Update from Gloria and David

Hey Everyone! I wish I could give you all a great big hug. David and I are so touched by all your kindness and concern. This is some roller coaster. Thank you all for the positivity. It really does help to know we have so many people and such support behind us. Every morning is a march up hill, every evening is a tired retreat into welcome sleep ...with a hopeful feeling of little accomplishments achieved.

We have a contractor here today to give us an estimate of the damages and rebuild. We need to understand the dollar figures, even though, we will likely be doing all the work ourselves.
We have a roofer coming as well, to give us an estimate and verify what damage may be caused by rain (and not flood) that may be covered by our homeowners insurance.
We have the insurance adjuster here right now, at the same time, to walk through the house to see what may be covered and hear first hand from the roofer.

Gwinnett has been included in the FEMA relief. The FEMA app has been filed. I followed up this morning with a phone call. Our app is filed correctly and we are on a line for a FEMA adjuster to come out. When? We have no idea.
In conjunction with FEMA relief we may qualify for a disaster relief loan through the SBA. This app is partially filed and saved. As you can imagine the house is upside down and I need to find tax records and credit card balances and stuff. I should have it completed in the next several days.
There is no indication whatsoever, at this time, what kinds of relief will come, what we may qualify for, grants, loans. etc This will be a process, with appeals processes available.

The demolition is 98% complete. We have all kinds of trash pick ups scheduled for today. Half of our household belongings are out on the curb as I write. The stove and kitchen appliances are dead.
We are keeping the fans and the dehumidifiers for several more days to make sure the drying process is complete. Our understanding, is that this will take several weeks, before a rebuild is even a possibility~ not to mention... we have no idea where the money is coming from for the rebuild! :)
The spraying of the antimicrobial, MICROBAN is on going and I have just purchased buy 4 more gallons. This prohibits the growth of mold and protects the structure from any further mold spore damage. This is a critical step.

The Red Cross was here yesterday and were very helpful, with advice on how to deal with FEMA, with love and hugs, water bottles and recommendations for further services.

David has been back to work for several short days. I have not been back to work as of yet. Tomorrow, David's very helpful brother Park, leaves town, back to MN. I will return to the Mercantile after taking Park to the airport. Going to work may be the break I need at this point.

Thanks to our Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro family, our Mercantile family, our St. Matthew's Episcopal Church family, our Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity family, our neighbors here in Connemara and all our family and friends long distance that have called, texted, e-mailed and sent love, hugs, prayers, advice, and assistance. We appreciate you all more than we can express with words.

Please continue to pray for us.
Love and light,
Gloria and David

Help Gloria and David thru Paypal

Hello, friends and family. If you are a Paypal user, you can send G&D a gift using their email address: dgarmstrong@comcast.net The best way to send them help using Paypal is through an automated debit of a checking account. It's just like making an online purchase! No fees are deducted this way. You will need a paypal account in order to send money through paypal. I set one up in less than 5 minutes and sent them a few dollars. If you decide to use a credit card or debit card to send assistance, paypal will deduct 2.9% of the amount plus 30 cents in fees.

We are working on trying to get a paypal button on this blog, but in the meantime, it's easy to simply go to http://www.paypal.com/ , sign in and click on "Send Money."

Thanks for your support. We're all one as a community in times like these.
-JRB

Photos of the Flood

Gloria and David here

It has been some week! I was supposed to be at work celebrating our 1 year anniversary of being in business~ Yay Mercantile! Instead, we stood on our balcony overlooking the foyer and watched as 2 1/2 feet of water flowed in our home on the first floor. It was like Titanic, but less romantic!

We are completely overwhelmed and exhausted. WE HAVE NO FLOOD INSURANCE! YIKES! We were told about 8 years ago that we were required to get flood insurance, the FEMA maps had been re-drawn since our survey upon moving in, 2 years prior. Then, 3 years later, we were sent a letter in the mail, from our mortgage co saying that the maps had been re-drawn again, and that we were no longer required to carry flood insurance. "Occasionally FEMA revises the boundaries of special flood hazard areas, based upon construction, improvements of canals and levees and such, that can mitigate the possibilities of losses from Flooding."

I've been on the phone and computer with every government and insurance agency. This will be my new full time job, I am certain. We are disappointed that we have not of yet been included in FEMA relief, but are hopeful it will come.

