ANALYSIS:
When Hurricane Irma became a threat to our City, the Office of Housing and Community Services worked with its community partners and fellow City departments to spread safety and evacuation information to our clients and community residents. In addition to a Constant Contact email blasted to all of our contact lists, City staff reached out to affordable and elder housing providers and community-based agencies to promote evacuation.
Despite promoting the Emergency and Evacuation Assistance Program among our elderly and disabled clients since May (as we do every year), we were disheartened to find less than 20 residents registered in the program. The program requires that physicians certify a patient's medical status to determine eligibility as a special needs placement. As staff conducted community outreach to specifically engage the elderly and disabled and offer support to evacuate, they encountered many residents with special needs who had not registered with the County and/or did not have any natural supports or family to aid them in the move.
Staff began its outreach efforts on Tuesday, September 5th and continued door-to-door outreach to elder buildings through Friday, September 8th. These efforts involved all departmental staff across divisions who were assigned either homeless or elder outreach. Staff encountered a variety of problems during this door-to-door effort including misinformation regarding the evacuation order at one of the elder buildings and a multitude of mobility-impaired and dementia-impacted elderly who were not registered for the program and/or had no means of evacuating.
When these cases were encountered, staff worked collaboratively among many departments (Fire, Parks and Recreation, Community Services and Police) to relocate everyone consenting to do so. Using available City vehicles, the elderly and disabled residents who were unable to use the Miami-Dade Transit evacuation buses were relocated to local shelters including the pet-friendly shelter located at the north end of the County. For those who were not eligible for general population shelters because of frailty or disability, the City arranged for placement at Claridge House Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center at a cost of $270 each per day. Four residents were placed at Claridge House through Wednesday, September 13th after an extensive search for special needs placements throughout the County which was exacerbated by placement needs from adult living facilities and congregate care centers who were also evacuating their patients from southern communities. Staff from multiple departments helped transport people in wheelchairs to Claridge House ensuring that they were provided emotional support and given the opportunity to contact loved ones to advise of their location.
Two of these placed at Claridge House were residents of Rebecca Towers. When staff arrived at Rebecca Towers on Friday, September 8th at about 9am for the third day that week, there were no building employees present. Staff went floor by floor trying to exhort residents to evacuate as a variety of people came and went to and from the buildings. We managed to convince some but close to 60 residents opted to remain -- including people in wheelchairs, walkers and with limited cognitive function.
Staff visited the following elder buildings, in many cases multiple times, before the storm as well as conducted welfare checks and delivered food after the storm:
* Rebecca Towers
* Shep Davis Plaza
* Council Towers North & South
* Stella Maris
* Four Freedoms House
* Allen Apartments
* Edwards Apartments
* Lulav Square
* Jefferson Apartments
* Villa Maria
* Villa Matti
* Triton Towers
Once the storm cleared, staff conducted welfare checks at the buildings listed above (having to use the stairs for buildings with as many as 15 stories because the electrical power was out) as well as individual addresses as provided by Commissioners and concerned residents. Using vehicles borrowed from the Code Compliance and Transportation Departments, staff was able to complete most welfare checks within one hour of receiving requests. In the aftermath of the storm, staff was conducting almost 200 individual welfare checks per day from Tuesday, September 12 through Friday, September 15th as well as congregate checks for multi-family buildings.
Staff brought hot meals provided by the American Red Cross and water, oranges and ice, as available, to the individuals on the welfare check list which was updated daily after staff visits. In addition, staff hosted a mass feeding for 500 people by The Salvation Army at the Coral Rock House on Normandy Drive. As the power outages continued, staff conducted pizza distributions throughout the North Beach area where the greatest number of residents without power lived. This included Normandy Pool and Park, Crespi Park and throughout the Hawthorne Avenue and Crespi Boulevard area (including side and intersecting streets). In addition to stationing themselves at a fixed location, staff was distributing pizza from a City vehicle as they drove through the neighborhood trying to reach as many residents without power as possible.