DAVIE - Barbra Ivanauskas needed a break.
Whether it was her mobile home's leaky roof, the floor caving in or mold that built up in her ventilation system, the 63-year-old retiree constantly had to repair damage from Hurricane Wilma three years ago.
She got that break on a Tuesday afternoon two months ago, when a social worker told her she would be receiving a FEMA mobile home free of charge. She moved in Aug. 1.
As part of the town's Mobile Home Repair/Replacement Program, up to 75 Davie residents are getting new or refurbished FEMA mobile homes this summer. The program is intended to help low-income families who were displaced by Wilma or whose mobile homes were severely damaged during the storm.
The first family to receive their mobile home, on July 11, was Sean and Lea Hoyt and their 8-year-old son.
After their mobile home was destroyed during Wilma, the family moved into another unit at Palm Haven Mobile Home Park, only to find out the floor was caving in, the roof was leaking and termites were eating the walls.
"The rain destroyed my son's room because of all the mildew that built up in there," Sean Hoyt said. "For a long time, he had to sleep with me. But not anymore."
"When I first got the call that we were getting a new home, me and my wife got so excited that we started packing right away," Hoyt said.
The move means even more to his son, who is autistic.
"It's important that autistic kids get into a routine and with this new home, my son's going to be able to get into his own routine," he said.
Many more Davie residents affected by Wilma are still trying to recover.
"There are 31 mobile home parks in Davie and about 22,000 people live in those parks, which is almost a quarter of the town's population," said MIke Smith, project manager of the nonprofit Adopt a Hurricane Family. "A lot of these people were adversely affected by this storm."
Davie officials started the program in March after the town received a $1.2 million Community Development Block Grant for disaster recovery initiatives last December. It took time for the funding to get from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the state to the county and finally to the municipal level.
Once the town got the grant, officials hired Adopt a Hurricane Family, a Pembroke Pines-based nonprofit, to manage the project.
All the mobile homes must pass inspection before families move into them, Smith said. "All of the units have been checked for formaldehyde and there is no problem with them."
Residents who get the mobile homes are responsible for paying the lot rent, which varies depending on the mobile home community, and utilities. Residents may choose any Davie mobile home community with room for them.
Each 60-by-14-foot mobile home has three bedrooms and one bathroom and comes with a sofa, chair, coffee and side tables, a six-piece dining set, stove, microwave, refrigerator, three full-size beds, dressers and nightstands.
"It's a blessing. I still can't believe it. I don't even have any furniture and here it is that I already have furniture in my new home. All I have right now is a small table set. I'm sleeping in a roll-away bed and it's really nothing to sleep on, and now I have a mattress," Ivanauskas said.. According to Smith, families in the new mobile homes won't have to worry about leaky roofs because they are wind storm-rated for zone three, making them the strongest and sturdiest homes designed for coastal areas. Still, they must be evacuated when a hurricane threatens.
For Bob Krastes, the extra protection comes as a relief. After returning to his mobile home at Everglades Lake Mobile Home two days after Wilma struck, the 60-year-old retiree opened his front door and saw the sky because a large chunk of his roof had blown away. Krastes thinks his new mobile home will hold up better in a storm. "It's a sturdy house. The only difference between the mobile home and regular home is that these mobile homes are brought in on wheels," said Krastes, who moved into his new home earlier this month. Most of the mobile homes already have been allocated, but there is a waiting list. Preference goes to Davie residents in the greatest need based on the family's income and the extent of damage to their present home. Those interested in learning more about the program can call 954-587-0160.
Charlie Grau can be reached at cgrau@sun-sentinel.com
