Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Looking for Some Help for a Fellow Blogger in Alabama



I met Linda on the Compact list a few years ago.  She started her own blog about a year ago(ok, I could be wrong about that).  It's called Practical Parsimony and she's all about frugality, simple living, etc.
Recently a tornado ripped through her small town outside of Birmingham Alabama.  You've all heard about the devastation to this area of the South by now.  The photo above is an ariel view of a part of her town.

Linda doesn't know I am doing this and she'll probably kill me, but here I go anyway.......

Linda has limited means and is a woman of "a certain age" with no steady income.  Without going into details, she has made due for years now.  However her home has some problems which she has recounted in her blog over the past year.  Due to various reasons she hasn't had the resources (financial and physical)to make adequate repairs to her house.  Most tenuous is the condition of her roof.  It's disrepair has also caused additional damage to the interior of her abode and continues to do so.

Then the tornado came through last month and caused further damage to the roof....not alot but some.

Since her roof was already in a sad state pre-tornado, FEMA will not help her with repairing any of the damage-either with labor or monies. Nor will any of the local church or non-profit organizations in her town help her.
Now the situation has gotten to a desperate point.  Her local officials have served her with a condemnation notice unless she fixes her home(the roof seems to be the sticking point).
You can read the post specific to this event HERE

I am sad for my blogging friend.
Sad that I don't live nearby so I can hold her hand as she goes through this.
Sad that I can't pick up a hammer and put some nails into new shingles for her.
Sad that I don't know anyone who could assist her so she can keep her home.

So I am doing the only thing I know how to do.....blogging about this problem and hoping that there is someone out there--

*Someone who has the home repair skills and compassion who lives in her area or will be traveling to her area(possibly to help with tornado victims repair needs through their Church?).
*Someone who knows someone who will be in this area of Alabama soon who can repair a roof for her.
*Someone who knows how she can find the funds to get the supplies for the roof repair.
*Someone who knows what governmental channels she can go through to get help to repair &/or pay for the supplies.

If you are reading this and you have any ideas, or you can blog about this situation to spread the word so that we can reach someone, ANYONE out in cyberspace who would be a resource, please pass this message along.
Linda can be contacted directly on her blog.
Or feel free to email me and I'll pass along any help you can give or find for her.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this.

Sluggy

3 comments:

  1. Sluggy, has she contacted legal aid? My sister used to represent clients pro-bono in housing court as a member of legal aid. She doesn't do that anymore, but that was the type of cases they took.

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  2. This is terribly sad. Why is it that when someone really needs help they get turned down for state aid?

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  3. I don't mind at all. I had a good, bawling, blubbering cry for your generosity and help. I need to hang out the rest of the clothes on the line, so I cannot continue to blubber. No one, NO ONE has done so much for me. I am not eligible for legal aid. Thanks, Sluggy!

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