When a leaky gas pipe exploded in a spare bedroom last spring, reducing their rural Albion home to smoking rubble, Kathy and Dorian Monroe escaped with their lives, the clothes on their backs, and little else.
Thanks to the unflagging efforts and altruistic vision of Albion resident Joanna Twichel, within hours the Monroes were safely housed at the N. E. E. D.( Northwestern Extended Emergency Dwelling) home in Albion, a project spearheaded by Twichel to provide temporary housing for people in the community who have lost their home to fire, flood, explosion or some other disaster.
“ People suffering a crisis in their lives are often housed at a hotel in Erie, separated from friends and family who care about them the most,” Twichel says.“ Their kids, already having to deal with the loss of their home and personal belongings, have to be transported back here for school; they were living in an unfamiliar neighborhood and removed from their school friends.” That all changed with the creation of Project N. E. E. D.“ Here, in the N. E. E. D. home,” Twichel continues,“ families stay connected. The home is walking distance to the Northwestern School District, a grocery store, pharmacy, post office, restaurants and shopping. The convenience is so appreciated by people who are desperately trying to reorganize after the crisis of losing their home.” The Monroes lost everything.“ Our home collapsed into the basement,” Dorian relates.“ We lost all our clothes, all family memorabilia, our cats, furniture and all our financial and legal documents. The only surviving family memento is a picture of my mother that miraculously blew out of the wreckage into the front lawn.” With Twichel as its director and, in her words,“ the most dedicated and hard-working band of volunteers you’ ve ever seen,” a two-story brick building in Albion donated by MooseHeart, the governing body of the Moose Club in Albion, has undergone its latest renovation and is ready for its first tenants after four years of intense work.
The house contains two fully furnished apartments, each having three bedrooms, a full bath, a living room, a fully functioning eat-in kitchen, and an outside balcony. All the furniture, bedding, linens, cookware, and hygiene goods are provided free for families to use during their stay.
Twichel continues to reach out to the community for services for her residents.“ A staff member of Sears Optical saw an interview we did on T. V. and offered her services to provide a free pair for any of our residents who lost glasses.” The local food pantry generously provides a week’ s worth of groceries to get families started in their new home.
To beautify the grounds outside the house, she has enlisted the help of students from the Northwestern School District to help her design and plant flower beds. She plans to build a memorial garden out front with beautiful gardens surrounding the front porch.
“ Twenty-six years ago, my dad Francis Surovick initiated Project N. E. E. D. as an outreach for the community he loved so much.” Twichel’ s eyes sparkle when she speaks of her dad who died seven years ago:“ Dad was an extremely civic-minded individual who cared so much about people, that they would be loved and cared for. He was a master persuader for rallying people to support his projects. He mobilized community people and businesses to donate labor and materials to make this dream a reality.”
A member of the Lions Club, he also was instrumental in establishing the Veterans’ Memorial in Albion. He served for many years as director of REC, Albion’ s electrical company.
Twichel admits that she’ s pretty persuasive when it comes to convincing people and local organizations to get on board helping with her pet project, a talent she claims to have inherited from her dad. All the furniture,
cookware, dishes, linens, and other domestics have been donated by local stores.
She expresses her gratitude to her loyal volunteers:“ They are amazing. For four years we spent countless hours attending to the myriad tasks necessary for the smooth and safe running of a home. And the talent! You should see these women and men showing up after a full day’ s work to put down flooring, install appliances and fans, paint walls, secure electrical wiring, and so much more.” Twichel laughs out loud as she speaks fondly of her“ unsuspecting innocents.”
Once the call comes in, often from the local fire department or the Red Cross, Twichel and her volunteers go to work. They get the appliances ready, turn up the heat if necessary, contact the local food pantry, and make sure all the comforts of home are in place to offer a warm welcome to the family that will be living there.
Project N. E. E. D. is funded entirely through donations and fundraisers.“ We do have tax-exempt nonprofit status,” Twichel explains,“ and will be searching for appropriate state and federal grants to help defray the cost of a new roof, new doors, and window replacement.” The expenses of liability and property insurance, emergency lighting, and state-required safety precautions are considerable.
“ There is no charge to the tenants, just a request that any living expenses paid for by insurance would be forwarded to the project. The average stay here is three months,” Twichel says.
“ Dad’ s vision extended beyond Albion,” Twichel explains.“ He wanted this project to become so invaluable to the welfare of local residents that other communities would fund and establish their own N. E. E. D. projects.” Her ambition going forward is that the Albion corporation would be the corporate headquarters for other communities that would have their own committee, house, and fundraising but would report back to Twichel’ s board.
Twichel promotes the idea by serving residents from other communities if one of the apartments is available.
“ In the past 22 years, we have offered temporary housing to more than 100 people,” Twichel says,“ mostly local families. But we certainly will offer housing to people outside Albion if space permits
Following in her father’ s footsteps has given Twichel a sense of purpose and a way to give back to the community that she has called home all these years.
“ This is such a worthy organization,” she shares.“ Our hope is to sustain and grow community support so that this caring outreach will continue for future generations.” ■
Left: A warm, cozy living room in the Project N. E. E. D. home, complete with a thoughtful gift basket, welcomes families who need temporary housing at a critical time in their lives, the loss of their home.
Right: Gary and Joanna Twichel celebrate the completion of the Project N. E. E. D. home in Albion on its newly refurbished porch. Photo courtesy of Joanna Twichel
West County | Summer 2016 | icmags. com 11