CARBONDALE, Ill. -- While help is available to victims of the flood of 2011, many who have been flooded out of their homes are falling through the cracks and wondering just how to get the help they need. Sheila Frampton-Proctor of Carbondale, a city in southern Illinois, is in exactly that position -- between a rock and a hard place without any real idea of what to do.
Frampton-Proctor was flooded out of her home at the Reed Station Mobile Home Park on the evening of April 25. She was able to grab some clothing for each member of her family along with a box containing toothpaste, toothbrushes and other essentials. Frampton-Proctor is a single, working mom with three children and has been trying to juggle her job with a local social service organization while dealing with the stress and emotions from her own situation.
"My daily job is consumed with assisting my clients with help in whatever form they may need it. There have been a few days where I could not face that job, because I felt that I spend all my days taking care of others and no one is stepping in and help to take care of me. People say your stuff can be replaced but I am saying to them what about my emotions, my fear, my anger, and my memories?" she said.
Her stress has been exacerbated by the feeling of "falling through the cracks" she has experienced while trying to get needed assistance:
"I made several phone calls to the Red Cross. It is very frustrating to hear them turn you down over the phone the first time. I attempted going to a shelter for flood victims and was told to my face that it was only for Cairo victims. What??? To me that was a slap in the face considering it is the town I live in that is housing the Cairo victims. What about local people that have been flooded also? They had no suggestions for me, except to call the Red Cross. After a week of feeling lost, unnoticed and hearing people talk only about Cairo victims I began to feel invisible. People just continue on with their daily lives, they tend to forget because they don't see it."
While her home is a total loss ("The floors look like a roller coaster and are falling in with many soft areas. The water went up two feet into my home."), Frampton-Proctor is at a loss for how to get started with the monumental cleanup; the financial devastation from the flood only adds to an already disastrous situation. She only has questions, with no answers:
"I will not be able to move back in, I have a 6-month -ld baby girl whom I would not want into that environment of the mold because she will be crawling soon. I am responsible, since I own my mobile home to remove it or dispose of it somehow. The landlord has provided dumpsters to pile our damaged items in but how would I put a dresser into a dumpster that is taller than myself? How would I throw a trash bag of wet books into a dumpster that is taller than myself? Am I on a deadline as to when I have to have my unsalvageable home removed? Am I responsible for paying this landlord lot rent if my home is there but not livable?"
Homeowners insurance is, unfortunately, no help, she said:
"Insurance will not cover this because it is an act of God and in 2007 when this happened I called my insurance company to get flood insurance and they denied me because I did not live within so many feet of a body of water. My plans were to update my home then sell for down payment for a house. I had a new central air conditioner, new windows, and new laminate flooring front to back. At this point it has been (no 30) days I have been out of my home and still have a lot of work to do on getting items cleared out of my mobile home. I am having difficulty finding help to assist me with the labor part of the whole situation. Who can answer questions about mobile homes and what the process is of how to take care of a flooded mobile home? Who would know this information? I am searching for a new home but it is very expensive...compared to only having to pay lot rent. Needless to say my budget has been tremendously affected."
The entire situation has been an emotional roller coaster for Frampton-Proctor and it's taken its toll. After the second week, she broke down emotionally then made a visit to the local Red Cross office to ask for grief counseling after hearing on the news that it was available. She said she was told she would be referred to Southern Illinois Regional Social Services in Carbondale and would need to make an appointment with that agency, but was never given further information.
The Red Cross did help her family with a few toiletry items, diapers, and a Visa card to purchase other essentials which she said was a big help. She has been told that the relief agency would also help her with a deposit and first month's rent on a place to stay, but if she decides to buy a home they could not help.
At this point, she doesn't know what she will do.
"(One month) of being out of my home they (Jackson County Emergency Management Agency) have come out and did an assessment of the trailer park and now we have to wait," Frampton-Proctor said. "For how long? I called and asked and they said 'I don't know.' (The Red Cross said) they are just in the assessment stage. What are the stages they do and when? What's next?"
The entire situation has obviously caused anxiety and understandable frustration and anger, but in the end there are still no answers, no obvious solutions.
"...people would ask 'How are you?' How would one answer that question? You can't! Until you go through this type of situation there is no way you can imagine, sympathize or empathize with someone what they are going through," she said. "I have plenty of people ask me 'What are you going to do? What are your plans? What do you need?' I just answer with an 'I don't know!' I have to continue with my daily life as if nothing is happening in my life. People want you to tell them the story but after you have told the same story 30 times a day you become numb!"
"I want this to be over. I want to return to my life, but can't. People now look at me with sad or sorry eyes. I don't want to be reminded -- I am living it."
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