Red Cross copes with a calamity of its own
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Red Cross copes with a calamity of its own.
The following appeared November 11, 2010 in the Mansfield News Journal. Read below or view on the News Journal website.
MANSFIELD -- The American Red Cross, an agency that responds to calamities, is trying to recover from its own misfortune.
A leaky roof at the 35 N. Park St. site, which also houses Legal Aid of Western Ohio, damaged part of the facility's offices.
Red Cross temporarily relocated to a classroom in the same building. The agency hopes to move its blood collection operation back to its usual quarters by the end of this month.
Legal Aid, which suffered greater damage at the Richland Community Services Center building, also will return to its own offices around that time. Two attorneys and a legal assistant are temporarily working in space offered by United Way and the Girl Scouts.
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Red Cross copes with a calamity of its own.
The following appeared November 11, 2010 in the Mansfield News Journal. Read below or view on the News Journal website.
MANSFIELD -- The American Red Cross, an agency that responds to calamities, is trying to recover from its own misfortune.
A leaky roof at the 35 N. Park St. site, which also houses Legal Aid of Western Ohio, damaged part of the facility's offices.
Red Cross temporarily relocated to a classroom in the same building. The agency hopes to move its blood collection operation back to its usual quarters by the end of this month.
Legal Aid, which suffered greater damage at the Richland Community Services Center building, also will return to its own offices around that time. Two attorneys and a legal assistant are temporarily working in space offered by United Way and the Girl Scouts.
"I'm hopeful that by the end of November, the beginning of December, we will be all put back together," said Robert E. Maxey, president of the community services board.
Officials from the two agencies said they arrived to work Oct. 4 to find water had breached the northeast corner of the room during a rainy weekend.
Maxey said the roof was under repair. Contractors had installed the neck for one of the new roof drains, but it wasn't completely sealed, he said.
The water took down ceiling tiles and insulation in the Legal Aid office. It drenched the carpet, soaked papers stored on the floor, then ran down into the Red Cross' blood collection area on the first floor.
The building was converted after the mid-1960s from its former use as a Sears department store to house nonprofit agencies.
The leak resulted in more than $100,000 in damages, Maxey said.
"I could not believe the amount of devastation," Maxey said. "These old flat-roofed buildings have roofs that are just poured concrete."
Denny Tenison, of Legal Aid, had a similar reaction.
"I got here on a Monday and found two inches of water and said 'Oh my God, what happened here!' " he said. "Most of the offices in our suite were damaged by water."
Legal Aid had to suspend normal operations for about a week and a half to clear out fallen ceiling tile and soaked carpet. They used fans to dry wet papers, and dropped phone and computer lines down to the temporary space.
"Fortunately, the files that were most frequently being used didn't get the brunt of the water damage," Tenison said.
"We're still open to meet clients," Tenison said. "We just arrange to meet them in United Way."
The roof contractor's insurance probably will cover damage to the building, and the community service center's insurance will cover damage to office contents, he said.
