Several opportunities to help those made homeless by the Windermere Court Apartment fire are available around the neighborhoods. The Red Cross closed down its shelter at the Locke School yesterday after helping 132 people, including 10 children. But those folks still need help.
Many of you have passed along stories of donating clothing to the Salvation Army West Philadelphia Community Center at 5501 Market St.. That’s still an option. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. The phone number is 215-474-1010. The Red Cross is also still accepting cash donations at their website.
Here are some ways to help in the neighborhoods:
• The neighborhood pub Local 44 (44th and Spruce) is hosting a clothing drive on Monday, Jan. 17 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be tables set up in front of the pub on Spruce Street for people to drop off clothing and for those displaced by the fire to pick up stuff they need. The idea here is to get people clothing that they need right now, so leave your worn out Bermuda shorts at home and dig out a winter coat. Spread the word to anyone who might know someone from Windermere Court who needs help.
• Wake Up Yoga West is holding a vinyasa yoga class on Friday, Jan. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m. to benefit fire victims. All proceeds from the class, which will be taught by Emily Wishnick, will go to the Red Cross. No minimum donation is required and all levels of practitioners are welcome. You are also welcome to bring clothing to the class, which Wake Up will pass along to the University City District for distribution to victims. You can donate on their website (pay for the class) here.
• Mariposa Co-op (4726 Baltimore Avenue) is collecting food and warm clothing for victims today and tomorrow. Their hours are 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• City Kitties has set up an emergency fund to help care for pets affected by the fire. Many people took their pets with them and they now need shelter, food and health care. City Kitties is helping provide that and the West Philly-based organization is also trying to reunite pets with their owners. To donate go to their website here.
• The University City District is collecting clothing , coats, shoes and personal hygiene items at its offices at 3940-42 Chestnut St. from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The district will pass them along to the Salvation Army.
This is what we have so far. We will add more ways to help to this as we hear about them. If you know of other events or ways to help, please put them in a comment below.
January 13th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Great list! Thank you.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
As a former resident of the building, I can say that little of this help is reaching any of us – and little of it will unless given to us directly. Please collect donations, and pass them to the victims of the fire; not through big agencies who seem to be limiting the amount of assistance we can receive. There’s an email that should get you in touch with us; we’re organizing for the inevitable legal defense. helpthewindermere@gmail.com
January 14th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Why isn’t anyone (the City, community leaders) educating people on the NEED for smoke detectors, or making landlords and block captains responsible for ensuring every home has a WORKING smoke detector? We also have to take responsibility for our own lives – no one can justify NOT having a working smoke detector. The cost of these is minimal ($4.45 at home depot), the benefit astronomical. Don’t smoke for a DAY, don’t drink for a DAY – buy a smoke detector instead and save yourself, your family and your home and the lives and homes of your neighbors. Step up and take responsibility for your life and those you love.
January 16th, 2011 at 6:05 am
I would like to donate clothing and furniture to the victims of this disaster. There are bunk beds, kitchen sets, dishes etc. Please help to make this happen. My email has been included.
Thanks
January 16th, 2011 at 6:08 am
styleinc@att.blackberry.net. Please help with any information.
Thanks
January 16th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
If anyone knows any information or a way to find out information, would they please post it here? So far, no one I’ve talked to has been able to get in contact with any of the owners or landlords at all. I heard on a news report that the management company’s name was “Keystone Management” but a call to the given number (215-549-1000) only goes to an answering machine and a google search of the name turns up nothing.
Residents need to be able to contact the owners in order to get their security deposit and at least part of January’s rent back, and hopefully to find out information on getting back in to the building to salvage anything. Talking to the firefighters, they said that they have seen many of the lower apartments with stuff in them (guitars, some electronics, etc.) that is perfectly fine.
January 16th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Emily, as a resident of the building I will say this fire had nothing to do with not having fire detectors (they were in EVERY apartment in the building and did go off which is why no one was hurt). What people need to be educated on is renter’s insurance. It is so cheap (less than $20 a month) and really makes the difference in this kind of situation.
Mike – I facebooked you with the contact info for the landlords. I don’t know if the building is structurally sound enough for salvaging of anything but they have the deposit and rent checks ready to go and were distributing them at the shelter at 46th & Haverford on Tuesday.
