There are still 122 people in the Springfield shelter and another 85 in West Springfield. The local red cross is committed to finding each a permanent home.
Cots fill the exhibition hall at the MassMutual Center that is being used as a Red Cross shelter for tornado victims.SPRINGFIELD – After 17 days spent at the MassMutual Center, Maria Torres and Marcial Quinones were looking forward to moving out and moving in.
“We are thrilled,” Torres said in Spanish as she gathered her few belongings from the shelter and placed them in a shopping cart.
“Finally some privacy,” she said.
The pair lost their home, their apartment on Central Street in the"> June 1 tornado. They celebrated the first day of summer Tuesday by moving out of the shelter inside the cavernous MassMutual Center and into their new apartment on St. James Avenue.
They were one of the many families housed in the emergency shelter because they had nowhere else to go after the tornado swept through.
“We lost everything but the clothes on our backs and our identification,” said Quiñones.
The couple is also one of several families who have recently helped to find permanent housing by the American Red Cross - Pioneer Valley and other agencies.
As of Wednesday, there were still 122 people living in the emergency shelter, set up in the exhibition hall of the downtown civil center.
The Red Cross is working with Catholic Charities, HAP Inc., Catholic Charities, and the Springfield Housing Authority to find new housing for the displaced.
A rumor spread among those at the shelter that they would be put out on the street on Friday because the MassMutual Center would be needed for an upcoming concert, but Red Cross and MassMutual Center officials said Wednesday that is not true.
Red Cross spokeswoman Brenda Brouillette said the organization has set a deadline of Friday to have a strategic plan ready for the future of the shelter. That is not the same as closing it down and putting people out, she said.
“We want to make it clear that we are not shutting down the shelter,” she said. “We provide emergency shelter and assistance for folks, and now three weeks in, we are looking to get everyone situated into permanent housing,” she said.
MassMutual General Manager Matthew A. Hollander said the concert will not interfere with the operation of the shelter.
“The concert will be in the main arena and they are staying in an exhibit room on the other side of the building, so it would not interfere with the concert at all,” he said.
“We are willing to continue hosting (those in the shelter) for as long as it’s necessary,” he said.
American Red Cross of Pioneer Valley Executive Director Richard Lee said the agency will not be turning anyone out into the street on Friday or afterward.
“We are dealing with one client at a time trying to make sure that we can move them into a space that works for them and is ideally a permanent move,” he said.
“If by Friday there are people who still have no place to go then we will work with each of them to find a space,” he said.
According to Springfield’s interim development director Christopher Moskal, the tornado caused 220 residential buildings to be condemned.
He said 179 of those were single-family homes and most were owner-occupied. An estimated 300 to 350 rental units were lost.
Brouillette said she is reaching out to local churches, community organizations, labor unions and other groups that have shown interest in sponsoring families in need.
She said there are some families that can not go through the traditional housing application process because they have bad credit or other issues.
“What these organizations would do is sponsor the family by signing the lease on an apartment and taking responsibility for the family,” she said. “They would keep track of them, help them with child care and make sure they are paying their rent and bills on time.”
City and state officials and representatives with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration will appear at two separate neighborhood informational meetings in Springfield Thursday and Friday.
The first meeting is planned for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Holy Cross Parish Center gymnasium, 2211 Plumtree Road.
The second is scheduled fro 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ, 35 Alden St.
The meetings are planned to allow residents of those areas hear about updates in tornado recovery plans. FEMA and SBA officials will discuss assistance available to people who suffered property losses, and about services available at the disaster recovery centers that opened this week.
Those still staying at MassMutual Center now three weeks after the tornado expressed a combination of hard luck and frustration that comes with from having no where to go and no other options.
Jose Aponte said he is trying to find a new apartment. He moved into his last apartment in Forest Park on June 1, just a few hours before the tornado struck.
“I had just signed the paperwork that morning,” he said.
“Now I have to start all over again and find someplace new,” Aponte said. “I lost everything I had.”
A mother, who spoke only on the condition that her name not be used, said she and her family spent days living in a friend’s truck before them moved into the MassMutual Center.
