Donations help shelter recover from flood

CLEVELAND (AP) — A women’s shelter that lost all its everyday items when it was flooded twice earlier this month has replaced everything with the help of donors.

One elderly woman with a cane donated a crumpled dollar bill. “This is all I have,” she told the staff at the Community Women’s Shelter.

Car dealerships and police officers chipped in to help the shelter, which houses 150 women nightly. And the shelter’s women got a surprise Thursday: a performance by rising R&B star Emily King, in town for a show at the House of Blues.

Besides live music, people and groups have showered the shelter with donations after it was hit hard by two successive storms and flooding.

Flooding Aug. 2 and 9 destroyed between $5,000 and $10,000 in supplies, such as blankets, pillows and furniture, said David Titus, the shelter’s director.

Water up to 15 inches deep damaged one of the two buildings at the shelter, which is run by Mental Health Services Inc., Titus said. The shelter is working with insurers to address repairs to the structure.

Mattie Williams, a 51-year-old resident of the shelter, said the response “made me feel good. You’d be surprised how many people in the world really care.”