Two months after flooding from Tropical Storm Irene devastated the Glen Park mobile home community in West Brattleboro, there are still gutted trailers and piles of debris.
Volunteers have been helping clean up the damage, but Glen Park residents are still frustrated by the pace of the recovery.
According to figures issued recently by the Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development, more than 433 mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in 15 mobile home parks around the state.
Among them is Glen Park, which sits on the west bank of Whetstone Brook between Hayes Court and Melrose Terrace, two of the Brattleboro Housing Authority's public housing developments. Two-thirds of the 33 homes in Glen Park were damaged or destroyed by floodwaters.
More than any other housing group, mobile homeowners have been whipsawed by the damage from Irene, and the home disposal issue has been a major problem around Vermont.
With many residents living on fixed incomes and without major savings, many could not afford to dispose of their damaged homes, at a cost that the state estimates around $3,500 on average. They also faced the prospect of paying rent for their lots starting in November if they did not remove their uninhabitable homes.
Meanwhile, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants to mobile homes have been averaging $5,000-$10,000, often far less than their value, leaving many mobile home owners in a financial squeeze.
The situation is especially tough for low-income residents who have lost everything.
Last week at a public meeting at the Old Labor Hall in Barre, about 40 mobile-home owners flooded out by Irene gathered with advocates, legislators, and local and state officials to detail their dire housing and financial situation.
One of them, Glen Park resident Mary Durland, said that residents were buoyed when college students and volunteers came to muck out the park, but then efforts to clean up were halted because of concerns of asbestos and lead in the park.
She said residents are now “stopped cold” in cleanup and renovation efforts, and the emotional toll among residents has been dramatic.
Two residents have suffered strokes. Others have had a heart attack and a nervous breakdown. One required a hospital stay for pneumonia.
“Winter is coming,” Durland said. “We need professional help. We need some money. We've been pretty much abandoned.”
Looking for affordable housing
Many of the mobile-home residents at the Barre meeting were looking beyond the disaster of Irene to mobilize for more affordable housing for low-income Vermonters, also contending that they are being ignored.
Carol Perry, one of the lucky ones whose Glen Park mobile home survived, said it was time to organize to bring their voices to the Statehouse.
She noted that many residents worked hard all their lives but retired with only Social Security for income and can't afford housing today in Vermont, a situation she called “degrading.”
“We need help. All of us need help,” she said.
One program that may offer some help was developed by Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and the Vermont Agency of Commerce, working with the Vermont Community Foundation. It has successfully raised $145,000 and hopes to boost that amount to $200,000 to help pay for the removal of damaged homes.
The program is now able to offer a $1,500 credit to each homeowner.
Residents of Glen Park, and other flooded mobile home parks around the state, will be receiving packets of information about this program, and homeowners will have until Nov. 15 to register.
People can register or get more information by calling the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity at 802-660-3455, ext. 204.
State officials say demolition teams will be mobilized for each of those parks as soon as all interested homeowners have completed the required paperwork and the FEMA application process.