CHCC employees help with rebuilding efforts

Commonwealth Health Care Corp. employees volunteer last Sept. 28 to repair a house in Chalan Kiya as part of the reconstruction efforts of the Commonwealth Advocates for Recovery Efforts and Federal Emergency Management Agency’s VALOR program. (Contributed Photo)

Commonwealth Health Care Corp. employees volunteered last Sept. 28 to replace the tin roof of a house in Chalan Kiya as part of the reconstruction efforts of the Commonwealth Advocates for Recovery Efforts and Federal Emergency Management Agency’s VALOR program.

Members of the CHCC’s Crisis Counseling Program helped install the roof of the multi-family home, in coordination with project manager Lee Tenorio from the Saipan Mayor’s Office.

Working with community outreach workers Anthony Passi Camacho and John Cole, as well as CCP project manager Brian Beck, several employees from the Saipan Mayor’s Office, and Joe Gardinier, site foreman and owner of a local non-profit called Mini Home Makeovers, volunteered for the project that also included replacing the windows and a door for a home in Dandan.

Individuals from the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Mennonite Disaster Service, under the guidance of the Voluntary Agencies Leading and Organizing Repair Program, were also on-island to assist the volunteers with minor interior and exterior repairs to homes that incurred damage from Super Typhoon Yutu.

This is part of an effort to provide aid to families who did not receive federal assistance after the storm.

As of Oct. 3, 2019, there are 95 listed homes on Saipan and 46 on Tinian that are eligible to receive assistance through the VALOR program. Presently, 49 homes on Saipan and five on Tinian have already been repaired.

In an ongoing effort to foster resiliency and ensure recovery, CCP YUTU will continue to provide as many resources as the program is capable, both through their normal counseling outreach and efforts like the VALOR program.

CCP YUTU services all survivors of Super Typhoon Yutu, regardless of immigration or health insurance status. They visit community members in their homes and villages to provide support, teach coping strategies, and refer to appropriate services as needed. The CCP does not keep records of any individuals seen, and all services are confidential.

For assistance or information pertaining to the program, survivors on Saipan may call (670) 286-0227 and residents of Tinian may call (670) 286-0268.

For assistance through the VALOR program, survivors may submit by email their information to cnmi-valor@fema.dhs.gov. (PR)