Also, Alpha Pi Lambda Fraternity at Drexel University (33rd & Powelton) is doing a clothing drive all day tomorrow (MLK Day, 9a-5pm I think). Stop by and introduce yourself if you need anything and they can hook you up.
Good luck everyone and thanks for all the support. I know I have been so blessed to have so many people looking out for me during this difficult time.
January 17th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Hi, I am the executive director of an newly formed non-profit organization that uses the name of PathWays 2 Legends (formerly known as GrassRoots Inc.). My organization just completed their first annual sock drive and would like help to help the fire victims of West Philadelphia. The socks that were collected consists of men, women, and children, new and used. We are trying to find a contact person in order to drop them off.If someone can e-mail at w.reidjr@yahoo.com that wuold much appreicated.
Thanks
Wiley Reid Jr
Executive Director
PathWays 2 Legends
January 18th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Hi my group the Professional Dollz Inc. hosted a clothing drive for the fire victims at Millcreek Tavern this past Friday and I would like to know where I can take the donations other than the Salvation Army since it seems like the residents won’t even get the clothing?
January 18th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Hi Lisa. Probably your best option at this point is to take them to the University City District office at 3940 Chestnut. Tomorrow is the last day they will accept them. Here’s a link:
http://www.universitycity.org/news/item/tomorrow-wednesday-1-and-19-is-the-last-drop-off-day-for-west-philly-fire-donations-at-ucd-and-a-big-thank-you
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:09 am
is there any update on where and how the university district / salvation army donations are being distributed to the residents of the windmere?
i’m happy to donate often to the salvation army, but this go-around, we specifically donated giant bags of warm clothes ( men / women / baby / kid ) for the residents of the windmere …
any reliable news would be appreciated.
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:25 am
Good question Stephanie. We’ll keep asking around and see what we come up with.
January 25th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
being displaced by this fire is a full time job. Trying to find out information, and trying to retrieve some of my belongings, Identifications, winter coats, are things that I do everyday. This is just crazy, nothing in the Salvation Army fits me… just amazing. I will bookmark this page to stay up to date. Thank you to all that have donated and prayed for us, in this crazy time.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Hi I have been holding on to some donations for the fire victims, but I didn’t want to just drop it at the Salvation Army because it didn’t seem like it was actually going to the victims. I have a used queen bed set (sheets and blanket) washed and in the original bag. I also have a whole sack of towels and washclothes, also washed. I have a couple sets of curtains washed and in the original bags, and some random shawls and dresses, those need to be drycleaned. I would prefer to hand it to someone who can use it, or at least pass on what they don’t want to someone else affected by the fire. email me at girlnextdoor21xoxo@yahoo.com and let me know where I can drop it off.
January 30th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I am also a former resident of the Windermere apartments, and yes, I can confirm that none of the clothing donated to the Salvation Army goes directly to us. And the same goes for any money donated to the Red Cross – it DOES NOT go directly to us. We have each been given a $100 voucher to use at a Salvation Army store, in one visit, before mid February. As far as donated clothing goes, unfortunately I have no idea where it can be donated where it will be held for us. Some of us have found adequate clothing through friends, coworkers, and the help of other former residents of Windermere Court. Others have had more difficulty finding what they need. I will say this though… we have barely seen any of all of the aid we keep hearing of, and it is not only disheartening, but angering. Where is it going? We (many former residents) keep reading misinformation about such resources that have supposedly been provided to us in news articles again and again. We have not been put up in hotels or apartments by anyone but perhaps friends or family, and we have been mostly fending for ourselves at the same time as grieving what we’ve lost. We’ve been communicating with one another and have been each other’s best source of information and resources. I wish I could help you help us, but I don’t know exactly how to do that. Kevin, you are absolutely right, getting help, resources, information, and anything else we need to start over is truly like a full time job, and I want a vacation.
February 6th, 2011 at 10:29 am
it makes me very angry that the former residents of the windmere have received next-to-nothing from the salvation army & the red cross … i wish i had held on to the contractor-sized bag of great ( not stinky or out-of-style ) clothes & shoes & sweaters & baby clothes & blankets we donated to the S.A. via the university city district offices.
has the mayor’s office been contacted, or PEMA, or …
do the former residents have legal assistance? community legal services is a great organization with a long history of low cost / pro bono work. http://www.clsphila.org/Content.aspx?id=582
i don’t want to stop knowing what’s happening to and for our neighbors …
February 9th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I just wrote and sent this update to the inquirer. I am trying to get it out to other news sources. It is a summary of our current pressing issues and information I have not seen published anywhere.
