A Testimony from the Ground in Florida

I drove over Sunday evening. On Monday, Pastor Dan Pietrzyk (pictured above), interim pastor for the Tri-Par Covenant Church and Trailer Estates Covenant Church, drove me around the two parks and showed me the damage. Trailer Estates has 1,300 homes and received the greatest damage from Hurricane Helene. Part of this park borders Sarasota Bay, which received a six-and-a-half-foot storm surge. I was told that all the homes that received water up to the floor or into the home are totaled because once the USB used for the subfloor gets wet it swells and there is no repair. This could impact several hundred homes.

Tri-Par is four and a half miles away. It was not impacted by Hurricane Helene’s storm surge, but they were hammered by the 110-mile-per-hour winds of Hurricane Milton. The roofs of carports, lanais, and parts of entire homes were scattered everywhere. Homes that may not have been damaged by the winds were significantly damaged by their neighbor’s roof flying off. With roofing torn off and flying everywhere, one of the hidden dangers was the hundreds of screws and nails on the streets, sidewalks, and lawns. Thus, the need for tire repair kits.

After visiting several people on Monday, I worked to sort out options to repair a window that had been shattered by debris from a neighbor’s roof. I offered options for consideration as she consulted with insurance agents and FEMA. I also consulted with another person on repair options for a vinyl rubber roof.

On Tuesday, Pastor Dan and I cut up storage shed roofing that had been folded and was lying in the enclosed entry. After a community lunch for the park, provided by the church, we put a tarp on the shed to protect what was inside.

On Wednesday, we worked most of the day stretching out and securing two tarps on the roof of a church member’s neighbor. We also secured a tarp over a bedroom of an attached room of another home. A renter was living in that room and with the roof gone, her room was open to the sky. Thankfully it hadn’t rained recently. We did another small project that involved enclosing exposed parts of another roof.

One woman was volunteering in the church office. When I asked about her story, I learned that she is 87 and cares for her 88-year-old husband and daughter. When the water started coming through the A/C vents, they left via kayak when it was mid-calf deep. Their home is totaled as are their two cars. She didn’t have insurance and wasn’t sure what would be next—but she was volunteering at the church. A second woman lost her entire roof. We secured a tarp over her room, which would have remained open to the sky. She is 78 years old.

Ministry opportunities abound, and the two churches are responding. They serve their community and make the most of outreach opportunities to become known as a church and to love their neighbors. Trailer Estates is using benevolence funds to give people one-time grants. The criteria is simple: you have to live in the park and have received hurricane damage to your home. They have distributed over $40,000 in one park. As we visited people, we always took time to pray for them. Tri-Par offered a free meal for park residents and served over 110 people. Residents in the parks who are not a part of the churches have given donations to the churches for the work they are doing.

Pastor Dan and the two congregations have compiled a list of immediate needs in an Amazon wish list. People from around the world, including Japan, France, and the US have responded by purchasing items that are being delivered directly to Pastor Dan. These items are then shared with whoever needs them.

We visited another nearby mobile home park, where 300 of the 350 homes had received some damage and they had not yet received any help. In conversation with the administrator of the park, Pastor Dan learned that she is a believer. She said they also needed spiritual counseling as there is a lot of PTSD among the residents. Pastor Dan was immediately able to call the head of a local aid agency and connect them to this park.

Needs going forward:

• More physical help removing roofing and putting on tarps. Some snowbirds have yet to return, so their homes stand as is until they take pictures. The scrappers are picking up the roofing put out on the streets.
• Moving forward there will be opportunities for some various inside repairs, but those may take more skills and certainly assessment.
• Spiritual help—counseling and prayer.
• Administrative assistance with forms.