Sumpter volunteers work to set up program for emergency help

Chenyere Yisreal of Sumpter Township is on a mission to have preparation for any kind of disaster for the people in her community.
The area she is concentrating on is from Huron on the east to Rawsonville Road on the west and from Oakville Waltz Road at the south to Belleville.
“We have mailed out and mailed and mailed,” she said at a meeting of volunteers Saturday at the Sumpter Community Center.
“We have contacted every church in these parameters we described,” she said. “The weather is about to change … rain, snow, storms, tornados, and power out — for three to five days sometimes.”
She said some people are in their homes alone without someone checking on them.
“People need people. This community can be a significant sign of what humanity can do for humanity,” she said.
She stated that, first of all, everyone should have a survival kit.
Yisreal said she talked to Ethel Burns, a member of Isom Church, and she talked to Angela Hill of Temple Israel Church and the three of them talked to Mary Ann Watson of the Sumpter Senior Center.
When there is a disaster, people need to know where to go, they agreed.
Yisreal said they had talked to Bishop Alan Cox of Spiritual Israel Church and his wife Patricia, but Cox died in January. She said Joe Jordan has assured them Spiritual Israel Church will offer shelter in an emergency.
With Spiritual Gardens and the Community Center designated as shelters, Yisreal said they need other locations near Oakville Waltz and Belleville and Rawsonville.
The effort is called the Community Emergency Awareness Project (CEAP).
Yisreal said they are calling on pastors to help because the pastors have a captive audience each Sunday and can inform the people.
Yisreal said neighbors need to check on neighbors and get help to people who need it.
Ethel Burns told of a Sumpter woman who died and it took seven days for her to be found deceased in her home. She was found because of the smell. Police found the phone number of the Missionary Society among her things to try to get a family contact number.
“No one should be without a check every one or two days,” said Burns, who is a registered nurse.
She said Eugene was found in his home deceased and maybe someone could have done CPR or help him if found sooner.
“Our mission is to get the word out there,” Burns said. “We’re expecting this to grow.”
She said everyone has a cell phone now and emergency workers can call the ICE (in case of emergency) button on the phone to find family members.
“We don’t want to force anything on anybody,” said Burns, adding their mission, their aim, is to get that help.
She said in the last two months in Belleville there have been overdosing and suicides and they want to help save the young people, but that is another issue.
Angela Hill passed out information she had composed and gathered from various sources on emergency preparedness. One shows suggestions on what should go in a survival kit that someone can grab and take with them or grab and take to their own basement.
If their basement needs repair so it can be used as a shelter, they can get it repaired, they agreed.
Hill said they need to have a list of places they can go.
“Reaching out to your neighbor. It’s our duty as citizens, as friends,” Hill said. “I know to get help to my own relatives, but some elderly people also need help. I help some in their gardens.”
Hill said she sat in on a webinar on survival resources.
She said when a bridge collapsed, they found someone in the rubble who used a whistle. They heard the whistle and rescued the person. A whistle is a vital part of the emergency kit, she said.
Watson was there to represent the police and fire departments. She passed out a township emergency booklet.
Yisreal asked what would be done if, for example, there was a forest fire in the fall.
Watson said if, for example, the fire was near Rawsonville Woods, the park would be evacuated and volunteers would be needed to help. She said the community center would be opened and the senior bus used to bring residents to the center. If more transportation is needed, they could seek a school bus. This emergency group would be in assistance in the community center, she said.
The group considered asking other churches for space, including Ark of Noah, out on the county line, Lighthouse Church on Sumpter Road just over the township line, Abundant Harvest on Willis Road near Rawsonville, First Baptist on Bohn Road, and the Moose Lodge.
“These churches are going to get a visit from me,” Yisreal said.
Watson said the Senior Alliance does have a telephone assurance program, where a person can get a phone call every day to check on them. She also said the Meals on Wheels program can get a meal to someone Monday through Friday and the delivery person checks on them.
Watson said a man told his friend he wasn’t feeling well and he was going to the hospital, but instead he went to bed and died.
Yisreal said, “We can’t stop everything … but we want everybody to have a contact. Then, everybody has to have a kit.”
She began a suggestion of items for the kit, including a first aid kit, flashlight, radio, water bottle, candle, whistle, batteries.
Hill said Amazon sells emergency kits.
Watson said Huron Valley Ambulance can come out to speak. They could tell about their Life Line necklaces.
“We want to consolidate, so we’re not all over the place,” Burns said. “Survival first. How to get to emergency shelter… Then suicide prevention … Our children are dying. It’s another whole issue.”
“I want to have a roomful of people by the November meeting,” Yisreal said.
“The aim is to meet the goal that nobody misses a well-being check every one to two days,” Burns said. “We should be contacting ministers and friends for services available.”
The next meeting of this Community Emergency Awareness Project is at noon on Saturday, Oct. 27. Everyone interested is urged to attend. A presentation on suicide prevention by SOOAR is among items on the agenda.