ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – An Alantic Beach woman says she’s fallen through the cracks of Hurricane Ian recovery efforts after a tree fell on her mobile home.
Shanin Ritter says she’s struggled to find help anywhere with holes in her roof.
Ritter lives in a mobile home park but owns her mobile home, so she can’t rely on a landlord for the repairs. The damage from the storm is considerably more expensive than she can handle, and she doesn’t know who to turn to for help. Ritter is frustrated and scared about what she’ll do now.
“I’m handicapped. I do sleep in a medical bed. I have medical chairs, wheelchairs, oxygen mask. I’m 52 years old, and I can’t help the situation that I’m in,” Ritter told News4JAX.
Ritter says she has very little money and has no idea how she’ll ever pay to repair the holes that remain in her roof after the tree fell on her home during Ian.
“There is nowhere for people like me to go,” she said. “We’re, I hate to say it, on the nobody list and we’re not subsidized by the government, so the government doesn’t care. We didn’t get FEMA assistance in Duval County so we can’t apply.”
So we got to work, tracking down multiple options for Ritter. Some have been dead ends because of her situation, but some may work in finding her help.
First, there’s the United Way’s 211 line, which you can call to find out about services.
At the beaches, where Ritter live, there’s the group BEAM.
In addition, there’s the American Red Cross.
News4JAX also tracked down for her a group called LISC Jacksonville. It has a hurricane recovery specialist that she’s reaching out to.
And then there’s a national group called Crisis Cleanup. It helps get local groups in touch with people in need. Its phone number is 800-451-1954.
“There are gaps. Crisis cleanup will take the request from anyone whether you’re in a declared disaster area or not. Keep in mind though that Crisis Cleanup doesn’t have volunteers ourselves. Instead, we connect relief organizations who have capacity to help those who need help in the community,” said Aaron Titus, with Crisis Cleanup.
Ritter hopes one of these options can help her. If not, she said, “I’ll probably end up homeless because I can’t afford anything on this.”
“I’m on disability, full disability, so my money completely goes to this mobile home park and lights,” she continued.
Crisis Cleanup works with local civic organizations and volunteer groups but can’t work with individual volunteers. So Crisis Cleanup recommends if you want to help it get involved with a local volunteer organization, have the group reach out.