Flood Relief Project
In June, 2006, Tioga County was flooded when water
from the Susquehanna River poured over into the community. Over 800
homes in the county were affected. Catholic Charities Tioga Outreach
Center was immediately available at the Disaster Assistance Site, offering
assistance with gifts cards for groceries, department stores, and for
gas. Assistance was also given to help with housing. We began reaching
out to the community to get donations of cleaning supplies, clothing,
bedding, and small appliances for flood victims. A Community Food Distribution
was held in August to offer food to both families that were affected
by the flood and also to those families who lost food due to the power
outage because of the flood.
The Tioga Outreach Center is working in partnership with TARP (Tioga Area Recovery Partnership) to work with other non-profits, governmental agencies, independent persons, and churches to collaborate in getting peoples needs met most effectively and efficiently. Through TARP, we took on the role of chairing the Case Management Committee, and continue to work one-on-one with families that are still in the recovery process due to multiple issues needing to be addressed. We help these families by assessing their needs and connecting them with resources available to help and helping support them in their own recovery.
We have also been organizing and coordinating Saturday
volunteer work groups. Individual volunteers and local groups have participated
during these work groups to help families rebuild their homes, stretching
what money is available by providing volunteer labor. Groups that have
offered overwhelming support have been United Methodist church groups
from Syracuse, Vestal, Endicott, Painted Post, and Chenango Bridge,
Thomas Associates of Ithaca, Ithaca College and Cornell University students,
Ithaca Habitat for Humanity, First Church of the Nazarene in Owego,
Candor Honor Society, Home Depot of Johnson City, All Saints Church
in Lansing, St. Catherine of Siena
& Immaculate Conception Churches
of Ithaca. With the help of donations from our supporters we have been
able to purchase lunch for volunteers during Saturday work groups, and
a committee of the First Baptist Church in Owego has graciously taken
on the task of packing and delivering the lunches to volunteers.
In addition to the groups listed above, we would like to recognize the following groups, organizations, individuals and companies for their support:
- Thanks to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier we were able to distribute nearly three large pallets of cleaning supplies.
- Thanks to a collection done by Immaculate Conception Church Youth Group of Ithaca we were able to offer back packs filled with back to school supplies to children before they returned to school.
- Thanks to a special collection by the churches of the Diocese of Rochester and a Catholic Charities USA grant we have been able to help families with funding for their most pressing needs, anything from building supplies to replacing large appliances.
- At Christmas time many families were adopted by Good Shepherd Church of Henrietta, NY, Blessed Trinity Youth Group, and many individuals to help those families still recovering. This was especially important for those that weren’t able to have a real Christmas while living in a FEMA trailer that didn’t even have space for a small Christmas tree.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.