Residents of Fox Point manufactured home community in Wheeling, IL protested the town and FEMA’s actions that could keep them from re-occupying homes damaged in floods last April. The dailyhearld tells MHProNews that about two dozen picketers carried signs reading, “Stop discriminating” and “We are poor, not stupid,” as they delivered a letter to Wheeling village’s president, Dean Argiris, demanding their homes not be destroyed for economic development. “We feel that the damage (in last April’s floods) was minimal and that this is an excuse for the village of Wheeling to force our 41 families out of our homes to be displaced,” said resident Javier Barrera in the letter. A village news release stated that the village’s community development department, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials, along with county and state emergency management agencies performed damage assessments after the April flooding. As a result of the floodway designation, the homes may not be repaired or replaced. ##
