Neighbors succeed in getting help to repair tornado-damaged yards in Naperville
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
More than two years after a devastating tornado ripped through southern DuPage County, a group of Naperville homeowners is demonstrating the power of community and looking out for one another.
Neighborhoods in Naperville and Woodridge were the hardest hit by a June 2021 twister that damaged hundreds of homes and injured at least 11 people.
While residents are working to rebuild, one problem has remained for dozens of Naperville families in the Ranch View and Cinnamon Creek area east of Wehrli Road and south of 75th Street.
Their yards are unusable because they still are littered with dangerous debris, including shards of glass, metal, plastic, nails and screws. Just walking through those yards could cause an injury.
The homeowners, meanwhile, cannot remove the debris themselves. And insurance typically doesn't cover the high cost of hiring a landscaping company to repair a yard.
Fortunately, residents Kristy Kennedy and Kelly Dougherty created the Naperville Tornado Relief Fund to help their neighbors. They partnered with the nonprofit MP Foundation and sought to raise $1.5 million.
Kennedy connected with state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, who helped secure $1 million through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Then Naperville agreed in April to add up to $500,000 to finish the job.
Last week, city and state leaders gathered on a driveway in the neighborhood to celebrate how the effort to repair yards has begun. On Friday, senior writer Kevin Schmit reported that contractors had replaced about 10 yards in less than two weeks.
Kennedy says the program will aid 82 families and replace 66 yards. She added the work will conclude in October.
Schmit reported that yard replacement costs are estimated to reach $1.2 million. Another roughly $200,000 will go toward landscape remediation and replacement.
"We cannot take away the memories of the devastation of what occurred that night (of the tornado)," Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said. "But we can work together to help those impacted create a new outdoor memory for their homes."
As Wehrli and Stava-Murray point out, everything was possible because neighbors stepped up to help their neighbors.
"It's never truer than during times of tragedy and suffering that we're stronger together," Stava-Murray said.
We commend Kennedy and Dougherty for wanting to help with the recovery. They created a Facebook support group after the tornado and served as liaisons to the city to voice the issues their neighbors faced.
When they needed help raising and distributing funds to repair yards, they took the request to city and state officials. And they didn't quit until they achieved their goal.
Persistence and refusing to take no for an answer can pay off. Kennedy and Dougherty are proof of that.