HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Tampa-based babysitting company that takes care of our kids at home is now leading relief efforts in Ft. Myers.
The co-founder of Doublemint Sitting, Synthia Fairman, lost her childhood home to rising flood waters as Hurricane Ian made landfall.
Her childhood home is now an empty shell as the Caloosahatchee River jumped its banks flooding hundreds of homes.
"Today is a bad day because the reality has set in," Fairman told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska. "This is life right now. My parents are 70 years old and starting over from scratch. How do I help them? This is our neighborhood; it's destroyed. Mental health is a nightmare, and my family has lost everything. So many families have lost everything."
But the one thing she didn't lose was her parents. At the last second, Fairman made a last-minute plea for them to leave.
"My parents didn't want to evacuate," Fairman explained. "And then I said, 'Dad, where's the will in case something happens to you? And that's what made him realize it's time to go. So thank God they left."
On Oct. 1, Fairman was planning a move to Tampa to help run Doublemint Sitting with co-founder Gabriela Rosello. All of that is on hold.
"You've just been couch hopping? Paluska asked.
"That's what it is. This is where I grew up. And it's OK. I'll be uncomfortable for a few weeks," Fairman said.
Once the scope of Ian's destruction was revealed, Fairman volunteered at a local evacuation center. Her background with children, degree and qualifications lead to Fairman running the shelter for three days. Now, her eyes are set on helping her community. Clients at Doublemint Sitting continue to send endless supplies of food, water and one run a pallet stacked with beer.
Fairman was overwhelmed by the response and the dedication of so many people she knew and strangers.
Across from her childhood home, John and Donna Meredith are ripping out everything to the cinder blocks. Flood waters crashed through their windows. The feet of sandbags were not enough to hold the force of the river bank. Donna's husband is the executive pastor at First Christian Church in Ft. Myers. While they deal with their damage, they've turned their front yard into a supply center for people to get whatever supplies they need.
"We have a wonderful gentleman, Synthia's friend; he came down from Tampa and brought what is over to me right here and some baby formula, lots of water. And then we had my brother-in-law and niece from Tennessee from Bristol, Tennessee. They came down a couple of days ago just for a few days to help us with some relief tearing out the home, saving hardware off of the cabinetry," Donna Dairman said. "And, they brought down a lot of what's here on the tables, waters, food, fruit. Oh, gosh! The fruit has been wonderful for people to enjoy. And then, yesterday, we had neighbors saying we wanted something cold. We have plenty of water. We want something cold. So, I called some friends at my church First Christian Church, and they brought these coolers. Coolers. Like I've never seen. They drove up in like three different Suburbans and unloaded the ice. And we've had the ice here, and we're just trying to tell people in the Twin Palms neighborhood. Come here. We have ice; we have cold water. We have cold sodas to get some relief."
As the supply runs continue to help the community of Ft. Myers, the pain of the unknown remains. Fairman said she's seen things she can't unsee in the form of destruction and death. Now, she is waiting for the good news that a missing family member is OK.
"My uncle is homeless," Fairman said. "And, we don't know if he's OK. We sent emails to the medical examiner, we sent photos, and we have an endless amount of posts on Facebook; where's Mark? Where's Mark? You don't realize the numbers and what it's like to worry if one of your loved ones is missing or has died from this tragedy until you're in this position."
As Fairman showed us the pile of donations coming in from Tampa, helicopters whirled overhead.
"So seeing these helicopters coming back and forth is promising that there are still people getting rescued," Fairman said. "So many families have lost everything. And every day, people are calling; what can we do to help? What can we do to help get down here and help? That's what we need. Donate to somebody's GoFundMe or donate to the Red Cross. Just do what you can to help our community because it hits different when you know someone personally."
