Broward teacher, who helps low-income families, in need of help herself
MIAMI - Keke Salley usually stays in school after hours. She helps parents of low-income students watch their kids while they come out from work.
"They always thank me for helping them," said Salley, who for the first time has had to be at the other end of the spectrum.
"Now, not only the kids need help, but we the teachers need the help as well," said Salley as she toured her flooded house in Fort Lauderdale. She said the front of her house was already flooded on Tuesday night, almost half a day before the historic floodings in parts of Broward County.
As Salley pointed out how high the level of water got in her house and what was ruined, CBS Miami asked her, what do you need? She is not used to the sound of that question.
She sighed and responded: "We need a dresser… we need two more beds… we need to replace this couch… my mom is trying to salvage as much as we can, as fast as possible."
It is the race against time many people in flooded areas in Broward County, went through. Some with flood insurance, some not.
"We have many cases like this," told CBS Miami Heather Siskind, she is the CEO for Jack and Jill, the center where Keke works as a teacher.
"We have two more people that are in crisis and need help right now, so this list is a very long list not only who we serve but who we employ," said Siskind adding that their requests for help have tripled compared to times where there were no floodings. "We are out of the funding that need in order to provide services for our families."
Katy Meagher, from Neighbors4Neighbors is echoing the message, she is the CEO for the entity that helps people in need, which works directly with CBS Miami.
"There isn't funding particularly for something like this (flooding), this is not a hurricane, so this is not one of those things the typical resources come into play," said Meagher, referring to federal aid. She reiterated that the only resource for those affected is insurance.
Salley does not have renters' insurance and a week after her home flooded there is already a smell in the house, "we tried to reach out to our landlord about this issue and nobody has gotten back to us. We couldn't just wait for the listing people to come fix it up, we took it upon ourselves to fix as much as we could, we haven't stopped."
Salley and the center she works for Jack and Jill are now relying on the community's help for this moment of crisis.
Those interested in making a difference in the lives of this teacher can donate by going to the section Neighbors 4 Neighbors.
