Post-hurricane relief comes from many sources, including nonprofits

DELAND – Months after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole dumped a devastating skyful of water on her home, Chelsea Hyder and others are now getting help from nonprofits to repair their houses.

Workers sent by Lake Support and Emergency Recovery (LASER) began ripping out mold and repairing damage from the roof of her mobile to the floor of her daughter's room.

"It's definitely a relief," she said. "I have a high mold allergy."

All about LASER and SBP

LASER, which began as a Lake County Commission project in 2005, went into high gear in 2007 during the Ground Hog Day tornado that killed more than 20 in Lady Lake and Lake Kathryn area.

It has helped between 2,000 and 2,500 people over the years, said Brandi Martin, executive director. LASER is aimed at the uninsured or underinsured, elderly, disabled and veterans.

It gets its support from other nonprofits, like SBP, which recently awarded a $38,000 grant to help storm victims like Hyder.

According to its website, SBP was formed in 2006 in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. "SBP has rebuilt homes for more than 5,200 families with the help of 150,000 volunteers in 15 communities across the U.S. and in the Bahamas," the site says.

"This grant has allowed us to ensure Lake County homeowners have a helping hand in the FEMA appeals process and is enabling us to help them begin the process of rebuilding their homes and lives," Martin said.

Helping with the fight

Hyder, 35, who has two teenaged children, runs a small eBay business from her home, but is dependent upon disability income.

SBP describes itself as a "national disaster recovery and resilience organization dedicated to shrinking the time between disaster and recovery by reducing risk, increasing resilience, and improving the recovery process by transforming the disaster sector's systems, policies, and programs."

SBP not only gave LASER a grant, but it is helping Hyder, in her words, "to fight" the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for more assistance.

She said she bought her mobile home in 1992 from the previous owner who did not tell her that the home was in a flood zone, or that because of the age of her home, she would not be able to buy homeowner's insurance.

"That's life," she said.

The problem came when a pond fronting her property spilled out to beneath her home, shorting out electrical lines, damaging appliances and flooding her well.

"It's been been devastating, to be honest," Hyder said of the damage to her home, which is near State Roads 44 and 42.

Volunteer Florida has been another godsend to aid nonprofits like LASER, Martin said.

That organization, formally known as the Florida Commission on Community Service, receives more than $23 million in federal and state funding to "promote disaster resiliency and advocate for volunteerism."

Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to donate money to Volunteer Florida after the hurricanes on Sept. 30 and Nov. 10.

The network of nonprofit organizations work with building supply companies to stock a warehouse full of supplies and share information.

Sometimes volunteers help with LASER projects, sometimes it is professional contractors.

"We enjoy it. The ability to help those who can't help themselves," Martin said.

People can also donate to LASER by going to www.laserfl.com.