Recovery fair helps provide a fresh start
Bilingual event supplies answers, living essentials
Maria Julia Tamayo swiped through photos on her phone and pointed to the screen, using it to bridge a language barrier as she explained how she lost it all.
In the image, the top of her vehicle barely breached the surface of the floodwater that had risen outside the garage of her one-story home near the Addicks Reservoir. Four feet of water seeped into the house when Hurricane Harvey swamped Houston with record rainfall. Had she saved anything? “Nada,” she said. Nothing.
Tamayo, who speaks only Spanish, found a large group of multilingual volunteers who helped her apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance Saturday at a disaster recovery fair for flood-battered residents in a diverse area of Houston. Hundreds of people showed up at a shopping center on Highway 6 for free food, cleaning supplies and information on how to get financial aid to rebuild or replace what the storm had destroyed.
The effort united dozens of businesses and nonprofits at an unlikely venue: Track 21, a go-kart complex with laser tag and miniature golf. The Red Cross, the Houston Food Bank, the West Houston Church of Christ and many other groups set up tables and tents in the parking lot, and go-kart racers whipped around indoor tracks as FEMA representatives took applications.
A team of 75 volunteers from General Electric and Baker Hughes wore tags that stated their language skills: Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Italian. Some had spent hours writing multilingual tip sheets for applying for federal aid online. Helpful translators
Adriana Garcia, who speaks Spanish and French, spent the morning talking to non-English speakers who hadn’t been aware of the types of aid available. At one point, she helped a family that needed Spanish and Spanish sign language translation explain their situation to FEMA workers.
“A lot of people who really need help don’t have access to the information,” she said.
FEMA representative Carmen Rodriguez also switched between English and Spanish as she explained aid qualifications to dozens of residents. She talked at length to a family that had for days lived in a mold-ridden house, unaware the agency could place them somewhere else.
“Many people don’t know what assistance is available,” she said.
The relief effort targeted a devastated area of the city where homeowners haven’t finished gutting their houses. Parts of the Bear Creek Pioneers Park are shimmering three weeks after the Addicks Reservoir overflowed, and growing piles of debris and trash mark where the floodwater had risen.
Many shopping centers and businesses remain closed, challenging residents to find nearby food and supplies. The Fiesta Mart at Highway 6 and Clay took on 10 feet of water in the depths of the storm, and the company is assessing how long it will take to reopen.
Johanna Schroeder, an event organizer, expected to help as many as 500 people from a wide range of economic backgrounds. She encouraged them all to seek aid from FEMA and other organizations, regardless of how much or how little they had lost.
“Some people who don’t have kitchens have never had to ask for anything in their lives,” she said. “It’s a complex situation I’ve never encountered before.” First time for aid
Marlene Simshaeuser teared up after applying for FEMA assistance, something she had never done. Her home near the Addicks flooded during the storm for the first time in 35 years, and her insurance won’t cover the full cost of the damage.
Her son, Dennis, canoed to the house to save family photos and valuables and found 19 inches of water inside. He estimated renovations will take until Christmas.
“It’s like moving out without having a place to go,” he said.
Berta Mendoza, who speaks only Spanish, applied for assistance with the help of a translator. Three feet of water swamped her electrical system, destroyed her appliances and wrecked her furniture.
“Everything flooded,” she said. “The kitchen will have to be completely rebuilt.”
She spotted Tamayo, her neighbor, and the two embraced after weeks apart. They spoke rapidly in Spanish, swapping photos of their damaged houses.
Tamayo, who has been staying with her nephews since she evacuated her house, applied for assistance to speed the rebuilding process.
Her nephews need their space, she said, as does she. katherine.blunt@chron.com twitter.com/katherineblunt