She is staying their with her three children, ages 27, 19 and 14, and her one-year-old grandchild.
While the conditions are a step above the truck, it is still not ideal, she said.
“It’s been really hard for us here,” she said. “The cots are all right next to each other, so its like you’re sleeping right on top of strangers.”
She said some of the shelter staff are helpful while others seemed exasperated and bothered if you approach them for help.
“I have been actively trying to get an apartment since this happened and I just keep running into dead ends,” she said. “I need to find a place for me and my kids.”
She found a landlord who accepted her application, but he has so far not able to come to the shelter during regular business hours to fill out the necessary paperwork, she said.
“It’s just complicated,” she said.
“My oldest son has been trying to get odd jobs here and there to save up some money for us. I’m unemployed and we lost everything we had in the tornado,” she said.
“When we got to the house there was literally nothing left. The attic had collapsed into the first floor.”
In West Springfield there are still 85 people living in the shelter at the Eastern States Exposition Grounds.
West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson said they are also working with HAP and the city housing authority to place families into affordable permanent or semi-permanent housing.
“It’s difficult because there are not that many apartments out there,” he said.
Gibson said they are hoping to place everyone by July 1.
“That is our goal, but we will have to see how it goes,” he said.
In other tornado-related news, the Springfield City Council will host a cookout next Wednesday at Court Square, with all proceeds benefiting the hardest hit neighborhoods from the June 1 tornado.
The cookout is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Funds raised will be divided equally among the neighborhood councils serving the South End, Maple High, East Forest Park and Old Hill.
Councilors will be among volunteers serving hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, water and soda, and asking for a minimal donation of $5.
Businesses and organizations that are contributing to the council cookout include: Baystate Health; Community Music School of Springfield; Elegant Affairs; Friendly Restaurants; MassMutual Center; Performance Food Group; Spirit of Springfield; and Springfield Business Improvement District.
Comcast announced Wednesday that its charitable foundation has donated $50,000 to the area tornado relief efforts being administered by the United Way of Pioneer Valley.
Mary McLaughlin, a Western Massachusetts resident and Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes Western Massachusetts, said “Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy and we are hopeful our contribution will help those hit the hardest with their personal needs and will also support the restoration efforts taking place across the Greater Springfield area.”
Dora Robinson, Executive Director of the United Way of Pioneer Valley, “We are very grateful to Comcast for making such funds available for the recovery efforts in our area. The tornadoes caused tremendous devastation and this gift will be used to help many families.”
Comcast is also making a $1,000 donation to The Evangelical Covenant Church in Springfield for allowing the company to use its parking lot as a staging area for their construction engineers and technicians as they rebuilt the area network. In addition to cash contributions and rebuilding efforts, Comcast installed complimentary video, phone and Internet services to shelters at the MassMutual Center and Moses Building at the Big E Fairgrounds for local residents who were left homeless due to the severity of the damage at their homes.
Comcast also assisted Square One, a local child care center in Springfield, with an urgent need for services at their new location.
In West Springfield, the First Congregational Church will mark the four-week anniversary with a special prayer service and supper Wednesday. The city’s Merrick neighborhood was hard hit by the twister.
“We want the neighborhood to know the church cares. When terrible things happen it is common to look for meaning, for God in the mess,” the church’s pastor, Jan Powers, said. “As I’ve listened to the congregation and our neighbors it is clear many people feel a little lost in the wake of the tornado.”
Gary W. Boisseau, the deacon at the church organizing the service, said “We know there are a lot of people grieving and suffering and who need hope and faith. ...We are trying to reach out to the entire community.”
Participants will be asked to give free-will offerings for tornado victims.
The service will begin at 6 p.m. at the church at 20 Lathrop St. with a meal to follow it at 6:45 p.m. Parking will be available at the Senior Center next door to the church at 128 Parker St. The church’s doors will open at 5 p.m. for those who want solitude and peace before the service begins.
Powers said the service is planning healing services around the tornado every other month for the next year.
Republican reporters Elizabeth Roman, Peter Goonan and Sandra Constantine contributed to this report.