In the meanwhile, the good folks from St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and Habitat for Humanity Gwinnett, our church and our volunteer group, came out yesterday to start the demolition and clean up. We got all the wet sheet rock and floor boards out. The sub floor is exposed and airing out as we speak. The day before, our daughter's good friend and ours, Josh Lindstrom and his friend Joe, came out immediately, as soon as they could get through the roads and ripped out carpeting. Our son, Charles Park, got here to help rip up flooring as soon as he could from Kennesaw State. The roads were all closed up there. Our daughter Sawyer is in Pittsburgh, at college, stranded with the G20Summit! At least we are all safe. We feel blessed. We are so grateful for all the helping hands and loving hearts that have reached out to us already.

This will be a long process. We are taking it step by step. Alternately, crying and laughing. When my children's pre-school "Fat Cat" production was thrown to the curb, that's when I lost it. Stuff is stuff, but some stuff is precious. When they were ripping apart the kitchen yesterday, I saw David's face go pale. It's hard. But then we find something to laugh about. I said to David that I felt like my head was going to explode and he said, "Honey, please don't let your head explode,we have so much to clean up already!" We both laughed, a lot.

David's brother, Park is here now, flown in from MN. They are out renting industrial air blowers and dehumidifiers. We are living on the 2nd floor. That's all we can do for now. We are trying hard to keep the faith. Thanks to my Mercantile Family, and the Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro Family, for being so good to us regarding time off. Thanks to everyone that has offered help, ideas and assistance. We will need plenty of all those things.

Love and light,

Gloria and David Armstrong

Gloria and David Need Our Help!

Just over a year ago, Gloria Limanni met me for coffee to interview for a management position in our brand new business. She had cancelled our first meeting because a dear friend had gone into the hospital. "I'm sorry about this," she said via email. "I hate to do this. But, this guy is like family and he needs me today."

That early encounter with Gloria said so many things to me about her integrity, her priorities and her stance on life and I entered our re-scheduled interview with a sincere interest in her. Since that time, Gloria has not only come to work for us at The Mercantile, but she has given so much of herself and her passion to what we are trying to accomplish. Not just our business, but our lives have been enriched by her daily presence. One of our key tenets at The Mercantile has been building and participating in community. Gloria identifed with this immediately and helped us to enact a vision that seeks to embody community and give back each day through a capitalist style venture built on heart, passion, and tastebuds!

She holds babies for moms while they shop and hugs people when learning of a loss or a difficult day. When one of our regular guests suddenly lost their best friend in a horrible accident, dinner for four showed up on their doorstep through Gloria's quick thinking. She brings in cards for the staff to sign when one of us needs support.

Similarly, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to get to know David this past year. He has shown up at The Mercantile with his tool kit and helped us fix maddening repair problems. David has also walked in the door wearing his chef's uniform on his day off and helped us knock out catering orders. He has assisted us in special events and talked with me over the phone just to offer his encouragement when it's been tough going as a business owner. My favorite memory of all is last Easter when Samantha and I found ourselves working on Easter Sunday to try and catch up at the shop. Gloria and David showed up that evening with a juicy lamb roast, bottles of wine, and a complete meal. Samantha and I were treated to the best Easter dinner ever with some of the finest company!

It's our turn at The Mercantile to give back to Gloria and David. While we do not have the resources to help them completely recover their loss, we can reach out to our community and family and seek to build a grass roots style momentum that will hopefully give them a boost during this difficult time. Getting this blog started as a resource for community and family to send them assistance is our starting contribution. Read below for small ways that we can all help. Gloria and David, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Yours in Community,

-Janea Boyles and Samantha Enzmann

The 411

Some info about Gloria and David's current situation:

As of Thursday, September 24, Gwinnett County had not been included in the list of counties for FEMA assistance. The last they heard, their home insurance provider had communicated their property insurance would not cover the flood damage. Their kitchen is currently unusable and they are unsure when it will be up and running again. The estimated damage is $100K!


What can we do? I have spoken with Gloria and David over the phone and they have given me permission to set up this site to try and get a grass roots effort going on their behalf. Both of them are overwhelmed. This blog was my idea and I offered to get it going. Very soon I'll be adding some more pics and any updates I may get. Here are a few options to send your love and support.


1. Send Gloria and David Home Depot Gift Cards! Here's the link to send them a gift card! It's easy. The minimum gift card purchase is only $10 and you can have it shipped to their home address. Just think if we can get 1oo people to send $10? Samantha and I have already shipped one out today! It took us less than 5 minutes and there were NO shipping charges.


Gloria Limanni & David Armstrong

410 Silver Creek Run

Lawrenceville, GA 30044

2. Send Gloria and David a personal gift in any amount you can spare to the same address above.


3. More info coming soon on how you can help through Paypal!