Volunteer work teams from Wisconsin, Ind., and Roswell, Ga. are converging on the Garden City and surrounding areas this week, July 14 through 18, to aid local homeowners with relief and rebuilding from last September’s hurricane.
A total of 63 volunteers, along with local members of United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran and Presbyterian USA churches, are working in coordination with the American Red Cross, the Community Foundation of the CSRA and Catholic Charities to continue to provide assistance to homeowners with insufficient insurance to rebuild their Hurricane Helene-damaged homes.
According to a press release, the initiative, led by the Disaster Response staff of the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church and the Southeastern Synod ELCA, is aiming to “bridge the gap between insurance payouts, FEMA assistance and the actual cost of home repairs through grants and church volunteer teams.”
Former Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver is one of the local volunteers. He said he feels blessed to live in a society and country where county and state lines on a map present no boundaries for people to reach out and help others in need.
“Our community time and time again has proven itself to be amazingly resilient, resourceful and responsive in the face of adversity. The fact that people from all over our nation continue to join in our recovery and restoration efforts speaks to the true spirit of what is going on in our city and our community as a whole,” Copenhaver said.
The storm not only resulted in 64 deaths across Georgia and South Carolina, but also caused widespread and lengthy power outages, tree damage and infrastructure issues. These issues have taken the better part of a year and millions of dollars to begin recovery.
The official cleanup response may have ended, but there are still many areas in dire need help in rebuilding.
According to Copenhaver, after the storm, many families throughout the CSRA discovered their homeowners insurance did not contain specific coverage for hurricane damage since Augusta is so far from any coast. This resulted in some homeowners being left on their own to either repair their homes or having to give up on their home and start over from scratch. Others report that they have insurance covering such events, but their insurers have drug their feet in responding to claims.
Homeowners in the tri-county service area who in need funding for home repairs, whether minor or major damage from the hurricane, are urged to visit their website to enter the queue for follow-up by a trained screener.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter, Editorial Page Editor and weekly columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
