5/30/15 Protest at Shore targets Sandy repair program, Erin McCarthy Philadelphia Inquirer
Two and a half years ago, Krista Sperber rode out Hurricane Sandy inside her Belmar home. She; her husband, Michael Irwin; and a few neighbors gathered for a hurricane party, and watched as five feet of water surrounded their neighborhood in 15 minutes, she said. "In hindsight, the storm was the fun part," she said Thursday as she sat on a red, white, and blue bus surrounded by 20 other members of the New Jersey Organizing Project. The group was created by Sandy survivors seven months ago to put pressure on state officials to fix the state's troubled "reconstruction, rehabilitation, elevation, and mitigation" (RREM) program for repairing damaged houses and raising them on pylons. Amanda Devecka-Rinear, a founding member of the group, helped organize Thursday's rolling protest, which included stops at vacant houses in Union Beach and Beach Haven West, as well as speeches by affected residents and the signing of cards to be sent to state legislators. The cards urged lawmakers to vote in favor of Sandy-related bills, such as one proposed by State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) that would increase RREM transparency. When their bus broke down, the activists piled into cars. Devecka-Rinear said the rally was meant to counter advertisements and news articles she saw that suggested everyone would be spending the summer at the Jersey Shore. "Yeah, everyone except 7,000 people" still not back in their damaged homes, she said. The group's main complaints are with RREM, which is supposed to provide grants of up to $150,000 to residents for their primary homes. The grants are meant to repair and raise homes so they comply with post-Sandy elevation standards required for flood insurance. A spokesman for Gov. Christie said via e-mail Thursday that the governor was committed to getting people back into their homes as quickly as possible. "We knew from the start the rebuilding process would be longer than any of us would want, and it will never be soon enough for any family waiting to get back into a home," Brian Murray said. "Still, we've made significant progress in speeding up our housing programs and moving people through the process." Murray said more than 1,000 houses have been completed by the program and the number of people who have signed a grant has increased threefold since last year. But, according to the state Department of Community Affairs, only a little more than half of the $936 million in awarded RREM grants has been disbursed as of March 31. Sperber complained that she was asked to sign her RREM grant contract without seeing a bill, and was prohibited from taking the contract home or taking a photo of the piece of paper to verify numbers with contractors and flood insurance. The only reason the family is making progress with repairs, she said, is because of fund-raising by neighbors in her Monmouth County community. Next month, when their winter rental ends, Irwin, Sperber, and her children - Jack, 15, and Maisy, 12 - will move for the sixth time in 21/2 years. Sperber remembers packing up Maisy's and Jack's things - Legos, children's books, toys - as if it were yesterday. "When we left, they could only take so much of their stuff," she said. "It was like we were packing up a phase of their life that was over." She said she never imagined they would be out of their home this long. Joe Karcz, 52, of Beach Haven West, said he has moved 12 times since the storm hit. Remarkably, his deck and a shed survived the storm. With music playing from the shed, he hung out there Thursday afternoon in a bright orange shirt reading "Gov. Christie Finish the Job." A dirt lot marked where his home used to be. The house was badly damaged in the storm and was demolished last Dec. 23, Karcz's birthday. He hired his own builder after a long struggle with state-appointed contractors. In April 2014, Karcz took a mold-covered ball cap to a Christie town hall meeting in Brick and told the governor it was all he had left from the storm. Karcz asked for more rental assistance. A few streets away, Joe Mangino spoke outside his home. He; his wife, Rebecca; and their two daughters, Sophia, 14, and Giada, 8, had thought they would be home next month, but Mangino said he recently discovered the state-appointed construction manager had been fired. While their home has been repaired, it needs to be elevated. The family has been living in one room of a friend's home in Manahawkin. Giada sleeps on the floor, he said. Mangino, too, has followed Christie. In March, he and Devecka-Rinear tailed the governor to an farm-issues forum for GOP presidential candidates in Des Moines, Iowa. He was escorted out after interrupting Christie. In Union Beach, Grace Caputo, 40, stood outside the empty house that she and her daughter, Rosa Indio, 11, would like to call home again. The two now live with Caputo's parents. The state first assigned Seneca-SmartJack as her contractor, she said, but it dropped out of the program. Then DSW Homes took over the project, but recent talks with it have yielded no definitive date as to when needed repairs will begin. RREM did not provide updates on where she was in the process, Caputo said. "I thought I was moving along," she said. "That was not true." Caputo said her home is now worse off than it was before Sandy. Contractors failed to winterize her home, she said, and the pipes burst, causing additional damage. Group founder Sandy Mackay said she hoped events such as Thursday's tour draw attention to the struggles still faced by many Jersey Shore residents. "There's empty lots. There's houses that are in limbo," Mackay said. "Even though the governor wants to ignore us, we won't be ignored anymore." 856-779-3237 [email protected] @erinmcpsu
