Recover Hardee: How locals, strangers and a new long-term recovery group are rebuilding lives and homes

By Michael Paluska

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     HARDEE COUNTY, Florida (WFTS) — When it comes to rebuilding, this quote from an expert in recovery efforts sums it up best: “Disasters start and end locally.”

Six months after rains and winds from Hurricane Ian destroyed homes in Hardee County, the real work on the ground is just beginning. There are hundreds of families still displaced, and the needs are just as great as they were for people in the days following the storm.

Survivor Kaylee Sandin told us that she’s been living in her home with black mold, and the roof ripped off up until around a week and a half ago.

We interviewed Sandin outside her damaged home next to her new one, a disaster trailer. It was delivered to the family of five a few weeks ago and provided to the family through the Florida Department of Emergency Management and the United Florida program.

Their statement reads, “Florida’s first-ever state-led sheltering and housing program is available through IanRecovery.fl.gov and provides temporary sheltering options — such as travel trailers and recreational vehicles — and temporary or permanent repairs for households whose needs are not met through insurance or FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. Residents impacted by Hurricane Ian can also access the Unite Florida Portal to report unmet needs such as transportation, household items, and social services.”

Sandin feels like the difference between the trailer and her damaged home is huge.

“The fresh air. It doesn’t smell. That’s one of the biggest, just the relief of feeling safe like my kids aren’t getting sick from breathing and mold all day,” Sandin said. “And, honestly, it’s been great to help get the kids outside. And they’ve been out playing more; it’s just positive all around.”

According to Alicia Woodard with Hardee County, the total destroyed buildings were reported at 720. Out of those, 613 were classified as major damage.

Hurricane-force winds damaged Sandin’s home. But, rising waters from the Peace River caused the most damage in the area.

“You just have to take it one day at a time. And try to think things through and make the best decisions,” Leonard Gilliard said.

Leonard and his wife Marcia rode out the storm inside their Zolfo Springs home until the Peace River started pouring in. The couple had about six feet of water inside their home.

“It’s been a nightmare because it seemed like we take one step forward. And then, we have to take three steps back. And then a lot of disappointments and difficulty and getting materials and contractors are all busy,” Leonard said.

On a clear, cool morning, we were at Leonard’s home as a national faith-based recovery group, Praying Pelican Missions, and members of a church from Missouri painted the house.

We asked Leonard where he thought he would be without the community and volunteers coming in to help.

“I would be living somewhere else because it wouldn’t be possible. We lost everything in the house,” he said. After the storm, Leonard noted members of the Mennonite community threw all his water-soaked items to the curb for trash pickup. Then members came back and helped gut the home and rebuild the walls.

“We’re from Good Shepherd Lutheran in Manchester, Missouri, which is just outside of St. Louis,” Bob Fingland, a volunteer, said. “It’s more about helping people that need some help.”

These volunteers can focus on painting and helping homeowners because another organization takes care of all the logistics.

“We come in and coordinate the trips for the teams, the mission teams who come from out of state or out of town,” Stephanie Lindsay, Trip Leader for Praying Pelican Missions, said. “Transportation food, we meet with the local ministries, the local church, and just kind of do all the logistical stuff so that they can come in and serve and not have to worry about anything.”

The volunteers even pay their way to be here. In addition, their sweat equity offsets costs making disaster relief funds go slightly further.

“I think it reveals the love of Christ to people,” Lindsay said. “If you don’t have churches, and local groups and the community come in and help, things will not get finished.”

Experts tell me the formation of the new long-term recovery group Recover Hardee will be a game changer for the area.

In comparison, most communities had similar groups due to previous storms. Hardee County did not. That means they are behind other communities by several months in terms of aid.

Jamie Samuels is the president ofSendMeMissions, a faith-based non-profit out of Hardee County.

“It’s huge because the relief efforts are ending—when you think of relief as putting tarps on roofs and getting the mold out of homes,” Samuels said. “And we’re coming to the end of that phase. But now we are moving into the phase of long-term recovery, which for Harney County could be approximately two to three years.”

Samuels said pooling resources at all levels, from volunteers to churches to state, local and federal agencies, will increase the likelihood people get access to what they need. However, there is one big hole they are still trying to fill.

“We absolutely need a warehouse. We have had so many partners offer us building material that I have nowhere to put it, and so right now, it’s free building material,” Samuels said.

Experts said storm survivors make mistakes navigating all the paperwork during disasters. Those mistakes can lead families to miss out on tens of thousands in relief funds.

“It’s a matter of completing the paperwork,” Greg Strader, the Regional Manager for World Renew, said.

Strader said completing only some of the paperwork can, on average, shortchange families roughly $37,000.

“Once they applied for FEMA, they’ll automatically be sent a Small Business Administration loan packet. If they don’t turn in that paperwork, even though they know they won’t quote qualify for a loan, they’ve denied themselves access to additional assistance from FEMA. On the other hand, if they aren’t going to qualify, they have nothing to lose by submitting the paperwork because they can always refuse the loan,” Strader said.

Strader also made the first quote at the top of this report that “disasters start and end locally.”

We’ve seen that on full display across the county from the first days of the storm, where we watched Good Samaritans deliver supplies to people cut off from the mainland and months later working with storm survivors to educate them on the next steps.

Sandin said she wouldn’t have her new temporary trailer without people like Samuels.

“I’d be lost. We would have taken the pennies that insurance gave us and tried to replace the roof with the money for what was supposed to fix the whole house,” Sandin said. “She has sent me so many applications and different programs and different things.”

She added that without Samuels, she wouldn’t have applied to all of these different programs.

“I wouldn’t have known the programs are out there,” Sandin said. “It’s not common knowledge. She keeps telling me to keep fighting.”

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