After sleeping weeknights in her car to save money this summer, flood victim Patti Smalley is in a home in Plattsmouth, Neb.
Smalley was featured Oct. 9 in a World-Herald story about the added hardship faced by Iowans affected by flooding. The state’s residents had been denied individual federal disaster aid even as people living in Nebraska, Missouri and South Dakota were receiving checks.
That federal aid is now available to Iowans. Approval of the state’s appeal came last week.
Moved by Smalley’s story, several readers offered to help, and The World-Herald’s Goodfellows program coordinated a brief drive — now ended — that brought in $2,160 in donations to pay her rent through the end of the year.
That type of generosity has been present throughout the summer for Smalley and other flood victims, as strangers, neighbors and family step in.
When the evacuation of Hamburg, Iowa, was ordered, Smalley was among the community’s residents provided a free moving truck by Pella Corp. Co-workers at each of her two jobs, friends and complete strangers helped her and her daughter, also a Hamburg evacuee, move this summer — first to a rental home in Riverton, Iowa, and later to a home in Plattsmouth.
Additionally, federal housing funds for low-income residents covered the summer’s rent in Riverton. In September, the American Red Cross paid for a deposit and four weeks’ rent on the Plattsmouth home, according to Management One, a Bellevue company that manages rental property.
Smalley said her Hamburg home was not directly damaged by flooding, but the underside of the structure has mold from seepwater. The Red Cross provided aid because the home was damaged by a fire soon after the flooding began.
For Smalley, sleeping in her car in Omaha during the work week lessened stress, provided her more rest and saved on gas costs as well as wear on the vehicle, she said. Her weekend drive to the Riverton home took more than an hour along back roads that were crowded by other traffic detoured off the closed Interstate.
Smalley and daughter Yvonne received the keys to the Plattsmouth house Sept. 9. Smalley said she spent her September weekends packing up the Riverton home and moving possessions to Plattsmouth. Smalley continued to live in her car during that transition time.
She said she’s grateful for the Goodfellows donations.
“I wasn’t expecting that, I just wanted people to know what everyone in Iowa was going through,” she said. “(The Plattsmouth home) is actually very nice. I can go home and be with my dogs. It helps me be more centered.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com
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