Week 3: The Rebuilding Effort
As the storm devastation became clear, the reality that the families of Staten Island needed major support became obvious. St. Margaret Mary Parish stepped forward in service by distributing $500 gift cards to parishioners provided by the Archdiocese of New York, starting a relief fund and creating a food bank as residents looked to friends and relatives to provide shelter. Strong early donations of approximately $215,000 went quickly in the days immediately following the storm as families looked to get resettled.
Volunteers remove ruined furnishings and appliances from a home in Midland Beach.
The “rip out” stage of the rebuilding effort progressed swiftly in this community of teachers, fire fighters, police, many with the skills to make repairs.
Volunteer removing damaged walls, ceilings, floors, and insulation.
Volunteer laborers by the hundreds and donations of tools and supplies came from services organizations from all over the area. St. Margaret Mary provided organization and administrative support coordinating the donations and recycling the tools and supplies. Now, however, the costly rebuilding stage starts and the unsettling realization that insurance covers only a fraction of the basics.
One Family’s Struggle
Let’s look at this rebuilding phase through the experiences of the “Rodriguez” family (not the actual family’s name), a family of four, occupying two small homes on one lot of property. The property, located near Gateway National Park, has never had any problems with water and therefore no flood insurance was required or taken on the property. Originally the maternal grandmother lived in the smaller of the two homes until her death two years ago. The father is a New York City police officer, the mother is a homemaker and the two children include an 18 year old daughter with Crohn’s Disease and a 15 year old son. The night Sandy struck, Mr. Rodriguez was on duty but left his car for the family in case they needed to evacuate; however, the storm came so quickly they were unable to get out. Their car was totaled as the sea engulfed everything. Mom, son and daughter took refuge in the attic for safety.
Mud and waste left extensive damage.
When the water receded they were able to come down to find everything covered in mud and sand, with all personal items drenched in a mix of sewer and sea water. Their car sat upside down having been swept by the storm surge.
The home after the damaged floors and walls were removed.
Upon inspection, Mr. Rodriguez realized his house had shifted by the force of the water, causing a crack in the ceiling and in one of the walls. The damage to the small homes was extensive. Repairs just to regain occupancy included a new floor, new wallboard and insulation, new doors, as well as systems and appliances. FEMA has given the family $6,500 “for construction costs.” No other assistance is available as their homeowner’s insurance covers nothing as the damage is considered flood damage.
The Rodriquez story is not uncommon as hundreds of families in Midland Beach are left with limited and inadequate insurance and disaster relief.
The storm originated in the Caribbean and for ten days gradually made its way through Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas before turning northward up the eastern U.S. seaboard. The storm grew to about 1,000 miles in diameter (twice the size of Hurricane Katrina) and earned the nickname of “Frankenstorm.”
On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Staten Island, located at the mouth of New York harbor, with a combination of strength (winds of 80 mph), astrological high tides and an angle of approach that produced a record storm surge of 16 feet.
The storm surge wiped out homes on the water and flooded neighborhoods up to one mile inland with 8 feet of water. Trees and power lines were down and people were stranded in their homes until emergency personnel could rescue them in boats.
The storm resulted in over 100 deaths, $60 billion in damage, and over 100,000 people being displaced from their homes. New York City officials estimate that nearly 6,000 buildings sustained damage on Staten Island causing occupants to seek temporary lodging elsewhere. People are still recovering from the loss of property and home as they struggle to take care of their most basic needs and attempt to re-build for a future.
The Parish is located in the Midland Beach section on the east coast of Staten Island, originally a beach community with many one-story bungalow style homes. The parishioners suffered the full brunt of the storm as their homes were severely damaged by the storm surge and resulting flood due to their location on the island’s east coast, the storm’s thirteen inches of rain and the housing stock’s small size and low rise design. Hundreds of families are still struggling to put their lives back together with city officials estimating 300 homes are still without power or heat and another 200 homes classified as uninhabitable because they were destroyed or rendered structurally unsound. While all of this occurred over three months ago, hundreds of families continue to struggle to rebuild their shattered lives. They live in temporary housing, their children are bused to schools far away, and they have lost many of their prized possessions. The parish has established a relief fund which has been very successful but the proceeds go out as fast as they are raised due to the community’s great need. Our St. John’s 2013 Lenten Gift will go to this fund.
St John’s Parish will again show its solidarity with those in need by collecting funds for a Lenten Gift. This year’s gift will be: Rebuilding in Faith – Supporting St. Margaret Mary’s Parish, Staten Island, NY after Hurricane Sandy’s Devastation. Throughout Lent, the plight of this coastal parish community serving the Midland Beach area and its “grass roots” effort to rebuild peoples’ homes and lives will be shared with you in our weekly parish bulletins and on the parish website.
A thank you to our parishioners for the tremendous support that St. John the Evangelist gave to Haiti Marycare through our Advent vitamin collection. “…Thank you for not forgetting the Haitian people and for trusting us to deliver and distribute your donations properly. We know in directing the work of Haiti Marycare, part of our responsibility is to tell the people of Haiti of the caring shown to them by their friends at St. John’s. You can be sure we will take great honor and pride in telling them of your great kindness. You have all made a huge difference in many people’s lives…” Please click 
The Christmas Wish 2012 Committee would like to thank each one of you who generously donated time, contributions, shopping efforts, coordination of parish family needs, data entry, attending meetings, bundling packages, matching gifts to families, and many tireless efforts to make Christmas special for over 300 children in our community. We worked with 118 families and 312 children in St. Patrick’s in Brockton, St. Patrick’s in Lowell, St. Katharine Drexel in Roxbury, Julie’s Family Learning Program in South Boston, and St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley to provide gifts of clothing, toys, special gift wishes,and even food cards to make the holiday special for so many.
Over 220 St. John families helped with this effort by family sponsorship, shopping, financial donations, program co-ordination, religious ed community service, and gift delivery. We extend a special thanks to McCabe Movers for their donation of the truck for gift delivery again this year. We thank Bill Logan and Steve DuFour and his son for volunteering to deliver the gifts to Lowell and Roxbury. (Check out the 
The Christmas Wish Program, which supplies Christmas gifts to more than 400 children in need, is well underway. Please consider a financial donation to this wonderful program during the Season of Advent. If you have any questions, please feel free to email 
Thank you so much for your support! St. John’s has donated over 200 coats for two consecutive years and that makes a big difference in our annual coat drive. Our distribution partners in your area include the Wellesley Housing Authority, Circle of Hope (Needham), and The Second Step (Newtonville). After the coats have been cleaned at Anton’s Wellesley location, the distribution partners pick up however many coats they need. This is our 18th year of Coats for Kids and we appreciate all that St. John the Evangelist has donated along the way!
There’s still time to donate a cooked turkey or side dish to the Thanksgiving feast at Bristol Lodge! In order to serve over 100 guests we will need the following COOKED items: ten 18-20 lb. unstuffed turkeys; mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash, corn, green beans, stuffing, rolls; cranberry sauce; cider and cranberry juice. Turkeys, as well as the other side dishes, can be cooked as early as the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving. In addition to having a drop off time at St. John’s on Wednesday, individual food pickups can be arranged. Please contact Deirdre Heilbron at 
