After seven long years of waiting, nine displaced Missouri families are in newly constructed homes.
Following heavy flooding along the Mississippi River in 2011, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers made the decision to blast the Birds Point-New Madrid levee in southeastern Missouri, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers converge, to alleviate pressure on the river levee system.
The small town of Pinhook, Missouri, was destroyed by the resulting rush of floodwaters. Unfortunately, shortly after this happened the community of Joplin, Missouri, was devastated by an F-5 tornado that took the lives of 158 people, and the focus of the federal and state response shifted from Pinhook to Joplin.
For seven years, residents of Pinhook have struggled to maintain their community and rebuild their homes. This spring and summer, 12 organizations—including Missouri’s Adventist Community Services Disaster Response team—collaborated to place nine families in newly constructed homes.
Each home cost an average of $44,000 to build, with each family receiving $39,180 in grant funds toward the cost. The volunteer organizations also donated nearly $48,000 in combined materials and over 10,000 hours of volunteer labor.
With the help of generous donor support, MO ACSDR provided all the interior and exterior paint, a value of over $5,000. Thank you to all who support the local ministry of Adventist Community Services in the Iowa-Missouri Conference.
Support local ACSDR projects or learn about volunteer opportunities at imsda.org/acsdr.
Jody Dickhaut is Missouri disaster response coordinator for the Iowa-Missouri Conference.
