Yanin “Nina” Ledesma and her son Gregory Ashwood lived in a duplex off 15th Street and Fowler Avenue in North Tampa’s University Area neighborhood for seven years. They saw their share of hurricanes threaten and impact the Tampa Bay area and made it through with no damage.
“We had all the ‘I’s' - Irma, Ian,” Ledesma says.
Then came Milton, when a combination of relentless rain and inadequate or malfunctioning stormwater infrastructure caused flooding in the University Area and several other neighborhoods outside evacuation zones.
“We were at home riding out the storm,” Ledesma says. “It just happened so quickly. One moment we were lying down watching TV waiting for the storm to pass. The next hour, we’re escaping our house.”
In the midnight hour, as October 9th became October 10th, waist-high water filled their apartment, toppling the refrigerator. Ledesma piggy-back carried her 14-year-old son so he could climb on top of the overturned fridge. He pushed the refrigerator and furniture out of the way so they could climb out a window. Ledesma called her mother, Maria Macias, who walked from her home about a mile away to meet them. Barefoot and in their pajamas, Ledesma and Gregory walked in darkness through waist-deep water to Macias’ home.
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Yanin LedesmaYanin "Nina" Ledesma and her son Gregory Ashwood climbed out a window of their duplex to escape rising floodwaters.Gregory says the situation seemed so unreal he wondered if he was dreaming. Hours later, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office would need boats to rescue other University Area residents from flooded homes and apartments. Ledesma says when she returned to check on their apartment after the floodwaters receded, the high water line was past the window.
“I lost everything, including my car,” she says.
Hundreds of residents in the University Area have similar stories of making it through a frightening ordeal but losing everything they have. With so many facing difficult, uncertain times, the University Area Community Development Corporation (UACDC) has stepped up to lead the relief and recovery effort in the community it’s worked to revitalize and support for more than 25 years.
"It seems surreal when you think about how much devastation has happened in this community," UACDC CEO and Executive Director Sarah Combs says. "There are hundreds of stories."
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University Area CDCHarvest Hope Park became the central hub for hurricane relief efforts in North Tampa's University Area neighborhood.Right after Milton, the UACDC’s Harvest Hope Park became the central hub for relief efforts. It was the place to come for hot meals twice a day, food, water, cleaning products, baby food, diapers, clothing, showers, laundry and bathrooms.
“You think about all the things that they need, it’s everything,” Combs says. “Kids don’t have any clothes to go back to school. School opened back up, which is great, but kids didn’t have anything to go to school in. So we had to get them socks and shoes, shirts and shorts, all of those things. You just don't think about how much of a need it is until you are in a situation like this. Cleaning products, hygiene products, baby formula, diapers, wipes. Harvest Hope Park really became that central hub where we were feeding people and distributing items to the community. I think because of how fast we responded with that grassroots effort, we were able to connect with the community and say, ‘We’re here with you. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to get you the supplies you need.’”
Community partners like Hillsborough County government, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, local businesses and other nonprofits have all helped UACDC help its community. Feeding Tampa Bay has had multiple food distribution events. One day, Operation BBQ Relief provided 2,000 free meals. On another, Bloomin' Brands provided 4,000.
“I thought we won’t be able to serve that many,” Combs says. “We served all of them. Last week, we served over 14,000 hot meals and we don’t serve hot meals. That’s not something that we do as a nonprofit. But we knew the community was suffering and hurting. People hadn’t eaten in days. So we were able to rally a response. Some amazing partners came to the table.”
The community relief effort has now moved from Harvest Hope Park to a Hillsborough County comfort station at University Area Community Park. Combs says Milton flooded and damaged hundreds of homes and apartments, some beyond repair. The UACDC has case management cases for 500 neighborhood residents and is helping them find assistance for needs like food, housing and baby supplies like diapers. She expects the distribution of food and supplies may need to continue for six months. Then, there’s the long-term recovery.
The UACDC was formed in 1998 to improve the quality of life in a community grappling with poverty, high crime, aging infrastructure and a lack of resources. Milton exacerbated one of the priority community problems the organization is working to solve.
“Prior to the hurricanes, we already had housing challenges in this area,” Combs says. “There’s just a lack of attainable housing in this community. Now you have this hurricane that has displaced so many residents. And they want to stay in this community but we can’t find housing to put them in. So what we’re finding now is we are having a really hard time getting people to leave their apartments, apartments that have been flooded, apartments that have holes in the roofs because of trees. Because they’re fearful. ‘If I leave where do I go?’”
That uncertainty has brought a growing sense of desperation for some residents, she says. But their determination to try and stay in the neighborhood shows how tight-knit the community is.
“You realize how important this community is to the residents here,” Combs says. “They don’t want to leave their homes because of the social connectivity they’ve created. Their neighbors watch their kids. Their friend down the street has a car so they can go grocery shopping or to the doctor. It’s this network of support that they’ve created. Their jobs are here. The kids’ schools are here. They don’t want to leave this community and that speaks to what kind of community we are.”
For more information, go to UACDC disaster relief