Michigan Education Association: Harmed by Historic Flooding, Helped by Union Family
By
Surreal. Overwhelming. Indescribable.
Talk to MEA members in
They use those same words again to describe the help that arrived from their union and school families - roving work crews, meal deliveries, donations of supplies.
"It's indescribable because you just feel it in your heart," said MEA member
"You try to thank people, but words aren't enough. Hugs aren't enough."
Sitting on a slope at the high end of
The rushing waters thrashed heavy items - including large exercise equipment - from one end of the basement to another. Important mementos and personal items stored in bins, such as her 19-year-old son's diploma, awards, cap and gown - "almost everything" - was lost.
"We maybe saved a couple of things from down there, like 1 percent," she added.
Crews of helpers - teacher colleagues and their spouses, among others - showed up with food and equipment, including large tents to set up for shade in the yard, to haul out belongings from other parts of the house that needed cleanup.
"They just took over," Bischer said. "They said, 'You don't worry about anything. We're moving forward,' and they were itching to get in."
A photography buff, Bischer had written off boxes of wet and muddy pictures as trash, but her helpers - knowing the importance of her hobby - dipped the prints in distilled water and laid them out on dozens of sheets spread on the lawn for drying things.
"You go on autopilot and try to take one day at a time, one hour at a time, but it's easier when you have such loving and caring colleagues and friends to help," she said. "It's just amazing - they probably saved most of my pictures."
Bischer is one of several dozen MEA members harmed by the historic flooding who have begun a long recovery process - many without flood insurance coverage to help with the costs of rebuilding.
MEA has launched a GoFundMe page to help members who suffered uncovered losses in several mid-
The flooding that led to the catastrophic collapse of
The heaviest downpours occurred on
MEA member
"Two of our basement walls cracked and bowed in, causing water to flow in through the cracks. We pushed water to the sump pump for nearly 20 hours, and it could not keep up."
With her house now supported by braces, jacks, and beams on two sides, Bischoff's insurance company has denied her damage claim because she did not have flood insurance. The initial estimate for repairs stands at
Bischoff has been working with
"It's extremely overwhelming and stressful all while trying to deal with teaching from home and all of the changes happening with the recent COVID-19 pandemic," she said.
Suddenly the pandemic took a backseat to more immediate concerns, said paraeducator
"The next day, everything was underwater and the rain was still coming down," Sturgeon said. "By Thursday, the town was completely wiped out. Every business was affected."
While Sturgeon's own house near
The local president got in touch with MEA UniServ Director
She had to pick her way around washed-out roads and bridges to get there. "To keep going, you have to compartmentalize," she said. "When I drive through
By Sunday, Sturgeon was driving around helping to deliver grilled chicken meals prepared by a teacher friend and her husband for folks doing the difficult cleanup work all over town.
"Seeing people coming together as a community, it was special," she said. "They didn't care if you were black, white, brown, Republican, Democrat. If you were old and couldn't do physical work, you could sit here and check people in. If you're a kid, then you hand out water. Everybody had a job."
Besides handing out meals, Sturgeon also helped her teacher friend - MEA member Sarah Larges - develop an idea for selling a "
Larges normally makes t-shirts as part of a "side hustle" that also includes artwork made from antique windows, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to design a shirt to sell at
As a 20-year English teacher and longtime track coach in
With limited equipment for making the shirts, Larges said she reached out for help from a community partner that came through.
Larges and her family experienced flooding in their yard, but their home on a hill was spared while many neighbors suffered damage. Part of her felt guilty for escaping harm while others are struggling, but another part of her focused on finding ways to help.
"Securing funds so my students' basic needs are met - that's my wheelhouse," Larges said. "I've always been a major advocate when we do other programs at school, such as Christmastime or adopt-a-family, and I just really work to make sure those needs are met.
"That's why I'm doing it. This money is going to benefit kids and families in my community. I love them, and I tell them I do. They know I love them."
The devastation that so many families in
Similarly in nearby
Efforts have also involved members helping members by cleaning out homes, donating money and supplies, and housing colleagues who evacuated or lost homes. "We've had several members affected by the flood, and our community as a whole is experiencing a vast amount of devastation," Wilson said.
In
"I emailed my members and said, 'Anybody that can come to
The next day and for days after, Hackbarth coordinated volunteers by setting up and monitoring a Google form where members could ask for help and another where members could offer donations and services.
One-quarter of the town was flooded and 30 members from his local suffered damage, Hackbarth said, "ranging from flooded basements, to basement walls collapsing, to losing a cottage that was on one of the lakes, to having a home condemned. It's a big range in terms of what we've lost."
When a member needed help clearing debris, Hackbarth joined forces with a teacher colleague and showed up with other roving demolition teams. Debris piles awaiting pickup at curbside stood as tall as the houses in neighborhoods across the city.
"We were hauling out wet carpet and tearing down drywall, all sorts of stuff," he said. "We did six houses in five days."
In addition, while educators had already been doing the difficult work of remote teaching and learning, now they had to try to touch base with students amid a global pandemic and 500-year flood, the 29-year middle school science teacher said.
"It's pretty much indescribable. We're reaching out to students to see if they're OK, do they need anything? And I don't know if anyone has had time to process it yet. It's not close to anything I've ever had to deal with as a teacher--not even close."
One of the houses where Hackbarth helped to tear out floors destroyed by floodwaters belonged to MEA member
Lambert lives in a quad-level home where three of the four floors were damaged by water. A neighbor kayaked into the area the next day and shared photos of the scene to Lambert's shock. Then it was time to get to work, she said.
"There were moments of tears, and moments of 'We can do this,' and then there were moments of 'Well, this has to get done.' Somehow you find energy you didn't know you had."
Up to 20 teachers and spouses showed up over the next few days to haul out furniture and appliances, among other hard work, she said.
"My union president actually tore up my beautiful cherry wood kitchen floor. My coworkers and their spouses - some I'd never met - were tearing up carpet, pulling out drywall. It was dirty, filthy, grueling, unpleasant work, and they did it for hours on end."
A teacher friend from her building housed Lambert and her husband for a while, and a gift card from MEA helped buy some groceries. "It's been quite a year," she said.
Indeed, the first half of 2020 has presented unprecedented challenges, and it's good to have a union family in these times, said
Local union leaders and staff have helped to work out agreements and deal with problems arising from the sudden shift to remote learning forced by the pandemic, and they've coordinated financial and manpower donations to members in need from a rarely-before-seen flood event.
"It's been amazing to see all the different ways that members are helping their colleagues," said Lombardo, a middle school special education teacher. "I think that's been the biggest thing about the union through all of this--it allows people to feel they're not alone."
Help MEA members affected by the flooding--Give to the MEA support fund today (https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mea-members-affected-by-midland-flooding?fbclid=IwAR3c0Glp_6TKgIxpy-vQ1EN_3vtziyeq27UdWTC7WYzt9GPe3Z4XRuDwlZg).
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