My name is Casey Gleason, I have some concerns about how we the resident of Windermere Court have been handled through out he aftermath of the fire on January 10th.
Currently our first priority is getting a chance to retrieve our personal belongings from the building. There has been a lot of passing the buck when it comes to this issue. No one would claim to be in charge of this decision. L & I has deemed the building unsafe and gave the owners (shortly after the fire) 10 days to demolish, or fix the building. For more information on this report contact JB Farley (db.rockstar@gmail.com), a resident who has the Letter from L& I. When I spoke to them on the phone (the week after it happened), they said it was up to the owners to let us in. When we got in contact with the Landlords (at the time we still had no name or contact information for the owners) they said it was L & I’s holding us from getting in. Now we have contacted the owners who have also said it is L & I’s decision. As of yesterday, Councilman Janie Blackwell received a letter from L & I stating that they have no control over who does or does not go in the building, or whether or not the owners string up lights and thaw out the ice to make it safe for residents to enter again. L & I told Black well they had released the building to the owners a week ago (Janie did not recall the exact date last night). None of this information was forwarded to the residents by L & I or the owners and the only reason we know it is by our badgering of Ms Blackwell and her badgering of L & I.
Councilman Blackwell has been in contact with the fire marshal trying to get us back in the building. Last night, she reported that the fire marshal would not have released the building from his control if he knew what a mess this was going to be. He and other fire fighters had told residents holding vigil out side the building the week after the fire that it should be a few days before we could get back in. They said there was lots of salvageable belongings (a guitar was mentioned specifically near my apartment). We were just waiting for the investigations to end. He is not the only one to have said this. The security company that was watching the building had told residents it would just be a short wait, that the owners were working on stringing up temporary lighting to get us in. This information was shared some time between 1/19/2011 and 2/5/2011. I believe this is also something you can get more detail about from JB Farley. As of last night the security company (All Purpose Security) changed it’s tune. The owner of the security company now says that the building is obviously too unsafe to enter. His personnel hear stuff falling inside all the time. He claims it is partly the fault of the weather and as the building thaws it becomes less safe. I find this argument upsetting because it makes me feel that the whole system procrastinated past our window of opportunity, not only for the building to be structurally sound, but also for the stuff inside to be salvageable as the water, fire retardant chemicals, and rot take over.
It is hard to belive that the situation is so dire that we cannot go back in to retrieve our parents ashes, our green cards, our art work, our family photos, our pets when there is quite a number of people going in for “professional reasons.” On 2/5/2011 the owner of All purpose security explained some of the people who have entered the building. He entered 3 times a day since he begun his contract to check for squatters. Three days ago he found 2 live cats still in the building. He also reported that the building’s maintenance man was allowed by the owner’s insurance company at some point during his watch over the building. The maintenance man was allowed in to retrieve tools and equipment to work on other buildings in the area that the owner owns (despite the fact that the same guy just told us L & I is in charge of letting people in the building). The Security company also reported that multiple appraisers have been in the building to make documentation for those residents who had renters insurance. The owner of All Purpose Security just last night added that the building owner’s insurance company had multiple people inspect the building from top to bottom to determin costs of knocking it down as well as fixing it up. The Security company said that these inspections could take 6 or 7 hours in side the building. I cannot believe that the building really would come down at any second if so many people were spending their time in there.
Other residents have reported a few other entries into the building. I’m not sure if you know but the fire did become a federal investigation for a period of time in January. This is because there was reportedly undercover agents in our building. They were allowed back in to retrieve sensitive information and objects. If you are interested in more information about this, I will try to contact Lina, the resident who brought this up. One resident said he had gotten in the building himself, but would not share how, only hat it was possible and that he suspects heavy looting. This idea is supported by another resident with renters insurance, his/her agent showed pictures of the apartment to him/her with missing electronics and valuables. Another resident asked an official going in to the building to access her fire security box with her green card and documentation, the official said it was not where she said it was. The last story I have heard about people reentering the building was a few residents selected by the city to identify possible fire accelerators like hair spray in their apartment. At the time the building was still a crime scene so they were not allowed to bring any belongings out with them. All these stories were shared at our meeting on Saturday the 5th, I can try to ask for specific names and contact information of the individuals if you are interested in following up more specifically.
