CAROLYN R. WILSON Special to the Bristol Herald Courier
DAMASCUS, Va. — Leaders in the flood-ravaged town of Damascus turned to disaster relief services to help local families rebuild their lives.
Months after Hurricane Helene damaged or destroyed homes and businesses in the trail town, volunteers from Mennonite Disaster Services and their Amish partners from Storm Aid, are currently constructing five new homes from the ground up, three of which are in the town of Damascus, one in the Taylor’s Valley community, and another under construction in Konnarock.
The boots on the ground efforts are through a partnership with Trails to Recovery, a local nonprofit organization that formed out of need created by Hurricane Helene.
Olivia Bailey, spokesperson for Trails to Recovery, said it was evident that both home and business owners were in dire need of assistance following the flood in September.
“But, before Trails to Recovery formed, we had no real mechanism to handle these disasters,” she said.
“There have been a lot of miracles that happened after Hurricane Helene. A lot of relationship building and community support have led to connections with organizations that specialize in disaster relief recovery,” she added.
“Those numbers are changing all the time, especially after the rain we received in the last couple of weeks.”
According to Bailey, 69 of the 80 homes identified as damaged by flood waters in Damascus were restored during the onset of the relief efforts. This assistance has largely been under the direction of Impact Missions, a nonprofit organization that focuses on creating positive change in a community or area, often through direct service programs or advocacy efforts.
Trails to Recovery has recently been able to secure land to build three additional houses that were impacted in the flood, in which property was washed away.
Danny Crockett who has resided in the town of Damascus for 50 years is one of the homeowners who is receiving a new house. Crockett watched last week as Mennonite team members painted, hammered, and hung dry wall on a three-bedroom structure that will become his new home as early as April.
Watching a flurry of activity at the building site in town, Crockett revisited that ominous day when flood waters washed away a lifetime of memories.
With barely time to rescue his dog, Crockett and his girl friend saw flood waters carry their home off its foundation five months ago.
“We lost everything including all of my family’s memorabilia. But, my girl friend’s Bible was found eight miles away,” Crockett said, explaining that photos inside the Bible helped the finders to trace the owner with the help of social media.
“In 1977, flood waters got up a little bit but nothing like this,” said Crockett. “This was so fast that you didn’t have time to think.”
He compared the loss of his home similar to “losing somebody. It’s like a death.”
Patrick Pritchett lost his 1939 Craftsman bungalow home in the flood. With help from friends, the 75-year-old was able to retrieve many pieces of furniture from the house that were salvageable. The flower gardens planted by his wife were washed away by the flood waters, but she plans to add new ones, he said.
“We’re going to start over. It will be alright,” Pritchett said.
Lester Zimmerman, project director for Mennonite Disaster Services, said teams of around 15 volunteers have come on alternate weeks since the end of January to help build the houses in town. Depending on the needs of the families, houses are either two- or three-bedroom homes.
“They’re simple but well built,” said Zimmerman. “Our goal is to get them back in a house that’s practical but not fancy.”
The project director said their organization’s main mission is to be a witness for God while traveling to perform service work throughout the United States and Canada. Mennonite Disaster Services recruits, organizes and empowers volunteers to repair and rebuild the homes of those impacted by disasters.
“It’s a very practical way to show His love to the people who have lost so much to come alongside them as Jesus would,” Zimmerman said. “I think it’s the biggest honor we can see this side of heaven to represent God’s love to the people here.”
The program does more than just rebuild homes.
“When a disaster like this happens, it’s easy to feel alone and discouraged about what your financial capability might be,” said Bailey.
Trails to Recovery offers case workers who assist every family to identify and access the damage and walk them through the process.
“Case workers have day-to-day contact with these families and have been walking along beside them. That’s really important because we didn’t want these homeowners to feel like they were having to navigate this on their own.”
Trails to Recovery works off of funding from government agencies, community organizations, private foundations and individual donors.
According to Bailey, volunteers do not receive compensation for their work. Money is directly reinvested into the construction of the homes destroyed by the storm.
Interested donors are asked to donate directly at https://trailstorecovery.com or cover supplies through Berry’s Home Center that will be used in the construction.