Writing

My storytelling.

        “During the storm I was hiding with my dog, Lucy, in the bathroom. I could hear everything.” Karlene has been living in her home since 1976, and she says she has never been through a worse storm. “At one point I thought it was over, and I peeked out the window from the corner of the dining room. My 40 year-old elm tree was whipping around. That was a scary sight. I hope never to go through anything like that again.” The derecho caused massive damage to her home, ripping the entire door frame away from the back door to her bedroom. The soffit and gutters were pulled down from the front, and that 40 year-old elm had crashed into her roof and front steps. “I couldn’t even get out of my house to begin with. I could go as far the front steps and the tree was down across them. I couldn’t get out the back door either because it was broken.” In the immediate wake of the storm, her neighbors came and freed her from the home, but there was still so much to do. “I just take it a day at a time. That’s all you can do.” 
        Karlene has slept for 10 months in a room with a partially destroyed corner. Her brother-in-law put some plastic on it to keep out the elements, but with the help of Lowe’s, Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity was able to rebuild the corner, replace the door, and even take care of the soffit on the front of the home. “You don’t know how much I appreciate it,” Karlene says. “I don’t know where I’d be today without your help. I’m so grateful.” As a way to say thank you, she says she intends to donate her late husband’s tools to ReStore. “It’s the least I can do.” 

        “For me, every project is a feel-good moment, because every project is someone who needs help.” CJ is a member of the AmeriCorps Mobile Response Team sharing operations between Habitat for Humanity of Iowa and Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. Since enlistment in September, he’s worked on nearly twenty storm repair projects that resulted from the “inland hurricane” that hit on August 10, 2020; the Derecho. Some families were able move on quickly from the destruction the Derecho wreaked and repair or replace their homes on their own. Others have spent nearly a year with broken windows, missing roofs, and few prospects for help. “It’s always good to help people, but when you help somebody who truly has nowhere else to turn, you can see how much it means to them. It’s important to remember that these people did nothing wrong. Storms affect everybody, but unfortunately they disproportionately affect our lower income neighborhoods.” 

        From mothers braving the winter in windowless rooms that never warmed up past sixty degrees, to mobile homeowners losing half of their floor plan to trees and debris, CJ has seen how the wounds of the derecho are still open for many in Cedar Rapids. Through Habitat for Humanity International’s grant, Cedar Valley Habitat has been able to make critical repairs for citizens of Cedar Rapids. “To them it’s more than just money. To them, that’s a new home. That’s a new outlook on life. That’s a second chance at staying where they are and not having to move. It’s more than just a number of a piece of paper. It’s a means through which to improve somebody’s life.”