DETROIT (WXYZ) — After major flooding, several community organizations are coming together to help residents in southwest Detroit return to their homes safely.
When residents affected by flooding return to their homes, the reality is many of them will have to do extensive cleaning.
The organization Disaster Relief at Work hopes to make that process easier, one bucket at a time. The Waterford-based nonprofit, which is also known as DRAW, responds to floods, hurricanes and tornadoes across the country.
“We did a ton of work in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene (and) in Florida after Hurricane Milton,” DRAW executive director Greg Martin said.
Martin places pins on a map of locations DRAW has assisted. The latest one is close to home in southwest Detroit.
Watch our previous coverage when DRAW went down South to help with hurricane relief:
“It's not just that they have to find a new place to live; like their whole way of life is upset for not a short amount of time,” Martin said.
DRAW has filled up 200 buckets with donated cleaning supplies like soap and scrubbers that will go to each home affected by the flooding.
The goal is to prevent the growth of mildew or mold.
“The difference between mitigating mold and mildew and not is the difference between tens of thousands of dollars. And it's sometimes the difference between being able to get back into your house or not,” Martin said.
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DRAW is working with the Detroit Area Disaster Recovery Group to distribute the buckets to residents.
“This is the worst disaster that I've seen,” said Lejuan Council, founder and director of Detroit Area Disaster Recovery Group. “The need is great.”
On Friday, the buckets will be brought to Mack Avenue Community Church in Detroit, as well as other community donations.
“We'll be triaging them there, sorting them, making household packages,” Council said.
From there, she says they will work with grassroots organizations in southwest Detroit to ensure residents get the direct support that they need.
“The items that we collect are going to be distributed over the next month or two months, as they shift through the process and get triaged from the hotel to short-term housing,” Council said. “And then we'll be ongoing collecting items as we discover what their needs are.”
Watch our previous coverage when DRAW helped with relief for wildfires in Los Angeles:
DRAW also plans to send volunteers to southwest Detroit to help with the cleaning as more people return to their homes.
