Hurricane Irma victim-turned-homeless-woman at odds with FEMA over housing

Carol Mason joined the ranks of the homeless - she's among many still dealing with Hurricane Irma's aftermath.

Lamaur Stancil
Florida Today
  • Family Promise of Brevard is a faith-based nonprofit that helps families combat homelessness
  • Hurricane Irma caused a series of tornadoes in Brevard on Sept. 11
  • Irma brought $157 million in structural damage in Brevard
  • Brevard government, beaches take $37 million hit from Irma

One week ago, retiree Carol Mason and her two cats officially became homeless.

Carol Mason has had a rough couple of months. Her home was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma making it uninhabitable. Her housing assistance has run out, so she is homeless. She is living in the woods with her two cats Honey and Shandi.

Mason's mobile home in Cocoa suffered a hard hit from Hurricane Irma in September, blowing out the windows and putting holes in the roof. She stayed with friends for a few weeks until she signed up for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's transitional hotel program. 

The FEMA payments for the hotel ended in early January. Mason, 73, paid for the hotel out of her own pocket — $89 a night — until Jan. 19.

"I live in the woods now," Mason said Tuesday. "My faith and my kittens get me through. God and I have a good thing going. We always have."

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Her relationship with FEMA is not in good standing, though. Mason said it rejected her application for help because the agency said her Byrd Plaza Mobile Home Park trailer was not her primary home. She said the uninsured trailer has been her only home for 11 years.

"For the first three weeks of this month, I spent six hours a day on the phone with FEMA," Mason said.

She's not alone

Four months after Hurricane Irma, people throughout Brevard County are still trying to repair their homes and their lives. Some have had better luck with FEMA than Mason. 

The agency has paid $24.4 million in home and rental assistance to Brevard residents for Irma damages not covered by insurance. And there's still 100 households using the Transitional Shelter Assistance program, the same one Mason used to stay at a hotel from October through January. At its height, 1,350 households were using the program.

"FEMA continues to work with survivors on a case-by-case basis to determine their eligibility for our programs," FEMA spokesman John Mills said.

Mills said he would not comment on Mason's case because of privacy laws. 

Local charities, FEMA dollars 

"We partner with charitable and faith-based groups in the communities," Mills said about FEMA's recovery efforts.

One of those groups was the Central Brevard Sharing Center in Cocoa, which distributed more than $8,000 to 18 households for rent and utilities for Irma victims, said president and CEO David Brubaker. The money is provided by FEMA to the United Way through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, he said. 

Click here to support Home organized by Carol Mason

That money helped families that had spent money for other needs after the storm.

"The applicants have to show sustainability," Brubaker said. "We have to make sure they aren't going to be evicted a month after we pay the bills for them. The payments are made directly to the utility or the landlord."

Four years ago, Family Promise of Brevard formed as a nonprofit agency with the aim to combat homelessness. Calls to the Rockledge organization increased 25 percent after the hurricane, said Tara Pagliarini, executive director.

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"A major storm like Irma can tip the scales for a family that was already living month-to-month or week-to-week," Pagliarini said. "They don't have anything in savings, and they don't have anything they can fall back to rebound."

One of Family Promise's programs pairs families with congregations that provide temporary housing and meals, Pagliarini said. Case management is also provided for those families to help them transition back into their own homes, she said.

Family Promise is also working with families using FEMA's transitional hotel program. The funding for those hotel stays is expected to end in February, Pagliarini said.

"We can work proactively with them before they get evicted from the hotels," she said. 

Family Promise also is one of 11 groups across the country to win a $10,000 grant that pays for the first and last month's rent requirements for families trying to move into a rental,  Pagliarini said. It's called "Help Us Move In," or HUMI. 

"The families can afford the rent once they get there," she said. "Most families don't have the bank saved up for first, last and security. That really applies to the Irma victims."

The Space Coast Association of Realtors matched the $10,000 grant, and Family Promise raised another $40,000 to help families pay back rent. 

Carol Mason's former home in Cocoa in the Byrd Plaza trailer park was heavily damaged in Hurricane Irma, making it uninhabitable.

Can Bill Nelson save the day? 

After her unsatisfactory dealings with FEMA, Mason contacted Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida.

"They emailed a consent letter to have him deal with FEMA on my behalf," Mason said. 

The consent letter explains to constituents that they must give Nelson written permission for his office to assist them on their FEMA claims.

"Due to provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, all federal agencies are prohibited from releasing any information regarding an individual without that individual's written consent," the letter states. 

Nelson's staff said its Orlando office is fielding calls from people who need help dealing with FEMA. Anyone who would like help from the senator's office can call 407-872-7161.

Carol's future

Mason, who lives off $865 a month in Social Security and $165 monthly in food stamps, said she'd like to get a room or a small apartment she could share with a roommate. 

Mason had a variety of occupations through her life, from teaching in Fairfax, Virginia, to becoming a literary agent and a legal assistant after she moved to Brevard in 1993. 

She has no children; her relatives live out of state.

More: Hurricane Irma brought $157M in structural damage in Brevard

More:  Brevard government, beaches take $37M hit from Hurricane Irma

More: Cape Canaveral couple lost everything due to Hurricane Irma

Before leaving her hotel room last week, she grabbed blankets, a jacket, an umbrella, some clothing and an animal crate containing Honey and Shandi, two cats that came into her life just months before Irma.

Carol Mason has been living in the woods with her two cats Honey and Shandi since her FEMA assistance ran out. Her home was damaged in Hurricane Irma and it's uninhabitable. This is Honey.

In May, three kittens were thrown out of a moving pickup near her home. Two didn't survive. Mason took in the third, named it Honey, and nursed it back to health. 
"He didn't move for a month," she said. "But he was alive." 

Despite skull fractures from the toss from the pickup, the cat shows no sign that it had suffered such injuries. Mason later adopted a stray, Shandi, as Honey's playmate. 

"I promised he would be taken care of," Mason said, through tears. 

Stancil is a breaking news reporter for FLORIDA TODAY and TCPalm.

Contact at Stancil 321-242-3662 or 321-987-7179

or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com.

Twitter: @TCPalmLStancil

Want to help Carol?

She has created a gofundme account at: https://www.gofundme.com/gsp34z-home