4/1/2011

Meet the West Bay Flood Heroes

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Our Flood Heroes: Amica and Textron
Their Generous Donations Help West Bay Recover from Flood Damage

The West Bay family would like to extend a special thank you to both Amica and Textron for their support and charitable donations after West Bay suffered significant flood damage last Spring. Both companies played a key role in helping West Bay refurnish and reopen the facility as quickly as possible.

"AMICA and Textron are truly heroes to us here at West Bay," said John DiMarco, CEO of West Bay Residential. "The damage from the flood was overwhelming, but these two corporate citizens helped us get back on our feet as quickly as possible."

Two leaders at both organizations - William Friedman, a tax accountant at Textron and Robert Suglia, Senior Counsel at Amica - are long time supporters of West Bay, and were instrumental in getting us the help we desperately needed. William, who served on the original West Bay board in 1981, remains an active board member and Robert currently serves as President of the board.

William and Robert's commitment to serving their community is reflected in their organizations. With the support of Amica and Textron, West Bay was able to furnish approximately 12,000 square feet of office space. The number of donations far exceeded West Bay's expectations and due to the numbers, West Bay was able to put spare donations in storage for its future needs.

Without the commitment from many employees at both Textron and AMICA, the refurnishing of West Bay would not have been possible," DiMarco said. "Both companies have a strong commitment and philosophy of giving, which is evident through the support of both companies and their employees.

Flood Heroes: Ana Sousa's Phone Log, Morning of March 30, 2010

Ana Sousa is director of maintenance for West Bay. Her phone started ringing on the morning of March 30 - and never stopped.

The Lancelotta home in West Warwick called because the 3rd shift heard water in the basement. A member of the 3rd shift went downstairs to take a look. Their foot was submerged in water at the first step.

Amanda Street home in Cranston, 3rd shift called. Ana, who was already at Lancelotta, told the staff person she would be on her way as soon as Lancelotta was "stable". Amanda Street basement was flooded up to the 2nd step of the basement.

Central home in Johnston called Ana to report the basement was flooded and that emergency supplies, storage bins and other items were floating.

By 7 am Ana had her crew were on the ground at six homes, dealing with flooded basements. Ana called Kathy Millard to give her details of where her crew were assisting, what equipment was needed, and discuss the next steps.

"Throughout it all, Ana's efforts were heroic," said John DiMarco. "Ana dealt with electricians, plumbers, lumber yards and clean-up crews. She prioritized where clean up was needed and gave direction."

Flood Heroes: Kathy Millard's Three Phones

Kathy Millard has been the Assistant Director of West Bay since we opened our doors in 1981. Since then, she has seen many things - but never anything like the Flood of 2010.

"Before leaving the office on Tuesday the 30th we tried to prepare in case the river behind us overflowed its banks," Kathy remembered. "As it turned out, though, nothing could stop the river, and the flood."

The phone calls to Kathy's house started to come in very early on the morning of Wednesday March 31, 2010. First there was Ana, with news that the basements in six homes were flooded. Kathy and Ana leaped into action - coordinating manpower, shop vacs and dehumidifiers. They also had to find temporary shelter for the ladies from Amanda Street, since the stream behind their home had risen and the neighborhood was being evacuated.

Throughout the emergency Kathy was using three phones at once - her house phone, her cell phone and her husband's cell phone. And the news kept getting worse. A trip by Ana, John and George in a rubber raft down Knight Street allowed them to see the damage up close. "By Wednesday afternoon the water had made its way into the building and had reached the copy machine!" Kathy said.

They made the quick decision to take the computer server to John's house to be set up again. Before leaving, they made a quick call to Brenda to get the combination to the safe, then took all the money and documents inside. This allowed them to meet payroll two days later.

"When the sun came out on Thursday, we began the arduous task of cleaning up," Kathy remembers. "We put work crews together, dumpsters were ordered and delivered, office staff in to clean up and supplies were purchased."

"This continued for what seemed like an eternity," she added.

Kathy did take one break, however. The following Sunday was Easter, and she had a quick dinner with her family. Then - right back to work.

"Through it all, Kathy was the one who prioritized, organized, gave direction and in all honesty kept the rest of us focused," said John DiMarco. "She was a real leader."