Monday, May 30, 2011

Towns hit by twisters offer rebuilding road map

By Jim Suhr and Jim Salter, POSTED: 05/26/2011

...Not far from Joplin, tiny Pierce City and Stockton rebuilt piece by piece after tornadoes reduced much of their prized downtowns to rubble, killing four. 
... "Some things came back bigger and better," said Johnson, who has spent all but four of her 48 years in Pierce City, where the population is down just 128 from a decade ago. "It's never going to be the way it was as far as physical attributes, and we lost the historical charm as far as downtown. But we're back." So is Stockton, eight years after the lakeside town was brought to its knees by the tornado that killed three people, nearly destroyed the town square and knocked out one-third of its 120 businesses. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, and the park was obliterated.
Residents wanted to start rebuilding immediately, Mayor Patty Thompson recalls. But the city council barred new construction for a few months, allowing for cool reflection about how the resurrected town should look.

SBA Business Recovery Center Open

The SBA Business Recovery Center (BRC) is open at the Newman Innovation Center.  This center is a partnership with the Small Business Administration, The Small Business and Technology Development Center at Missouri Southern State University and the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

The BRC is located at the Newman Innovation Center adjacent to the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, 320 East 4th Street in Joplin.

HOURS:
M, W, TH & F
9 am - 6 pm
Tuesday
11 am - 8 pm
Saturday
9 am - 1 pm

From http://www.joplincc.com/

Joplin Business Recovery - Long Term Recovery Funds
Four community and business organizations have joined together to establish a long term recovery fund to support the rebuilding of Joplin due to the May 22, 2011 multi vortex EF-5 tornado.

The goal is to establish mid to long term recovery funds to help Joplin rebuild. There are four entities working together to help residents and businesses. The Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Community Foundation of the Ozarks and SW MO, United Way of SW Missouri and SE Kansas, and Jasper County Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD).

1. To donate to the JACC Business Recovery Fund, click the "Donate" button or click here.
2. To donate to Community Foundation of the Ozarks and SW Missouri, click here.
3. To donate to United Way please call 2-1-1.
To donate to COAD - Joplin Long Term Recovery, please go to any Arvest Bank location. You must provide this information when you go to Arvest: acct#12114939 and routing # 082900872. This fund is for unmet needs of residents, individuals and families. Applicants must have exhausted FEMA, insurance and other governmental funds.
Basic Needs Organizations
United Way or text "JOPLIN" to 864833 to give a gift of $10
Convoy of Hope
American Red Cross or text “Joplin” to 90999 to make a $10 donation
Samaritan’s Purse
Salvation Army or text “Joplin” to 80888 to make a $10 donation

Advice to Joplin, Mo. from a town rebuilt

What Joplin can learn from Greensburg (and vice versa)


Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/24/2899089/what-joplin-can-learn-from-greensburg.html#ixzz1NsF4EDzP