Moorhead Manor seniors getting new manufactured homes from local nonprofit

Rose Marie Powell is grateful her life is getting closer to normal after Hurricane Ian ripped through Southwest Florida.

The 83-year-old who has lived in the Moorhead Manor mobile home park in East Naples for 24 years is getting a brand-spanking new manufactured home in May or June.

Her new home is courtesy of the nonprofit Baker Senior Center Naples, and she is one of five seniors in the 154-lot Moorhead Manor on Bayshore Drive who will receive one.

More:Life after elected office: Taylor joins Naples Senior Center as disaster resource coordinator

“I am very appreciative,” Powell said, wiping away tears that come quickly. “Believe me when I tell you.”

The Baker senior center, located in North Naples with social activities and a dementia respite program, launched a senior housing resiliency initiative after Ian hit Sept. 28. The near-Cat. 5 storm brought record-setting storm surge and flooded coastal and low-lying regions throughout Collier and Lee counties.

Former Collier County Commissioner Penny Taylor was hired as the center’s first-ever disaster relief resource coordinator in collaboration with the Collier Community Foundation through its reactivated “Collier Comes Together Hurricane Fund.”

“We are embarking on a program that I don’t think has been duplicated,” Taylor said. “It’s a program that is unfolding. The goal is to put seniors in resilient housing for their future as quickly as we can.”

There are 49 manufactured home parks in Collier in flood zones, Taylor said. What’s not clear is how many seniors in the low-lying parks were displaced after Ian damage, or how they are doing physically and emotionally after Ian.

The Community Foundation gave $1 million to the senior center to provide the new housing for the seniors at Moorhead.

Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation, said the foundation came up with idea of funding new manufactured homes for seniors, along with position that Taylor is now in to facilitate the process, and took the idea to the senior center.

“We appreciate the willingness of the Baker senior center to collaborate with us on this vital project and the willingness of our donors to rally and provide the funding," Connolly-Keesler said. "Three of the homes provided are for seniors who are members of our local workforce, so this project also benefits our local economy.”

The five who qualified had to meet qualifications involving financial review, had to have damage from Ian and must be permanent residents with homestead exemption from the county, Taylor said.

Jaclynn Faffer, president and chief executive officer of the senior center, said in a statement: "The partnership of Baker Senior Center Naples and the Collier Community Foundation to replace the manufactured homes of qualifying seniors drastically impacted by Hurricane Ian clearly fits into our mission, which is to provide confidence, connection and support to seniors living in our community."

Flooding in East Naples from Ian never seen before

Powell evacuated to her daughter’s home in Royal Harbor about three miles away on the edge of the City of Naples, which also got walloped by Ian.

Her daughter, Sherry Spinella, 57, lives in a home that has more elevation and did not get damage. Powell has been living with her daughter since the hurricane.

“I was one of the fortunate ones,” Powell said. “I was able to stay with my daughter. She is my rock.”

The storm surge was at least 2.5 feet or more inside Powell’s manufactured home in Moorhead, which her late husband added on to and made it larger.

When she and her daughter were able to get inside a few days after the floodwaters subsided, she was devastated like so many other long-timers who have endured hurricanes through the years. Ian became the menace beyond belief.

More:Long-awaited Baker Senior Center Naples opens in North Collier County

“I have lived in Naples for 43 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Powell said.

They got drywall cut out to about 3 feet in height inside and the flooring ripped out to prevent mold growth but little, if anything, was salvageable.

“It was so hard,” Powell said.

Spinella, a Realtor, soon realized rebuilding the manufactured home made in 1974 wasn’t an option.

When Taylor held a town hall meeting in Moorhead and talked about the housing resiliency initiative, Spinella zeroed right in.

More:Volunteers drawn to East Naples retiree mobile home park to rebuild after widespread damage

She filed the paperwork Dec. 27 for her mother to apply and got word of her approval in two weeks.

There were just the five applicants who got approved which may have to do with the financial review and having to be full-time residents.

“A lot in Moorhead Manor are not full-time residents,” Spinella said.

How does the program work?

The manufactured homes will come from LeeCorp Homes, are hurricane rated and would cost $190,000 to replace, Taylor said. LeeCorp Homes was founded in Naples in 1983.

Another $10,000 will be spent on the carport and furniture valued at $9,000 will be provided.

Powell and the four others will be required to carry flood and property insurance and the senior center will put liens on the homes so the residents cannot sell them. The manufactured homes will be elevated to what FEMA requires.

Taylor’s been getting insurance quotes; it has not been decided yet if the senior center will cover the insurance for the five seniors.

Faffer said the senior center is still in the process of exploring requirements for property insurance.

"Costs are so prohibitive and we do not want to place the seniors who are receiving new manufactured homes in situations that they cannot afford," Faffer said.

More:Damage from Hurricane Ian at $2.2 billion in Collier; more than 3,500 buildings face major damage

Powell has not seen pictures yet to know what her new home will look like.

“You know, I really honestly don’t care,” she said. “I’m just so grateful.”

She did get to pick the exterior color of grey.

She misses the friendliness of Moorhead, where waving at everybody driving by, even strangers, is practically a rule. Social activities are starting up again soon.

“I miss it,” Powell said. “I can’t wait to get back in.”

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Five seniors in East Naples park will get new manufactured homes