As Hurricane Helene swept across metro Atlanta on the night of Sept. 26, tree limbs crashed through the roof of DeKalb County’s only emergency shelter for families facing homelessness, while water gushed into the ground floor from the downtown Decatur street.
Robbie Thompson, a case manager, was soon inundated in water up to her calf. A mini waterfall flowed down steps into the dining room.
“It was a mess,” Thompson said. “It was devastating.”
The shelter, Hagar’s House, has been closed ever since. It is owned and run by Decatur Cooperative Ministry, an ecumenical nonprofit that is still raising money to pay for the repairs.
“We just want to be open doing what we do,” Decatur Cooperative Ministry Executive Director Marlene White said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
White doesn’t know how much the organization will need. She still hasn’t received an estimate for the roof replacement. But the nonprofit has burned through the money it has.
Mitigating the water damage cost $15,000. Removal of furniture and other damaged items cost $10,000.
New floors and drywall will cost about $150,000, White said, and roof repairs are another expense.
Insurance will only pay $30,000, the maximum for flood damage, White said. She said the organization is far from being able to pay for the remaining costs.
When the hurricane hit, the kitchen was being renovated thanks to a $190,000 grant from DeKalb County, White said. That money is funding kitchen repairs instead.
The area is not eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funding, White said. The nonprofit has applied to the county for more money and is awaiting a decision, she said.
Hagar’s House used to be a single-family home. It can house up to five families at a time, with a total of 30 beds. Four bedrooms upstairs were not damaged, but the suite downstairs flooded.
The community room on the ground floor had a round table, sofa, bookshelves, toys and games, staffers said. Kids did homework there and families watched movies. Now it is full of boxes and wooden beams.
New floors have been installed in the kitchen, and workers last week tackled the plumbing and electrical systems.
Damaged drywall was cut out of the entire ground floor, leaving a dry-erase board on one wall with the Mark Twain quote, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
New laundry machines are on the way. Board games were stacked in a former office.
The night of the hurricane, a mother and 9-year-old daughter were staying in an upstairs room, staffers said. They were unharmed and the room wasn’t damaged, but they had to be relocated to a church’s former parsonage because the shelter isn’t habitable, White said.
DeKalb County’s coordinated entry system for people facing homelessness used to place families in Hagar’s House, White said. DeKalb can instead send them to the Salvation Army in Atlanta, or to hotels if the county has the money. The county’s warming shelters are also available, but only if the weather is cold enough.
In hotels, families don’t get the benefits that Hagar’s House offers, including a computer lab, tutoring and care from interns who are students at Agnes Scott College, Georgia State University or Clark Atlanta University, White said.
“There’s so much more we do than just provide the space,” she said.
To donate, visit decaturcooperativeministry.org.
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