COLLIER COUNTY
People looking for a roof over their heads want to know where the trailers provided by FEMA are.
Fear and frustration is how I would sum up what people are feeling. Time and money become people’s biggest problem.
The idea behind the meeting was quite simple: “Help is here.”
But people say it takes too long to get help and answers, and in some cases not at all.
In a word, people worry about their lives. Their homes are destroyed, their cars are gone, and their lives are uprooted.
People say they can’t get answers and that state and federal agencies are taking too long.
One person said he was approved for critical care and received the money. But then FEMA contacted him and said, wait, if you cash the check, you’ll have to return it.
Another big question for those who are displaced and can no longer live in their homes is where do they go?
Jackie Key is a social activist and she explained some of the issues.
“Where is the accommodation? Where are the trailers? We don’t know, ask FEMA. Well, FEMA doesn’t know, so who orders the trailers and why aren’t they here? Why not sent? Now that we can send liners from all over the country to come here and provide service, why don’t we send trailers ahead of time? It’s inexcusable because there are people living in trailers who have lost their homes, there are people living in mold-infested homes, and yet everyone says I don’t know, that’s ridiculous, that’s ridiculous.”
Elizabeth Ruddy, who represents the Collier County Tenants Union, echoed those sentiments Wednesday night.
Basically, if temporary housing doesn’t come to the area soon, we’re going to lose more of our workforce. A workforce already suffering in Collier County due to housing affordability.
Radi said that at this time, Jan’s victims have nowhere to go.
Another speaker was furious that all these officials keep telling people to apply online. She told WINK News that these people have nothing, they have lost everything, they have no way to apply online.
Community members put a fire under the feet of all people who say, “They’re here to help.”