Donations needed to rebuild home of Hope's Vernon Loree - Midland Daily News

The Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends are seeking donations to rebuild the flooded house of Hope resident Vernon Loree. They are calling this "Project Vernon Rebuild."

The two groups will be working with a local licensed builder, Mike from Roebuck Builders. Because of many variables, including bringing existing items up to code, the estimated need for the project is $60,000.

A small amount of money is set aside to get the project started, but about $50,000 is needed to cover the remaining cost.

After the mid-Michigan dam failures last May, Loree’s home had about two feet of water and he wasn’t able to return to his home until five days later. His yard was full of water, fish and sewage, and very few things in the house were salvageable.

"Ten months after the flood, we still have families that are not able to live in their homes due to the damage,” said Umbareen Jamil, member of the Islamic Center of Midland and co-director of Midland Area Interfaith Friends. “Rebuild can be an exhausting and expensive process. We are extremely excited about helping another family with such a big impact and getting Vernon back into a safe home.”

Loree has a cognitive mental disorder and mows lawns, shovels snow and does other simple jobs for a living. His primary caretaker is his sister Lynn, who drives him to his doctor appointments and jobs and financially supports him. Lynn is also the caretaker of her husband, who has had multiple strokes and heart conditions, making her the primary source of income for all three of them.

Loree didn’t qualify for help from FEMA, and due to limited finances and resources, no substantial progress has been made to rebuild his home. He suffers from a great deal of stress and trauma due to the flooding. Therefore, for his physical and mental well-being, he needs to get back to his normal routine in his own home.

Therefore, after much discussion and collaboration with other area supporters, Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends feel privileged to help Loree finally return to a safe home.

“Our community has already been so generous with their time and donations thus far for our projects but we are hoping everyone can give just a little more for Vernon,” said Hayley Lodhi, member of Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends. “If we could get 100 people to donate $500 or 200 people to donate $250 each, we would reach our estimated goal.”

Every penny donated will go directly to the Project Vernon Rebuild fund.

To donate to Project Vernon Rebuild, visit www.paypal.com/paypalme/islamiccentermidland or send a check to: Islamic Center of Midland, 1801 North Stark Road, Midland, MI 48642

For questions about Project Vernon Rebuild, contact the Islamic Center via email Islamic.Society.of.Midland@gmail.com or call 989-948-1012.

Published On: Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:34:08 GMT