Continued From Newsletter

NOAH was contacted by Housing Finance Authority of Palm Beach County and awarded a grant of up to $1,200,000 to find homes and manage the program which pays for housing those residents for up to one year. The Housing Finance Authority and municipal governments submitted lists of families in shelters and NOAH agents went down that list first. As word of mouth spread, NOAH was contacted by other agencies. County instructions were to give assistance to anyone who qualifies, so when others asked for help, "we said by all means," Kinsler said.

While the hunt for homes continues, residents live in stifling conditions, but through resiliency, are getting by. "They're living with three or four families in one household," Kinsler said. "All of the cousins, aunts and uncles and everybody are living together. That's what they do in this community, they pull together."

The difficult search rears inherent frustrations, but it also yields rewards.

"We went out and we interviewed a few families we placed and asked them about their situations and they were overwhelmed with joy," Kinsler said. "The first thing that overwhelmed them is they were out of a congested environment, and the second most important thing that really struck them was that, financially, they were going to be able to save money for a year and get back on their feet."

Also helping residents gain footing is a work development program through The Workforce Development office. NOAH hired 27 workers to clean up after Wilma.

"What we tried to do was to hire workers who were unemployed because of the hurricane," Kinsler said. "Maybe the place they were working at was destroyed."

Workers have cleared debris, cleaned mold and mildew, cleaned and painted damaged properties. Each worker can earn a maximum of $12,000 in six months or 1,040 hours.

Kinsler said he also is overwhelmed by support coming to the area. He grew up in the Glades and is aware of its condition and the struggles of residents.

"They feel as though no one cares," he said. "They feel like everything trickles down to the Glades from West Palm Beach. So this is very rewarding for me to see we are getting money from the county. We are grateful."

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