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Sandy Victims Say Low-Income Residents Got ‘Screwed’ By Christie’s Recovery Programs by Kira Lerner May 29, 2015 Think Progress
As tourists head to the New Jersey shore this summer to enjoy a vacation, longtime residents of the coast are still waiting to return home. More than two and a half years after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the coast, thousands of residents are still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt and for funding to come through. And this week, the New Jersey department overseeing the recovery announced that almost half of the low-income homeowners who applied for rebuilding aid had been rejected. On Thursday, the New Jersey Organizing Project (NJOP) organized a bus tour of the coast to give victims and advocates a chance to speak out about the mismanaged Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program and Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) failed response efforts. While almost 15,000 families applied for the grant program, almost 11,000 of them are still waiting today, according to Fair Share Housing Center’s annual report. And of the more than 1,000 families who applied for the Low- and Moderate Income Homeowners Rebuilding Program, almost half were rejected. “Low and moderate income, they’re the ones that have the littlest voice and get screwed the most and they can’t stick up for themselves,” Joe Karcz, a Sandy victim who has had to move 13 times since the storm, told ThinkProgress. “Even when I’m back in my house, I’ll be speaking out for those low income and I’ll speak up for my neighbors and I’ll keep it up until everybody’s home and nobody has to go through this bullshit anymore.” Karcz said he joined the bus tour to demand action and to hold Christie accountable as he eyes a potential 2016 presidential campaign. “That money in the pipeline — he’s sitting on it and he’s using that money for his presidential hopes,” said Karcz, a single father of two. “I’ve sat with him and I’ve looked him eye-to-eye and he says ‘you’re not going back in that mold infested house.’ And you know what? I spent two years in a row in that mold infested house. So I don’t take anything Christie says to heart.” The Sandy victims touring the shore on Thursday spoke about the need for additional rental assistance for families still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt and the importance of legislation that would improve the efficiency and transparency of the RREM program. State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D) has sponsored a bill which would prevent homes damaged by Sandy from being foreclosed on for three years. Joe Mangino, another Sandy victim who has traveled the country protesting Christie’s response programs, told ThinkProgress the legislation is necessary to prevent him and other victims from losing their homes. A recent report found that 305 Sandy-affected homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties alone were pushed into foreclosure during the first ten months of 2014. Mangino said his family’s home could be on the path to joining those numbers. “Since the storm it’s been a struggle but I was never late on a mortgage payment,” he told ThinkProgress. “This past month was the first time I was late and there’s a reason for that – I’m out of money. You know what’s going to happen? They’re finally going to get my house done and I’ll lose it in foreclosure. That’s the sad end of the story.” But Christie has been resistant to moving forward legislation which would help the victims recover. Early last year, federal officials said they were investigating his use of millions of dollars in Sandy relief funds for ads to promote tourism that also prominently featured the governor. And the state is currently disputing the Fair Share Housing Center’s claim that 15,000 families are still waiting to rebuild, saying it’s “a gross and irresponsible distortion of the facts.” And he’s continued to ignore or shoot down victims who attempt to confront him about the failed recovery efforts, said Amanda Devecka-Rinear, the director of NJOP. “We’re not giving up, we’re not getting shut down and we’re going to keep at it until everyone is home.” VIDEO CLICK HERE
It's that time of year when a lot of people are making plans to vacation at the Jersey Shore, but many victims of Superstorm Sandy say they're facing yet another summer struggling to return home. NBC10's Ted Greenberg shows how a group of storm survivors took their message on the road. 5/28/15 Sandy Victims Just Want to Go Home, MaryAnn Spoto Star Ledger
