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Tornado Recovery Center opens

Date: 3/21/2012

March 21, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Clients, fellow non-profit organizations, state and local officials and well wishers gathered at 802 Main St. Thursday evening for the grand opening of the Raising Hope Together Long-Term Tornado Recovery Group's (RHT) Walk-in Center.

RHT Board Member Bob Smith told the group assembled for the official ribbon-cutting that the vision of the group is to "see every unmet [tornado recovery] need met by us, or by another agency."

He thanked members of fellow non-profit agencies that have worked hand-in-hand with RHT since July 2011 to ensure victims of the June 1, 2011 tornado receive the assistance they need to rebuild their lives. Among those groups Smith mentioned were West Side Neighborhood Rehab, the West Springfield/Agawam Kiwanis — who supplied the seed money to open the Center — the United Way, Lutheran Social Services, The West Springfield United Church of Christ, the American Red Cross, HAP Housing, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Mayor Gregory Neffinger, who spoke at the ceremony, said he became involved with RHT as a private citizen shortly after the disaster, offering his services as an architect to help assess buildings for repairs before his election as mayor. His motivation to do so was like that, he said, of so many other West Springfield residents following last summer's disaster.

"I saw the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Red Cross workers and I thought, 'what can I do to help?'" Neffinger said.

He said that it is groups such as RHT that "provide opportunities [for people] to lend a hand" in times of community crisis and need.

Donna Hamony, a Region One FEMA representative, praised the work of RHT in bringing together such a diverse community to work together to recovery from the tornado.

"This is an amazing community," Hamony said. "When we first started producing [materials] for them, we had to print in 13 different languages."

Smith urged attendees to contact churches or organizations they might belong to and ask them to help RTH with fund-raising or donations.

"People are desperate to help people get back on their feet," he said.



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