross, public affairs specialist, said a lot of people don’t know.

“When you see the U.S. Small Business Administration, sometimes the name doesn’t tell you that during a disaster, we come out to support homeowners and renters,” Ross said.

The SBA provides low-interest loans to help homeowners, renters, business owners and nonprofit organizations recover from disasters. There’s a 12-month span before anyone has to make loan payments, she added.

The administration provides supplemental help after receiving other assistance, Ross said.

“As FEMA and the state said, we were here three days after the declaration happened, making sure that we were available for the Northwest Indiana region,” Ross said, “because we understand that Lake County was hit hard.”

Griffith resident Michael Humphrey, 63, attended the “one-stop shop” because he wanted secondary supplemental assistance to pay for a new roof. Humphrey said he barely got any money from his insurance company after there was a hole in his roof.

“It’s a small hole, … but it did puncture a hole, and no one wants a hole through the roof,” Humphrey said. “The gutters are bad, so it’s creating a problem with the gutters.”

Gary resident Truman Foreman, 62, received help at the “one-stop shop” Wednesday. He said his neighbors told him about the resource, and he hoped to get an update from FEMA about his assistance.

Foreman had no damage to his home, he lost all his food because of the prolonged power outage, and a tree fell on his car. He has temporarily fixed the car.

Foreman said the “one-stop shop” is beneficial to residents because all the needed resources are in one place.

“For one thing, a lot of people are not working, and there’s a lot of money they need to come up with,” Foreman said. “There’s just a lot of stuff going on. We’ve never had this kind of disaster here.”