Temporary Housing and Our Second Round of Heroes
While our superheroes on the ground were hard at work, over in Tel Aviv we needed to figure out what we could do from there. It was clear from what we knew, we were going to be out of our house for a while and needed actual living accommodations that were not a hotel room with an 8 month old. The first thing I did was contact the apartment complex we used to live in before we bought our house: Gentry Square Apartments, part of Regency Apartments. We had loved our 3 years living there and the management were always so kind to us. I left a voicemail and an email. Within a few hours, Tawn, one of the team members responded that they did not have anything but was checking in with their sister properties and had contacted the regional office to get approval to help us for a short term lease. A few hours after that, Logan from Legends Apartments contacted us that they would be happy to help us out during this difficult time. The Regency Apartment team went above and beyond to help us out even though short term leases are not regularly what they do. They apartment they gave us was a two bed, two bath, open concept living-kitchen area. Clean, updated, quiet, perfect.
After the emergency assessor approved us for coverage of temporary housing, we were put in contact with a third-party called ALE Solutions who took care of the lease and offered rental furniture and sent follow up calls and emails to make sure the accommodations were working out.
We landed in North America with everything setup for us and Erez went ahead down to Chambana to get the apartment setup before baby and I joined him. This is where our next wave of superheroes came in. Erez put out a call for help to get us moved from our house to our apartment. An extraordinary group of friends stepped forward, donated trucks, hands and packing skills. They packed up all of our wet clothes, took apart and reassembled furniture that was salvageable and set up our apartment so we would be all ready to walk in and start living our lives.
Insurance instructed us to submit all expenses for the temporary housing to be covered including electricity, water and internet as well as receipts for any supplies we needed to buy as a result of the move - (toiletries, initial food, cookware, cleaning supplies, house goods, etc.). We went to Servpro's warehouse where most of our belongings are stored and fished out some kitchen goods. I decided to go as minimal as possible and grabbed 4 forks, knives, big spoons, tea spoons, plates and bowls. A vase, a frying pan, 2 pots, and some servware. We decided to leave everything else in storage so we don't have to move it more than necessary.
Once we were moved into our temp. apartment more friends and community members asked how they could help. We were so overwhelmed getting situated, laundering every piece of clothing we had, and figuring out next steps for our house that we realized that cooking was not in the cards for a while. So I answered: Feed us! And boy, this community delivered. Our fridge and freezer quickly were filled with lazanga, casseroles, roast chicken and veggies, quiche, rice and beans, even Ben and Jerry's ice cream. We didn't have to worry about meals at all for at least 3 weeks and it made such a difference in our stress level.
Overall we were thrilled with the service we were given by our insurance company. We were blown away by our friends and community members. We are forever grateful.
Tips and Lessons at this point in the journey:
Disaster tip #1: Ask for help from your friends and community, you will be surprised how many people will want to help.
Disaster tip #2: Get a binder and page protectors and start saving EVERYTHING - receipts, letters, bills, notes, business cards. Organize sections so you can access documents easily and carry it everywhere with you. You never know when insurance, a clean up crew, the municipality or contractors will call and need information.
Disaster tip #3: Breathe, it is stressful, patience is short, emotions run high. Take moments to stop, breathe, eat, drink water, rest.
Next up, we will share a bit of the nitty gritty on how a soaked house gets dried up, hiring a contractor and doing an assessor walk through and what you should know if this happens to you. (We hope it never does!)
After the emergency assessor approved us for coverage of temporary housing, we were put in contact with a third-party called ALE Solutions who took care of the lease and offered rental furniture and sent follow up calls and emails to make sure the accommodations were working out.
We landed in North America with everything setup for us and Erez went ahead down to Chambana to get the apartment setup before baby and I joined him. This is where our next wave of superheroes came in. Erez put out a call for help to get us moved from our house to our apartment. An extraordinary group of friends stepped forward, donated trucks, hands and packing skills. They packed up all of our wet clothes, took apart and reassembled furniture that was salvageable and set up our apartment so we would be all ready to walk in and start living our lives.
Insurance instructed us to submit all expenses for the temporary housing to be covered including electricity, water and internet as well as receipts for any supplies we needed to buy as a result of the move - (toiletries, initial food, cookware, cleaning supplies, house goods, etc.). We went to Servpro's warehouse where most of our belongings are stored and fished out some kitchen goods. I decided to go as minimal as possible and grabbed 4 forks, knives, big spoons, tea spoons, plates and bowls. A vase, a frying pan, 2 pots, and some servware. We decided to leave everything else in storage so we don't have to move it more than necessary.
Once we were moved into our temp. apartment more friends and community members asked how they could help. We were so overwhelmed getting situated, laundering every piece of clothing we had, and figuring out next steps for our house that we realized that cooking was not in the cards for a while. So I answered: Feed us! And boy, this community delivered. Our fridge and freezer quickly were filled with lazanga, casseroles, roast chicken and veggies, quiche, rice and beans, even Ben and Jerry's ice cream. We didn't have to worry about meals at all for at least 3 weeks and it made such a difference in our stress level.
Overall we were thrilled with the service we were given by our insurance company. We were blown away by our friends and community members. We are forever grateful.
Tips and Lessons at this point in the journey:
Disaster tip #1: Ask for help from your friends and community, you will be surprised how many people will want to help.
Disaster tip #2: Get a binder and page protectors and start saving EVERYTHING - receipts, letters, bills, notes, business cards. Organize sections so you can access documents easily and carry it everywhere with you. You never know when insurance, a clean up crew, the municipality or contractors will call and need information.
Disaster tip #3: Breathe, it is stressful, patience is short, emotions run high. Take moments to stop, breathe, eat, drink water, rest.
Next up, we will share a bit of the nitty gritty on how a soaked house gets dried up, hiring a contractor and doing an assessor walk through and what you should know if this happens to you. (We hope it never does!)
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