Hurricane shelters provide services to the displaced, but some have complaints

Shelters are a place to eat, sleep and find emotional support for those who lost their homes after Hurricane Ian.

The Red Cross provides hurricane shelters in Lee and Collier counties.

WINK News reporter Emma Heaton spoke to people staying at the Estero shelter, run by the Red Cross, and a nurse working there.

The Estero shelter is located at the Estero Recreation Center.

Michelle and Lynn are staying at the shelter for now. Their home is inside the Century 21 Mobile Home Community in Iona.

Michelle: “Well, we both lost our mobiles. I was scared. We finally left at three o’clock in the morning, and the winds and the waters you could tell were already coming up from Sanibel because we don’t live that far from Sanibel. But we got out of there. By the time we got back, it was just mold. Mold is everywhere.”

Emma:  “So you’re forced to stay here. No place else to go? And what is your experience been like inside?”

Michelle: “It’s awful. They haven’t so cold in there. They keep the lights on all night long. You know, on the far end of the gymnasium in there, they’ve locked the doors now. And I mean, I already didn’t feel safe because they propped the doors open, these kids, they all prop the doors open. So you don’t know who’s coming in and out.

Emma: “Lynn, you were telling me that you don’t believe they want to let you guys stay here. Why is that?”

Lynn: “Well, it’s just, you know, you’re low on toilet paper and this type of thing. And I don’t know, there’s always someone there to tattle on you. And I mean, I see what it is. And the volunteers are good, but they want to stay here like a week at a time. And then they changed the rules. Like we used to be able to have coffee at five o’clock in the morning. That wasn’t the rule on paper, but they let us in have coffee at five o’clock in the morning. And now you don’t. You have to wait till 6:30, 7 o’clock.”

Emma: “So it doesn’t feel like home necessarily. But I also sort of want to give people like volunteers here the benefit of the doubt; what are some things that they’re doing right here?”

Michelle: “Well, they do come up to you and ask if you’re doing OK.

The sheltershave volunteers and nurses working tirelessly to make people feel as comfortable as possible. Emma Heaton spoke to one of the nurses.

Nurse: “So we have a triage, we have a clinic, the guests, they can come there, if they’re not feeling well, or if they need help with prescriptions refilled, or you know, just anything medical that they may possibly need. We’re here to offer our services and help them and get them through the process.”

Emma: “So your role is to make people as comfortable as possible.”

Nurse: “Yes, and helping you know, different abrasions or cuts or you know, just not feeling well, just general things and that aspect. We’re here to just offer as much support that we can during this time.”

Emma: “There are some people that are not comfortable inside, and they’re not necessarily happy with how things are going. But could you just talk about the work that you guys are putting in and how much effort you’re putting in to make these people feel more comfortable.”

Nurse: “Well, we’re here to let them know that, you know, they’re not alone if there’s something they’re going through. And you know, right now we have, you know, doctors that are no longer, the practices are not functioning, we have pharmacies, they’re not functioning and basically they can come in and get the help and we can put the services in and so they can have their needs met. I mean we have people with blood pressure problems. We have people with sight problems. We have people with just general things and they don’t know where to go. They can’t get to where they normally are. So we are here to help them.”

The Red Cross is working with southern baptists to feed all the people in emergency shelters if you’d like to donate time or money, you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS.