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A House Warming and Welcome Home Celebration for 7 Families Devastated by the Ulster County Floods.
Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO) hosted a house warming and welcome home celebration for seven families devastated by the Ulster County floods on Monday, November 20, 2006, at 11am, at Spring Lake Mobile Home Park, Lucas Avenue Ext., in Kingston. In April of 2005, many households were devastated by the worst flooding to hit Ulster County in over 50 years. Ulster County submitted for grant funding through the Governor’s Office for Small Cities (GOSC) and was awarded $580,000 to help victims who lost their homes. RUPCO was requested to administer the grant on behalf of Ulster County. The funding from the program was used to purchase new manufactured homes and site them on pre-existing vacant sites at Spring Lake Mobile Home Park, a location that is not within the flood plain. Park managers at Spring Lake Mobile Home Park identified pre-approved sites within the park and agreed to pay the costs associated with site improvements, such as upgrades in water, sewer and electrical service. The grant funding also assisted an additional 5 homeowners with rehabilitation, new construction and/or accessibility modifications. RUPCO has been an active participant in the Disaster Relief Initiative of Ulster County (DRI-OUT) and their NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center was the ideal agency to administer this program. RUPCO was responsible for contacting and assisting participants through the application process. In addition, RUPCO screened participants to ensure eligibility, acted as a liaison with the park management and was the overseer of all permits, concrete pad construction and manufactured home installation. RUPCO’s NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center Director, Robyn Awand, stated “We are so happy to be welcoming these seven families to their new homes. It has been a long and difficult road for these families and we look forward to seeing them return to a normal life.” Guest speakers included Michael Berardi – Ulster County Legislature, Dennis Doyle – Director, Ulster County Planning Department, Susan Rounds – Executive Director, American Red Cross and DRIOUT Committee Member. The families were welcomed with the gift of welcome mats compliments of RUPCO, and Ellen Pendegar, Executive Director of Ulster County Mental Health presented each family with a house plant for their new home. Special Acknowledgements included: Governor’s Office for Small Cities, DRIOUT Committee, Spring Lake Mobile Home Park, Skyline Homes, Inc., Millhook Enterprises, Town of Ulster and Oak Mobile Home Services. |
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