As many of you may know, The Summit sustained major water damage due to a broken pipe over the weekend. Over the past 4 days it has been a roller coaster of emotions and long hours of clean up. Through this experience there have been many lessons learned.
One tiny pipe on the 3rd floor created a large disaster that impacted our entire building. Don’t ever underestimate the impact of an individual “small action”.
At 7:30pm on Sunday evening, we received a call from the AA group that was meeting in our Community Room saying our building had flooded. By 8:30pm we had notified all our therapists and were contacting our clients to let them know that the offices would be closed on Monday. That next day, our administrative team was working from a conference room table and were busy rescheduling all our therapists and their clients at our other locations for the rest of the week.
On Wednesday, we canceled our weekly staff meeting and everyone arrived in their “working clothes” to help pack all our personal belongings from the office space so that the disaster response team could start the demolition. It was inspiring to see the team work together, helping their co-workers clean up and pack their offices.
By the end of this week…
It has been uplifting to see our community partners rally around us! Our friends at Mount Pisgah UMC and Mount Pisgah Christian School have opened their doors to provide us space to continue providing counseling services on a temporary basis. In only 4 short days, we will have all 20 of our therapists that see clients at the Main Office back on schedule to see their clients during their regularly scheduled times.
While you can’t stop a disaster from happening, having a plan and being prepared to implement that plan are important. We are still in “crisis mode” and each day holds a new set of challenges, but we will continue “working the plan” and trusting in those that do this for a living. We are seeking guidance from our new friends at Servpro, our insurance company, and all of those that are helping us relocate temporarily until the remodeling is done.
When you work with people whose business is “caring”….it is easy to see good in the midst of bad. Our team has pulled together to move mountains this week. Our partners have opened their doors and gone the extra mile to ensure that we were back up and running quickly. Our Board of Directors and donors have reached out to ensure that we continue to be financially viable as we begin the process of remodeling.
We know that the next few months won’t be easy. We ask that you keep the Summit in your prayers. We are in the early stages of knowing what the financial impact will be. Hopefully, due to good planning and fiscal oversight by our Board of Directors, the loss will be minimal. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress and our needs….and won’t be afraid to ask for help if it is needed!
We would love to schedule a meeting to discuss opportunities to support the Summit.
Contact:
David Smith, Executive Director
Shawn Murphy, Development Director