FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Months after dozens of people at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale were forced out by wicked weather, that facility is now making a call for help in order to rebuild.
Stacy Hyde, the CEO of Broward House, spoke with 7News on Friday about the damage that the facility sustained.
“Our loss right now after insurance is about $1.5 million,” she said. “There was water and muck all throughout the building.”
Residents of Broward County experienced historic flooding on April 12.
“Two of our buildings, we couldn’t even get into for about four days,” Hyde said.
The flooding left Broward House’s six buildings severely damaged and dozens of their homeless residents displaced.
“Broward House is often the only place for some people who do not have insurance, who do not have income, who have been pushed aside by family and often society,” Hyde said, “and when they come here living with HIV, with mental health, with having experiences, homelessness, we are able to rebuild them, and they begin to believe in themselves.”
And that’s why they’re so determined to reopen, rebuild and resume that help, by gutting every one of their buildings.
“We found mold in the ceiling, which led us to believe we actually need a new roof,” Hyde said.
They are hoping donations will help to once again restore their facilities and provide the healthcare many so desperately need.
“The biggest challenge I face every day is saying no to people who are living on the streets that we can’t take in, and there is nowhere else for them to go,” Hyde said, “so we are trying to care for them and make sure they take their medications while they’re in the shelter or, really, living on the streets, so we need to open as quickly as possible.”
Broward House officials said their goal is to reopen by October. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
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