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10 Families We Have the Power to Help

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Captain Bernie

Walther lives in the house where his wife, Jackie, was born. He and Jackie have been married for 20 years. They have 3 children: Ian (age 9) and twins, Grayson and Sydney (age 7). Captain Walther was on vacation when the flood hit. He returned home but left his family so that he could take care of the crippling devastation and spare them the debilitating emotional effects of seeing their home and city submerged in water. When Capt. Walther arrived home, he found that three of his basement walls had collapsed. The possessions in the basement and on the first floor are completely destroyed and the conditions of the house are currently unlivable. Until the family can find a permanent residence, Walther lives in a temporary home within the town of Cedar Rapids and his family lives in a nearby town with Jackie’s parents. Despite being separated from his family in a time of need, Bernie has demonstrated amazing strength in the face of devastation and his efforts to rebuild the city and the morale of City Rapids is truly inspiring.

Officer John McDaniels

Officer John McDaniels lived on Ellis Rd, next to the Cedar River, before the debilitating floods made his home uninhabitable. He lived with his wife Julie and their 12-year-old son Drake. Julie ran a daycare center next door to the home that cared for eight children, the facilities of which have been completely destroyed by the floodwaters and has resulted in $150,000 worth of damage. What’s worse, it is believed that their home may have suffered more damage than the daycare center. Their home was one of the first to be hit by the flood. The water tore through their home Thursday morning at 11 AM and John was back to work Thursday evening. As John explained, “I couldn’t do anything at home so I might as well come to work and help someone else.” While the future of their home is still uncertain and the possibility of rebuilding just a mere dream at the moment, John continues to work selflessly and admirably to help the other victims of the Cedar Rapids flood.

Officer Corey Lentz

Before the floodwaters tore through Cedar Rapids, they demolished the town of Palo first. Palo is also located on the Cedar River and one hundred percent of the residents of Palo were evacuated. Most houses in Palo suffered excessive damage, including the home of Officer Lentz. On Wednesday night, the night before the flood, Corey was fortunate to move most of the belongings on the first floor out of his house but was forced to leave the freezer, washer, dryer, furnace, and TV in the basement. On Thursday morning when the flood hit, the water destroyed the remaining items and the house. Officer Lentz is married to Carissa and they have a 5-year-old daughter named Ellie. Although the family is lucky to have moved out some of their belongings before the flood they are still crippled by the loss of their home.

Officer Rod Schulte

Although the home of Officer Rod Schulte sits on a slight embankment, his home was ravaged by floodwater. In his basement he lost his furnace, carpet, sheet rock, and his children’s toys. Officer Schulte lives with his wife Brooke and their three children, Braden (age 14), Sydney (age 7) and Cal (age 5). The biggest problem they face is that Sydney suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. Her immobility and health problems only accentuate the effects of the flood. In the aftermath of the flood Officer Schulte takes his daughter to summer camp, comes home to clean, and then returns to work. Although Officer Schulte has proved himself as a brave and courageous police officer in his everyday work and in his efforts after the flood, he finds it difficult to tell his wife that their wedding pictures were lost in the flood.

Marie Brightman

Marie works in the Records room of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. She lives at home with her dog, located across from the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Despite losing everything in her basement to the flood, Marie has been at work constantly. She currently acts as the head of inventory in documenting the department’s losses and was allowed to enter the PD when she was not allowed to enter her own home.

Officer Wayne Handeland

Officer Handeland was working on Wednesday night when his wife, Angie, called to say that they needed to evacuate. Angie and a friend moved everything of importance to them to an upstairs room but lost their furnace, freezer, washer, and dryer to the flood. Their home has sustained immeasurable damage but Officer Handeland continues to work and support others in this time of need.

Officer Jessica Long

Officer Long had just moved out of her home when the flood came. Although she had just moved out she had not yet removed everything from the basement. Her house also suffered water damage to her basement and laundry room and has severely weakened the foundation.

