Looming landslide displaces family,
Red Cross volunteers provide assistance
 
|
| Red Cross |
| |
|
January 6, 2006
|
Instead, they are facing a mudslide destroying their home, which is not covered by their insurance policy.
Jennifer Winemiller and Kevin Brown's house is on a hillside on Newell Ridge Road in Oregon City . When it started shifting, more than 20 neighbors rushed to help them move their belongings before further damaged occurred.
Jan and Larry Stennick, two Red Cross volunteers residing in Oregon City , provided them with immediate cash assistance for Jennifer, Kevin and their three children for food and lodging at a motel for a week.
“We would have never imagined that this would be how 2006 would begin for us, but we are so grateful to the Red Cross and our neighbors for their support,” said Jennifer Winemiller. “We are now looking ahead to find the resources and financial support so we can one day move back into our home.”
Although Jennifer and Kevin had homeowner's insurance, they have now learned that their insurance policy does not cover damage from a mudslide. So far, they have been unsuccessful in finding a policy that does include financial assistance from a mudslide.
When a local family loses their home to fire, flooding or mudslide, it is just as significant to that individual family as the destruction of a large disaster, such as a hurricane or tornado. Red Cross volunteers provide local residents with the same care, compassion and services that a family may receive when a catastrophic disaster or emergency impacts a community. These smaller, less newsworthy disasters happen every 32 hours in the Portland area.
Local disasters enable local Red Cross volunteers to get experience in providing financial assistance, health services and mental health support. This experience, coupled with national disaster assignments and ongoing training provided by the Oregon Trail Chapter, helps better prepare our community for a large disaster that could strike the Pacific Northwest .
All relief aid and services to our clients is provided free of charge, thanls to help from generous Oregonians who understand the needs created by fire. For more information about being a part of the largest humanitarian network in the world, visit
www.redcross-pdx.org
|
|
|
.gif)
