Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund approves $1 million in grants
The Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund has approved $1 million in grants to help flood survivors.
The money went to 71 cases in seven counties providing grants ranging from $151 to the maximum VDRF grant of $25,000.
From left, Patti Komline, vice chair of the Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund, treasurer Mike Yantachka and Sofia Benito Alston of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity deliver a $21,000 check to Alex and Addie Wheeler for the loss of their Berlin home in the July flooding. The Wheelers have a new home in East Montpelier.
The Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund, created in 2011 following Tropical Storm Irene, provides help to disaster survivors after they have exhausted other sources of assistance, such as from FEMA, homeowner and flood insurance and grants from local and regional disaster funds.
Treasurer Mike Yantachka of Charlotte said the money for the latest grants comes from both individual donations and from the Vermont Flood Response and Recovery Fund organized by the Vermont Community Foundation.
In addition, the Waterwheel Foundation, created by Phish in 1997 to oversee the band’s various charitable activities, has donated $600,000 to the Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund to provide direct assistance to flood survivors.
“Phish has been incredibly generous, both following Irene and last year, in holding benefit concerts to raise millions for flood relief,” said board member Neale Lunderville.
Patti Komline, the vice chair of the Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund, said she expects several hundred more requests for funding. “This is a slow process and is slower than what we saw following Irene,” she said.
Komline said that many of the requests for funding involve flood-damaged mobile homes, which, unlike stick-built homes, usually can’t be rebuilt.
On Labor Day Yantachka and Komline delivered a $21,000 grant to the Alex and Addie Wheeler family for the loss of their Berlin mobile home in the July 2023 flooding.
Flood waters reached the top of their kitchen counters, damaged all their furniture, medical equipment, toys and appliances. The Wheelers had flood insurance but incurred thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses as they bought a new mobile home and located it on a new site in East Montpelier.
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(Chris Graff is the chair of the Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund.)