Jean Novak

Jean is an administrative secretary in the Police Department. She is married to Steve who has a repair shop in the downtown area. The floodwater was 10 feet high in the shop. Although they were able to save several belts that were hung high on the wall, they lost everything else to the flood.

Sheryl Daves

Sheryl works in the Records Room of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Massive amounts of floodwater tore through her home and she lost all her possessions. She has no furniture, no clothing, and no resources. As a single mom, Sheryl is struggling to survive with her children.

Officer Sherry Lester

Officer Lester’s cabin on the Wapsi River was destroyed by floodwater. The rising water left significant damage to the cabin and destroyed all her furnishings.

Community of Ocala, FL reaches out to help community of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

iowa1

The Power of 10
Rebuilds Lives

 

Please join us to support 10 families who have lost their homes along with all their possessions to the devastating floodwaters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Amy Graham, the wife of Greg Graham, has started a fund raising campaign for the families. Greg served the community of Ocala for 25 years with the Ocala Police Department. He left his position as Deputy Chief to become the new Chief of Police in Cedar Rapids. After only 11 days on the job, record flooding traumatized the city of Cedar Rapids.

Ten employees of the city have lost everything they own, including their homes. Although they have lost everything they continue to assist others in need.

As a community we have the power to help these 10 families rebuild their lives. As mayor of Ocala, Randy Ewers has stepped up many times to show his support to our community, lead us in times of tragedy, and has been a strong example of compassion. He is supporting these efforts to uphold the values we hold dear in helping all those in need during times of strife and struggle.

We are asking you to support these families by wearing black bracelets during our 10-day campaign. With a $10 donation we can make a difference.

Drop off points for the donations in Ocala include:

1st Quality Title (352) 690 -1787
Palm Chevrolet (352) 629 - 8011
OPD front desk (352) 690 - 7000
Gateway Bank (352) 368 -3756

Please make checks payable to Cedar Rapids Police Department.

For more information on the campaign, relief efforts, and the stories of these families please visit: foundationforgrace.org
Tax-deductible donations can also be made through this website under Power of 10 on a PayPal account.

For more information on how you can help, call:
Amy Graham: (352) 572-5482 Kathy Bryant: (352) 572-5775

Ocala, Fl Mayor Randy Ewers, Ocala, Fl Chief of Police Samuel Williams and Cedar Rapids, Iowa Chief of Police Greg Graham, endorse these efforts.

           

Thank you to all the volunteers and contributors to these efforts.

Rekindling Your Body and Spirit

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Here is an article by Rondi Lightmark featured in the Sept-Oct 2002 issue of Body & Soul Magazine

Nine years ago, I was a tireless and resourceful caregiver in the months leading up to my husband’s death from cancer. But the day after Jim’s funeral, I developed acute bursitis in both shoulders. Soon my feet began to cramp up. As the months went by, my left side developed a whole series of odd complaints-shoulder and toe aches, a benign cyst on my calf, eczema on the knee, lumps and pains in my breast. I also suffered from constriction in my chest, a clenching in my gut, an ache in my heart, a lump in my throat, an inability to focus, trembling hands and erratic sleep. I knew I wasn’t sick-but I also didn’t know how to help myself. >More…

I Know the Trauma of Death; by Teri Kellogg

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The primal scream of grief! No one could have prepared me for this life-changing moment. The shock to my body when I heard those unimaginable words. As if screaming could magically somehow stop the highway patrol officer from telling me my husband had just been killed in a car accident. >More…

The Power of Divine Grace

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

Welcome to the Foundation for Grace, I want to share with you the power of Divine Grace and how she works in our lives. A year ago Anna Redgate was graciously brought into my life by a cherished friend and participant of my work who I hadn’t heard from in years, Craig Bachrodt. He called and shared how his friend Anna had experienced the most unimaginable tragic loss of her life five years ago, at 6: 00pm on January 1, 2000. >More…