STAFFORD — If Joe Karcz had gone with his gut, he'd be home by now, instead of staring at his empty lagoon-front lot in Stafford Township. A disabled construction worker, Karcz, whose home was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy's storm surge, first thought he'd rehab it on his own, but then decided to get the funding through what's become a controversial state-administered federal housing recovery program. That program came under attack on Thursday by dozens of Sandy victims who say they – like thousands of others – are still homeless because the state has mismanaged the multi-million dollar Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation Program, one of the initiatives that promised to help them with recovery. "It's to the point now that it's a joke," said Karcz, 52, as he stood on the sandy lot that used to hold his 1,260-square-foot four-bedroom ranch. "I'll make sure I'll be home for Thanksgiving." Nearly three years after the storm, Sandy victims are trying to turn up the heat on Gov. Chris Christie who they said has turned a deaf ear to their pleas for help. In their ongoing "Finish the job" campaign, members of the New Jersey Organizing Project laid out a list of demands. "Why after 2 ½ years after Superstorm Sandy have thousands of families still not gotten home for good?" asked Joe Mangino, whose own home in Stafford still isn't repaired. Mangino was one of about 20 protesters who followed Christie to the Agriculture Summit in Iowa in March to confront him about their plight, after he refused to meet with them. Mangino said. "He was the only one who wouldn't meet with our group to find out how to fix this program," Mangino said, while standing outside his still unfinished home in the Beach Haven West section of Stafford. By that point, 110 days had passed with no work on his house, which had to be elevated, he said. After that Iowa confrontation, which garnered national attention, Mangino said he received a phone call from his builder that his home would be elevated the following week. And it was. But three weeks ago, his construction manager was fired and no work has been done since then. Mangino said the June 4 target date of returning to him home is now gone. "It's high time for the RREM program to get straightened out and for families to get home," Mangino said. "But the governor, he's off doing other things. He hasn't finished the job on Sandy. So while he's busy touring the country, we're here touring the Shore to highlight solutions to get families home." He said they want RREM money moving faster, transparency in how the money is spent, continued housing assistance for displaced residents and realistic recovery goals. Christie spokesman Brian Murray said that the governor had pledged since before Sandy's storm waters receded to help every affected family return to normal lives as quickly as possible. "We knew from the start the rebuilding process would be longer than any of us would want and it will never be soon enough for any family waiting to get back into a home," Murray said. "Still, we've made significant progress in speeding up our housing programs and moving people through the process, and this entire administration will continue to work in earnest to ensure every family's recovery is seen through to completion." Of the 10,800 families in the RREM program, more than 1,000 homes have been completed, he said, noting the program is averaging 49 home completions a week. The New Jersey Organizing Project arranged a bus tour to three hard-hit neighborhoods at the Shore on Thursday, but when the bus broke down on the trip from Little Egg Harbor to Union Beach, participants car-pooled to the final stop in Stafford. Paul Jeffrey, president of the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association, said Toms River, where thousands of homes were severely damaged or destroyed, has issued 1,670 demolition permits for 1,250 new homes, but only 500 are completed. Of the 515 elevation permits issued, only 113 have been completed, he said. "The process is painfully slow. It's a quagmire of paperwork, as many of you know," Jeffrey said. "We don't know where the money is." Jeffrey said he was in the RREM program to get money to elevate his home but withdrew after nine months out of frustration over conflicting construction information. 5/22/15 N.J. Settles With Sandy ContractorState resolves dispute with Louisiana company that helped homeowners apply for rebuilding funds Heather Haddon Wall Street Journal
New Jersey has settled a legal dispute with a contractor that was dismissed over its work helping homeowners rebuild from superstorm Sandy, the conclusion of a troublesome chapter in the state’s efforts to help thousands of displaced residents rebuild from the 2012 storm. 5/15/15 Another homeless summer for some Sandy victims Mark Di Ionno Star Ledger
It's almost summer and the Jersey Shore people left homeless by Hurricane Sandy are on the move again, leaving winter rentals as seasonal rents skyrocket. "It's a problem up and down the coast," said Amanda Devecka-Rinear of the New Jersey Organizing Project, which helps people bound in the red tape of Sandy recovery. "We're talking about a lot of people." 5/11/15 Slowly rebuilding after Sandy, but thousands still displaced while working with N.J. program Kim Lueddeke Bergen Record
More than 2½ years after Superstorm Sandy caused a multibillion-dollar path of destruction, just one-eighth of homeowners — or about 1,000 — in the state’s primary rebuilding program have completed construction and returned home. 5/5/15 RREM: Where'd everybody go? Russ Zimmer Asbury Park Press