Looting is another concern, I mentioned a bit about it above. All Purpose Security has also noted this, but claims it happened when the police department was in charge of securing the building. The old super, Bill, who has also had no contact with the owners, said there are underground tunnels through which looters could enter the building. The security company said these were cinder blocked up, the resident who entered the building is suspected of using them. As of Last night at 11 pm the security company is no longer on contract. No one is protecting the building and there was no attempt to notify the residents incase we wanted to set up our own security because we “might get the idea to go in our selves and risk our lives” or something like that. The owner of all purpose security was reluctant to release this information in front of the two residents at the walnut hill association meeting last night.
Our second priority is getting answers from the city and the Owners. As of 2/5/2011 Janie Blackwell said there had been 6 meetings concerning the building and getting the residents back in. She stated she was not in them and got information second hand. Why were no residents alerted to these meetings? Why was no one there to represent us or stand up for our rights. From Councilman Blackwell, it sounds like the owners, their insurance company and L & I reached an agreement that the best course of action was to demolish the building. Of course that is their decision, they have already lost what they have to loose, they have no personal investment in saving the building. Why were we not given the chance to raise the necessary funds to either fix the building up for safe reentry, or hire a retrieval company to enter on our behalf and salvage what they can. Why has no one seen fit to contact us about the decisions being made that affect us. What is being done, we still don’t know for sure. We have been working for two weeks through bureaucracy and shell companies to finally get the owners name, Ginsberg, and address so that we could send a certified letter to them saying that they could not tear down the building until we had our own independent inspector look at the building. We got this address on Monday (JB has it), Tuesday evening the security company told us that their contract ended at 11 and all of the doors have been bolted shut. Do we even have time to stop them, as I am writing this I am wondering if a demolition team is rolling up to my apartment.
Janie Blackwell said last night that the city botched this whole thing. She said this is the first fire this administration has faced. They think it has been handled. They have never taken it upon themselves to try to check. They think it has been taken care of. Councilman Blackwell said that in the past when big fires come up the residents have access to the city’s legal team and other help. We were given the number of the Office of Supportive Housing, and could take it upon ourselves to be handed around in circles between the L & I Department and the Fire Marshals office. No one organized us. All the names and numbers collected at West Philly High the night of the fire were thrown out! One resident’s link (Lara) to Janie Blackwell is the only thing the city has when it comes to contacting us. What made the Mayor think all we needed was $450 to Ikea? Why did no one ask us how we were doing? Why did it feel like our councilwoman couldn’t actually accomplish anything as far as protecting our rights to our property? Why was there never any one person in charge that we could get answers from and know KNOW that we wouldn’t get seven different answers from other people? Why did they give the building back to the owner with out knowing the answers to the questions we have for him? Why weren’t we notified every time our case switched hands?
Our Third Priority is housing. Many residents still do not have permanent housing. I am working on a list of how many exactly and why it is a problem. This is a problem I don’t even have decent information on, but as people still collect clothing donations for us, we have no where to put it. I was living in a studio apartment with my boyfriend and our friends for 2 weeks after the fire. It was immediately necessary to get out as personal space and conflict started to bubble up after the first week. Red Cross told us that OSH would not help find a place, just put up some money for a security deposit if we qualified so we should find a place before we go. I found a place on craigslist and filled out the application right away, 3 other people were looking while I was there and the landlord had 12 other people had appointments to look in the next 2 days. I tried to contact the OSH office but their phone number has no option for leaving a message or talking to a person. It was a Friday and they were closed. The next Monday was MLK day so they were closed, and my boyfriend and I had an appointment to sign the lease right after his morning class (I was at work). We had no time to get up to North Philadelphia before signing the lease and since I had still not gotten a person on the phone to give me council about how the OSH office works we signed our lease and wrote a deposit check for everything I had in my checking and part of my savings. When we got to the OSH office right after signing the lease, our case worker said the funds were for emergencies only and since we had already put down the payment, why was it an emergency. After talking to his supervisor at our request we did qualify for some aid but we had hoops to jump though first. They told us it would be a week before they could get an inspector to the property, then any problems had to be fixed at the landlords leisure, then we had to get the landlord to prove that we still owed him the difference between the deposit and the aid specifically, then we have to send the documentation of our citizen status and income. We are still waiting for the inspection phase of the hoops to finish. Also worrying is that other residents working with OSH have reported other hoops that my boyfriend and I were not told about. Will we be disqualified later because we didn’t do what we weren’t told, such as obtain a one year lease (ours is 6 months) or go to some here say fire safety meeting?
