Naperville residents seek nonprofit partnership to help homeowners still affected by tornado

Naperville residents Kevin Austin, Kelly Dougherty and Michael Rue share painful common ground.

They each stepped on nails in yards still littered with debris from last year's EF-3 tornado.

Because of the lingering safety and environmental issues hidden in the backyards of many homeowners affected by the storm, Dougherty and fellow Naperville resident Kristy Kennedy - co-founders of the Ranch View Area Community Assistance Group - spoke at Tuesday's city council meeting to share frustrations they've encountered while trying to help their neighbors.

They asked for the city's help in matching their group with a local nonprofit organization to properly distribute funds to the hardest-hit homeowners, specifically for yard damage costs not covered by insurance.

Dougherty and Kennedy said they've received estimates as high as $30,000 in out-of-pocket costs for one neighbor to complete the landscaping work necessary to ensure the homeowners, their children and their pets can walk safely in their yard.

"I'm disappointed and frustrated with the lack of attention and understanding from community leaders about what Naperville tornado victims are enduring as they fight to recover in the aftermath of this natural disaster," Kennedy said. "There is a perception in Naperville that the tornado is long over, everyone is fine and there is no need.

"I think that perception has been the biggest barrier for us as we've tried to find a nonprofit partner."

City officials said at Tuesday's meeting they'd help find a partner. Kennedy said she's been in contact with groups, but there remains a lack of understanding regarding the legalities of what they're seeking.

After consulting lawyers and researching similar situations, Kennedy learned a fiscal agent could be named within a nonprofit organization to distribute money.

Costs for the fiscal agent, liability insurance, bookkeeping and an audit would be paid for with the money they raise.

Naperville Central graduate Katie Dalton said she raised $6,200 through a GoFundMe campaign. But Dalton said she couldn't find a group to distribute the money with the guarantee it'd go directly to homeowners in Naperville.

"There are people who want to help, but there's nowhere to put your money into," said Dalton, now a freshman at the University of Illinois. "I need an organization to help me properly give out this money."

Kennedy said her group considered acquiring nonprofit status, but the monthslong process would cause too long of a delay.

"There is no nonprofit here in Naperville fundraising and helping people impacted by the tornado here in Naperville," Kennedy said. "In fact, money raised here in our community has left Naperville and gone to help people in other areas."

In Woodridge, another town hammered by the tornado, the local Rotary gave out relief funds to residents. Another nonprofit group, Woodridge Neighbors Helping Neighbors, developed as a long-term solution to current and future disaster situations.

Naperville officials declined to attempt to create a nonprofit wing within the city structure, meaning an established nonprofit organization needs to be a partner for tornado relief in the city.

"We discussed at the beginning. That really wasn't the space that we could provide assistance in," said Rachel Mayer, the city's finance director. "That's not really mission-centric to us."