Half of the more than 15,000 homeowners whose properties sustained damage during superstorm Sandy remain in the Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program More than 15,000 homeowners, whose properties sustained damage during superstorm Sandy, applied for acceptance into the state's largest rebuilding initiative, the Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program. Now, almost two years after RREM began accepting applications, 8,300 remain engaged in the program. Observers are wondering why so many were removed and what that says about a program that has been plagued with delays and rife with frustration. "Where's everyone going?" asked Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the New Jersey Organizing Project, which materialized in response to problems with RREM. As of last count, 910 homes have been rebuilt through RREM, according to Lisa Ryan, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which is directing the RREM program and nearly all of state's Sandy recovery effort. That number of rebuilt homes — which is included in the 8,300 total — does not reflect completions, however, because all homes must be elevated by October 2016. On the flip side, 1,225 people voluntarily withdrew from the program, walking away from as much as $150,000 in federal grant money, Ryan said. Paul Jeffrey is one of those. Jeffrey acknowledges that his RREM project was unique. He only wanted to lift the one section of his home that was below base flood elevation, not the entire structure. He encountered a lot of confusion during the process — that part of the experience seemed to be universal. His home was not substantially damaged, one of the few on Ortley Beach to avoid that designation, so he was not compelled to raise the home. Jeffrey said he didn't want to end up being on the hook for some of the bill and never had any clarity on what aspects of the project he might be financially responsible for. Ultimately, he and his wife decided not to accept the money. "It was a nightmare trying to get them to simply explain to us what they were paying for and what they weren't," he said. The Tobers in Monmouth Beach were uncomfortable with the idea of not having control over their project but nervous about the consequences of running the project themselves. Not only are unforeseen costs not covered, but RREM puts a deed restriction on the home of those who choose to serve as their own general contractor to ensure that they fulfill program requirements. Jill Tober withdrew from the program in March 2014 and instead pursued the $30,000 from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which cannot be combined with RREM, and a $30,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lift their home. Ryan said the decrease in participation wasn't surprising to the state. In fact, the DCA looked at the number of ineligible homeowners, unresponsive homeowners, and voluntary withdrawals and forecasted that the final number of RREM participants would be between 8,000 and 8,500, she said. That means the money set aside for rebuilding and elevating in the $1.1 billion program was allocated with no more than 8,500 grantees in mind. Those people who are approved but decline the money don't have to provide a reason, so the public has no way of knowing how many people quit the program out of frustration or because they simply had a change of heart. More than 11,400 people had either received preliminary approval or were granted a place on the waitlist when the state checked in with their federal benefactors at the end of March 2014, that same total stood when New Jersey checked back three months later. Over the course of the next year, 3,100 people dropped out or were removed from the program. The Tober family of Monmouth Beach, NJ, is one of about 1,200 New Jerseyan applicants who were approved for the RREM program, but later decided to turn down the grant money to fix their Sandy damaged homes. Brian Tober, who grew up in this home, measures how are out new stairs may have to go if certain repairs were made to the house. /Russ DeSantis/Special to the Asbury Park Press / SLUG-ASB 0429 sandy rrem walkaways (Photo: Russ DeSantis) "Anecdotally, we know some people didn't want to elevate their homes (substantially damaged homes must be elevated in the RREM Program), meet such federal requirements as green building standards that are a condition of participation the program, or obtain and maintain flood insurance on their primary residence, which is a federal requirement for anyone who accepts CDBG Disaster Recovery assistance to rebuild their home," Ryan told the Asbury Park Press in an email. The lack of data hinders the state's ability to address any obstacles that people find daunting enough to dissuade them from continuing in RREM. "When one-third of the people that are found eligible disappear from a program, the state should be able to explain why that happened, and to the degree the problems are with the program correct them," said Adam Gordon, staff attorney with the Fair Share Housing Center, which has been closely monitoring the RREM program. Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, [email protected] RREM progress 15,100 applications received by August 2013 deadline 8,300 homeowners actively participating 6,800 of those have signed their grant award 6,500 of those have entered into the construction phase 910 have completed construction, but not necessarily elevated yet Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs RREM applications (as of the end of 2014) 14,917 total 8,057 received preliminary approval 2,001 waitlisted 2,486 determined to be ineligible 1,245 removed by the state for either accepting a conflicting grant or not responding to requests for information 961 withdrawn by the participant 134 withdrawn to pursue a Blue Acres grant, which purchases flood-prone land for recreational or conservation uses 35 on hold for a review Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs |
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January 2020
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