One resident was the office clerk at our building. When the fire burned her home it also took her job. She had to relocate to Virginia since she had no support, obviously hindering her ability to look for new housing here. Many other residents have similar problems, those who are unemployed or on contract positions cannot find housing because of the inability to prove their income. Other people had to relocate to friends couches or parent homes in the suburbs and cannot readily access the city to look for jobs or new places.
Our other concerns:
fund raising and the media: at the end of many articles about the Windermere, readers are encouraged to support us by donating to the red cross and salvation army. Red Cross donations do not come to us. They never have. All donations to the Red Cross go into their general fire and disaster relief fund. I support donations to the Red Cross, but it makes us the residents sick that people that want to help us are being told to do so by sending money to a non-profit that no longer has any association to us. They were there to provide the basics the first week. $200 to buy a change of clothes and food for the week as well as a temporary shelter at the elementary school near our old building for a few nights, and they tried to work on emergency medical needs for those who need it but did not succeed in all cases. One man still needs an oxygen tank and a c-pap machine, a month later. They helped us. They are no longer helping us. The Salvation Army from what we can gather are just taking the donations and adding them to the rest of their stock so we have to pay like everyone else. There was a rumor that one salvation army in the city (maybe the Manayunk one?) has a free section in the back for us, but I have heard no specifics or confirmations. To give to us people should contact the Walnut Hill Association (http://www.walnuthillca.org/), or the city government who has gotten other donations to us. Some confirmed donations, like gift cards to the fresh grocer have yet to reach residents, and seem to be lost somewhere between the city council and the salvation army community center in west Philadelphia, which is helping to disperse monetary donations for the city.
We are going to have a protest near our building this Saturday at 2 pm if any reporter wants to show up and ask questions or advocate wants to offer help fighting for human decency/compassion and our rights.
I am sure I have missed things in my own story, let alone others so please ask questions.
Thank you for listening.
February 9th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Thank you to those who have let me know about discrepancies.
It has been confirmed that Eddie the maintenance man has been in the building as recent as to day, with a photo to prove it. He still said it was to pick up tools.
There are still demolition companies showing up to determine a bid. One man in particular said his bid was due Friday, so the building won’t be demolished this week.
The idea that federal agents lived in the building is a rumor, but those people were allowed in for one reason or another, escorted by the fire department.
There are people without housing still, but I have found that the 30 day mark has been a positive one for many residents who are looking.
That is what I have for now.
February 12th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
I am the communications director for the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. We are the organization handling the disaster relief efforts following the Windermere fire.
I can speak to only the Red Cross and to its response.
Two things need clarification:
1) The Red Cross does not accept non-monetary donations. Anything that was donated to fire victims that was not money, was handled by someone else. Since, I do not speak for those organizations, I can not speak to how those clothes were distributed.
2) As far as donating money to the Red Cross, any money people donated via our website or via check is used to help all disaster victims. Since we make the money available to disaster victims within 24 hours or so, we don’t wait for people to donate to give out the money. So any money people donate is used to replenish the money we gave out. So the next time there’s another Windermere fire, we need to be able to make the money available as soon as possible.
In the case of the Windermere fire, we gave out FAR MORE than we got back in donations. If we gave out only the money we received, residents would have received FAR LESS than they did and it would have taken more than a week or even longer for them to get it.
The direct cash payments is also only a part of the total amount the Red Cross has spent on this disaster. The cost of all meals at the shelter, staff overtime, our emergency response vehicles. All of that is on top of the money we paid directly to residents, which again was far more than we got back in donations.
As far as the amount of money people receive, it’s determined on a case by case basis taking various factors into account, including the number of people in a family, what was lost, and what they will need to get back on their feet. Red Cross assistance is designed to meet immediate emergency needs like food, clothing, and shelter. We don’t replace everything people have lost. We are designed to allow people a few meals, clothing on their back, and a place to stay for a few days.
Thanks for taking the time to read this response.
Dave