A Source of Relief in Times of Crisis

A Source of Relief in Times of Crisis

By Hathlyn Chapman, Disaster Relief Coordinator, Kentucky REALTORS®

It is difficult for any one of us to wrap our minds around the fact that within less than one year, our state of Kentucky bore two historic and heartbreaking disasters. I was hired into a new position at KYR as Disaster Relief Coordinator working part-time through college, without knowing the full-time devotion I would make to the victims of these disasters.

I will never forget the overwhelming feeling I had on my first day as the actuality of my new job set in. I remember opening my email inbox to the reality of the condition the tornadoes had left Western Kentucky in. There was no way to prepare myself for the real-life accounts of what a 45-second storm had done to these families. I would open pictures of what once was a home to an entire family and not be able to determine what I was looking at. I would answer calls and listen to stories about how one night would result in a lifetime of PTSD for one victim or how a resident spent the night listening to all of the different cries for help down his entire street as his neighbors were trapped under the aftermath. It became clear to me that there were many more stories similar to these and I would spend the next several months reaching as many victims as possible.

To find the good in a bad situation, I was truly delighted to work firsthand with these victims and provide them with those first steps back to some normalcy. Our REALTOR® Relief Fund was seemingly a drop in the bucket, but to the people who had their entire worlds destroyed by the tornadoes, covering their housing costs for 3 months meant much more than I could ever understand. Granting over $690,000 to our tornado victims was undeniably an honor. From a check as small as $120 to the maximum $3000, it was heartwarming to know that assistance coming from our REALTOR® fund would be the aid that brought hope to those who weren’t so hopeful.

It was heartwarming to know that assistance coming from our REALTOR® fund would be the aid that brought hope to those who weren’t so hopeful.

Just as we thought we were finding the right steps in disaster recovery; Eastern Kentucky was hit with one of the most devastating floods in the state’s history. When I thought I had seen the worst, it came in another form. The image of children’s toys stuck in the tops of trees, homes completely lifted of their foundations & washed away, and black mold intruding living spaces completely bemused me. As the news of this flood came in, I had so many questions. But the most important one being: how do we help?

Recovering from a flood is a much different process than recovering from a tornado. When a tornado strikes an area, the damage is done in an instant. With a flood, the rain can continue for days causing damage to accrue taking days or even weeks to reveal its full extent and recovery to be delayed. We found that this was the case with the Eastern Kentucky flooding. We had to somehow act fast but also take our time to make appropriate modifications in providing relief to a different beast.

We spent several days analyzing what we had learned from the tornado victims and amending those details to meet the needs of the flood victims. In doing that, we were able to set up our REALTOR® Relief Fund with the help of the National Association of REALTORS® and quickly began providing aid to the flood victims in a volume we hadn’t seen before. Furthermore, we were able to raise money to well prepare ourselves in the case that another disaster falls upon our state.

In continuing to provide relief to the flood victims of Eastern Kentucky, each day we are learning how to best help disaster victims. With each penny that is disbursed in the $423,000 to Eastern Kentucky and over $1 million between both disasters, we have prioritized offering our aid to those who need it most.

Through this unprecedented time of uncertainty, the one irrefutable facet I have found myself holding onto is the strength of the commonwealth and the unity of our REALTOR® family. This has not been a one-man job. From the beginning, there were always emails, text, and phone calls from our members reaching out with their continuous efforts and support. As we work through recovery, I am grateful to have not only the state of Kentucky behind us, but also the REALTOR® members all across the country. We hope that our state of Kentucky does not deal with another nightmare such as the ones of this past year. But should that be our unfortunate reality, I have no doubt that the past 10 months of experience will guide us through a smooth recovery.