Volunteers Help Flood Victims Goal Is To Make Two Homes Habitable By The Holidays

It’s a dirty job, but it’s Christmas and somebody has to do it. So, a dozen volunteers are scrambling to make two flooded mobile homes here habitable by the holidays.

“God wants it to happen,” said Joe Browning, a local contractor and team leader for Operation Home by Christmas, a project undertaken by Portland-based Northwest Medical Teams International.

The goal is to restore the mobile homes of Helen and James Robinson, disabled by strokes, and Clyde and Sheila McCoy - two of the dozen families in a mobile home court swamped by last month’s floods in southwestern Washington.

On Monday, volunteers were hauling out wreckage - a green sleeper sofa, reeking and slimy with mud and moss, as well as bicycles, lawn mowers and part of an old washing machine, all ruined beyond repair.

A semi was nearby to haul off salvageable furniture for drying and temporary storage.

Later this week, new walls, floors, carpet and wiring will be installed.

“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this and how much they need the help,” said Phyllis Fillpot, Helen Robinson’s sister.

“We’re absolutely stunned” by the helping hand, she said. “We all know about Northwest Medical Teams’ global activity. But I didn’t think there would be anything bad enough locally for them to get involved.”

She said the Robinsons, both 59, “worked hard all their lives in menial jobs. They’re embarrassed at needing assistance. They were proud, hard-working people until health problems hit them real fast.”

Ten trailers up the road, Clyde McCoy’s initial skepticism had vanished by midmorning.

“I sure appreciate this because I can’t afford it myself,” said McCoy, 46, who said asthma had put him on disability after a career as an auto mechanic.

The Red Cross had declared his place a total loss, but McCoy and his wife and two children are continuing to live there, replacing some of their furniture, carpet and clothes with donated items.

McCoy said he can’t afford to live anywhere else.

“I appreciate the help,” he said.

Northwest Medical Teams International hopes its effort will attract volunteer labor and cash gifts so that eventually all the homes in the damaged mobile home park can be repaired.

Those wishing to contribute may donate to Operation Home by Christmas, Northwest Medical Teams International, P.O. Box 10, Portland, Ore. 97297-0010. Volunteers may call (503) 624-1000.