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On Sunday, August 2, people at Starfire's building noticed muddy water welling up from the floor. Within a few hours, there was 3 inches of mud and throughout the building. We contacted emergency plumbers and cleaners, who have been working around the clock since. Apparently, a pipe burst under the building sometime in the past week, leaking water under our concrete slab. Eventually, that water had no place to go but up through our floor.
At this point, we have lost all of our flooring, much of the drywall, and some computers, furniture and other items.
After initial conversations with our insurance company and with contractors, we are forced to close the building until September 14th at the earliest. There is a possibility, based on progress replacing everything, that we may be closed longer and will keep people updated.
This means that we have no way of running our day programs between now and September 14th, and are advising people and families to find other options. I know that won't be easy for everyone, so we will help in any way we can with that.
As we move forward, we do have a couple of things to ponder. One is a lesson learned, and one is a call to action.
The lesson learned has been the power of a strong network of support. People have come to help clean, offered places to access our computers, and offered donations to help with replacement. It has been beautiful to see so many people rallying around us.
The call to action, then, is to apply that lesson forward. Emergencies, accidents and broken water pipes happen all the time, but we never know when. It seems as though the best preparation is to maintain and grow our connectedness. Those relationships are the things that last when buildings are shut down, cars don't run, or life interrupts us in some big way.
Please take a moment to consider the people around you. How might you count on them in an emergency? And even more importantly, how might they count on you when they are in trouble? We can all imagine the day when something like this happens, but the key is to prepare for it by knowing each other, and slowly building the resilient and solid foundations of our safety nets and lifelines.
Starfire will be back in about 45 days, and will be stronger than ever. The work of community building was never designed to live in one place anyway, so for the next month or so, we'll be living proof of that.
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