Sister Corps helps rebuild SWFL homes destroyed by Ian

Sister Corps, a group of women that travels to help people rebuild after natural disasters, just spent nearly two weeks in Southwest Florida helping people who are still without homes seven months after Hurricane Ian.

Diane Berke, a resident of Palmetto Palms RV Resort in Lee County, was overjoyed to watch volunteers with Sister Corps sand off the finishing touches on her brand-new drywall.

“We were living a nightmare, and they made our dreams come true,” Berke said.

The handy group of women returned a wreck destroyed by Ian to a place Berke can call home again.

“You think, ‘Well, it’s been six, seven months; why are these people still needing help and assistance?'” said Barbara Jones with Sister Corps. “And then you get there, and you understand… I’m sorry… you understand why this takes so long because there’s such a vast amount of devastation.”

On the other side of Palmetto Palms, Olexandra Courtney is jumping for joy at the progress the women made in rebuilding her home. The signs of Hurricane Ian’s wrath still linger inside, with water stuck in her sliding glass door.

“It was terrible, it was a shock, it was… I’m just… I come in on my knees, and I just cry because I love this house and it’s heaven for me,” Courtney said.

Courtney was kept going by pictures of what her home once looked like.

“Angels come, and these girls come when you believe,” Courtney said. “Strong belief, somebody come.”

“That’s exactly why we come back,” said Anna Tobias with Sister Corps. “Because the people we help are really people that have no one to help them.”

Sister Corps started five years ago in Texas. it now has volunteers from many states, including Florida.

“I feel like it’s a house, and it makes me want to cry,” Berke said. “They’ve done so much for us.”

The sisterhood continues to give people strength and hope, one home at a time.