Many congratulations and thanks to a wonderfully wild group of moldy street dancers, parade marchers, puppeteers and band players for the “Walk a Mile in My Shoe” March last Saturday in Midland Beach.
It was a moving spectacle of energy, passion and compassion, strung together with hope and love of neighbor.  So many people came out to greet us, to wave, to laugh, to offer a thumbs up, an embrace.
It was a liturgy of the heart that heartened our beloved Midland Beach community! There are simply not enough words to express such deep gratitude! May each person who blessed the street with their feet be blessed themselves with renewal of strength and heart!  BRAVO!
 
As you know, we have been providing FEMA services on site at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Midland Beach on Saturdays with free legal counsel in the same room to help people with FEMA appeals and to better understand the recovery process.  WE lost the space at St. Margaret Mary’s  a couple of weeks ago.  On Friday afternoon we received the good news that, after a week of discussion and planning , FEMA has offered to share its space at the Disaster Recovery Center at 1976 Hylan Blvd with us to sponsor a
 
Long Term Disaster Recovery HELP and Resource Fair on Saturday March 16th, Thursday March 21st and Saturday March 23rd from 9 AM – 3 PM.
Brief Presentations will be given by FEMA, SBA, IRS, NYS Dept of Taxation and NYS Dept of Finance (which regulates insurance companies)
 
This is our opportunity to work side by side with FEMA and a host of other government organizations:  SBA, IRS,  NYS Dept of Finance, NYS Dept of Taxation NYC Neighborhood Mortgage Assistance Program and many others.
 
We will have available 12 – 15 tables. Light breakfast and snacks during the day will be available.  A children’s space with activities will be set up.
 
We need our disaster case management teams from Catholic Charities, American Red Cross and Salvation Army to be there to receive new cases.
 
We need our free legal teams: LSNY, LAS, MTRNY to be there!
 
We need our Back to Basics Furniture folks, our mental health trauma counselors and mold remediators and so many more to be there as people come to connect with FEMA and other services.
 
Please mail Karen back on this if you have a concrete service you can offer and want to be part of the fair.  Depending on the response we may need to share tables. 
 
This is our last chance to engage folks and connect them to integrated one stop shop services with FEMA in the room!  Let’s do it!
 
Look forward to your positive response!