SHERWOOD, Arkansas — The City of Sherwood announced on Wednesday that back in August, they applied for a $25,000 grant from the Arkansas Community Foundation to help support families in the city who were recovering from the tornado on March 31.
"We started the application process and received 15 applicants and these were the people that did everything right, they applied through FEMA, they applied through the SBA, they failed on their insurance, but the money just didn't come and they had unmet needs regarding tornado damage and so after evaluating the applications, seven people qualified," said Heather Jenkins, Public Information Officer for the city of Sherwood.
Among those seven who qualified is Cassie Vanpelt, who got the call that she would be a recipient of the grant. Although her house has already received a lot of work, the journey to now has been long and has also come at a heavy cost.
"We spent probably at least $10,000 and about $6,000 something was just for an electrical box outside and getting it repaired just for one item. And that's just one thing off of our damages," Vanpelt explained.
She also explained how that money came out of pocket and was a heavy burden to hold without any help federally or from the state. So receiving part of this grant was life-changing.
"We would have been thankful for anything but this is just a huge, huge blessing that they have been able to give us to help us," Vanpelt added.
It was a Christmas miracle that came early this season but it was also right on time as Jenkins explained how she's seen the impact this money makes on people's lives.
"One of the recipients of the grant actually lived in an apartment complex on the top floor that was completely destroyed and she was unable [to stay] because the building had been condemned to go back into her building and retrieve anything. She lost everything and so we were able to give her a little something back. It's not going to cover everything that she lost, but at least it's something," she said.
The application process is currently closed for the City of Sherwood but Jenkins said that their work doesn't stop. They also have plans to research more grants to help with tornado recovery efforts.
"If you drive around the city, and there are still apartment complexes that were essentially destroyed, you know, there it's a rebuilding effort still ongoing in the city and we're still here, we're still here to help people," Jenkins said.