BUSINESSMAN OFFERS DONATED TRAVEL TRAILERS
BY HECTOR SAN MIGUEL
AMERICAN PRESS
LAKE CHARLES, LA
JANUARY 22, 2009

A Texas businessman says he’s willing to donate 10 refurbished travel trailers to Cameron residents left homeless by Hurricane Ike.

Mike Turner owns Country Aire Mobile Home Park at 2465 La. 397. He has been placing FEMA trailers there since December for Cameron Parish residents left homeless by Hurricane Ike.

He is also the founder and director of the Silver Lining Foundation based in Austin, Texas.

Turner told the American Press on Friday he decided to donate the trailers in an effort to help Cameron residents who are having problems with FEMA in getting emergency housing.

"What I have learned after talking with hundreds of people down in Cameron is that these folks really want to go home. As soon as I heard that FEMA was going to relax these maps and let people go down there, I offered to help them get housed right away," he said.

Turner said anyone in Cameron who needs emergency housing can come to Country Aire trailer park starting Monday to register for one of the 10 trailers.

Depending on how many people apply, there will likely be a drawing, he said.

"By essentially registering everyone and going out to prep their trailer sites for them, we would like to get to a point where we could get the president’s attention to this," he said.

Turner said his Silver Lining Foundation loaned money to a hurricane victim who is living in a travel trailer right now. The person used that money to buy the used travel trailers from FEMA. He wants his identity to remain a secret.

"This person spent the last three years volunteering and helping other disaster victims in a long-term recovery group. When I caught wind of him, I had my foundation donate a manufactured home to him," he said.

Turner said the foundation is helping to rehab the trailers so they can be used by the hurricane victims. The unidentified man bought 20 trailers and used some of the trailers for parts to get the other trailers ready.

It has been estimated that the travel trailers will be completely refurbished within two weeks, according to Turner.

"We simply want to act as a watchdog so that we can register people. We know who is on the list. We know what their situation is and what they lost," Turner said.

Turner has spent up to $150,000 of his own money to help find housing for Cameron residents, he said. He has seven people working full-time on the emergency housing situation there.

"We are asking for donations to help us offset some of the funds we are going to spend preparing these proposed trailer sites. People can call us or go to our Web site if they want to volunteer," he said.

"We are going to give these trailers away to people who are in a flood zone even by the old maps because FEMA says they are not doing it for these areas, period," he said.

Turner said he had recruited some local homeless men who are skilled in carpentry and roofing to help refurbish the 10 trailers. He has put them up in a travel trailer while they are doing this work, he said.

"These were homeless people who we gave a home, and now they are volunteering to get the homes ready for other people who don’t have homes in Cameron. That’s something," he said.

Persons interested in serving as volunteers or wanting to give donations to the foundation can call Turner at 512-646-0691. The Web site is www.silver-lining-foundation.org.


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