STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The American Red Cross is teaming up with other local disaster aid groups in running their Multi-Agency Relief Center, or MARC, to help out residents displaced by an apartment building fire in Sturgeon Bay last weekend.
“Basically a one-stop shop where we can bring local community resources, making it as convenient as possible for those who have displaced by the fire,” says American Red Cross, Northeast Chapter Executive Steve Hansen. “People are dealing with a very traumatic situation in their lives and they need all the help they can get.”
The fire, which destroyed a 16-unit apartment building at 890 S. Oxford Avenue early Saturday morning, also injured three firefighters.
The MARC will be open from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the Lansing Avenue Center, behind the Portside Building, at 876 S. Lansing Avenue.
Hansen says caseworkers will be available to help the 15 families create personal recovery plans, navigate paperwork and locate assistance for their specific disaster-caused needs.
Reps from several government, non-profit and religiously-affiliated disaster relief organizations will also be on hand to assist residents including:
- American Red Cross
- Brown County Public Health
- Brown County Human Services
- Lakeshore CAP
- Brown County Register of Deeds
- St. Vincent de Paul
- Neighbor to Neighbor (medical equipment)
- Feed my People
- Veteran’s Services
- Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
- Special appreciation to the YMCA for providing the MARC meeting space and equipment
“Some of the residents are new to Door County, in fact, they don’t have family or friends nearby,” said Nick Cluppert, Disaster Program Manager, in a statement. “It’s situations like this our local disaster teams are the face of the community and they help coordinate resources to navigate the road to recovery.”
You can help people affected by disasters like this fire and other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Find out more by going to their website, or calling (800) REDCROSS.
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