Multi-Agency Resource Center to open in Woodford County

The MARC will be set up Thursday at Roanoke-Benson High School located at 208 West High Street. (Photo courtesy Roanoke-Benson High School)

 

By Neil Doyle

ROANOKE – A Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) will open Thursday in Woodford County to help residents recover from recent flash flooding.

Local and state representatives will open the MARC from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Roanoke-Benson High School.

“Protecting our residents and our communities is our highest priority as we navigate through the disaster recovery process,” said IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “We are grateful to the local health department and various state agencies for their insight and cooperation to ensure we continue to provide the necessary resources to the residents who are recovering from this flash flood event.”

On July 15, Roanoke received at least eight inches of rain in three hours, impacting more than 123 homes and five businesses.  Several families have been displaced by torrential rains that tore the earth away from their home’s foundation. The rushing water also damaged Village Hall, Public Works Building and the town’s EMS facilities.

Some of the agencies that will offer assistance include the Department of Aging, Department of Human Services, Department of Insurance, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), and Protecting the Community during COVID-19.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…