As Congress debates and amends the bill to provide federal aid for Hurricane Sandy-ravaged areas, the Wagner students who started and operate Wagner Cares to provide for storm victims post this plea to their Facebook page:
76 days later and Hurricane Sandy recovery is FAR from over. FEMA is giving little aid to no aid for families affected and insurance companies are using loopholes to prevent payouts. Our neighbors and residents on Staten Island are still homeless! They need mold remediation, wood to rebuild, and sheet rock for the least. They need YOUR help, because the government and insurance companies are largely unreliable. Please please please support survivors and relief efforts by donating www.wagnercares.org/donate EVEN $5 CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Please spread this.
Meanwhile, one of the students we interviewed in our story about the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the Wagner community, Gabriella Maldonado '14, provides this update on her family's situation:
"As of now [January 7, 2013], the first floor of my home is still not rebuilt. The plans are made but the insurance company is so backed up with claims they are not releasing any money. My family and I are very frustrated with the insurance company because it's been 10 weeks and we have not progressed much. The first floor of my house consists of only the support beams that hold the house together. There are no walls, no ceiling and the floor is just wood boards. We are anxious to be back home and to start rebuilding our life again, but I don't know if that will be anytime soon. We are hoping to be back home sometime within the next 2 months, but that is all based on when our insurance company will get to our claim.
"For the spring semester, I will be going back to the Harborview dorms, and my parents and sisters will continue to stay with family members until our home is finished. This has been a very long journey and it is not over yet. But, throughout this entire experience I continue to feel blessed. I have wonderful family and friends behind me.
"Thank you again for telling not only my story but the story of my community and fellow survivors."
— Laura Barlament, Editor, Wagner Magazine, laura.barlament@wagner.edu
January 14, 2013
