Flooding causes $30k worth of damage to local non-profit building

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Torrential flooding has left one local non-profit in an emergency state.

The Heal the Hood Foundation was affected by severe flooding three weeks ago, which caused around $30,000 in damages. Since then, mold and mildew have overrun parts of the group’s facility.

Now, their mission of helping at-risk youth is in trouble.

“It’s a 911 for us to get this program back up and moving,” said Ladell Beamon, the Founder and CEO of the Heal the Hood Foundation.

Beamon leads the Heal the Hood Foundation and told WREG that with school back in session, time is of the essence to get their after-school and mentoring program back after this.

Since the initial damage, the Heal the Hood Foundation had to shut down its Hero Empowerment Center due to overwhelming amounts of mold and mildew.

“It’s damaged the floors, we had people that literally came in and they painted murals,” Beamon said. “It’s so much stuff – studio equipment where we are recording kids, we’re teaching them music and all that stuff and it’s like it’s gone.”

According to the foundation’s website, the mission of the center is to ” create an artistic therapy platform that cultivates and equips youth to use their gifts and talents to positively shape the community around them.”

The facility included a comic studio, dance studio, martial arts, career and leadership programs and other amenities.

“It (the Foundation) would teach us how to stay out of trouble and a lot of rules to live by to be more successful in life,” said Braylon Hunt, who attends the program. “It gave me morals to stand by.”

Beamon said losing the center affects many families, especially those at-risk and underserved.

“What that means for us is that the danger hours when it’s after school time, it’s like to have kids that are just out without no place to go,” Beamon said. “It puts us in a bad position.”

As they wait for their insurance company to help pay for damages, the Heal the Hood Foundation set up a GoFundMe page.

If you’re interested in donating, click the link here .

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