Psalm 145:17 – The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

After heavy extended rains (7+ inches) Sunday night and early Monday morning (August 26-27) in the Grafton area, we received extensive water damage to the lower level of our facility, including our fellowship hall, library, school classroom, kitchen, bathrooms, several furnace rooms, storage rooms and stairwell area. Many folks responded immediately that Monday morning and during the next few days helped salvage what we could save and dispose of what we couldn’t save. A professional company was called in to dry, disinfect and prevent mold issues.

We are grateful for all the volunteer help we’ve so far received (now in the hundreds of volunteer man-hours) and trust God’s plan for us as we prayerfully work through the remainder of the demolition and clean-up and begin to plan how we might rebuild and restore. We are also grateful that although our six stored sanctuary paintings were partially submerged, they received minimal damage and should be fully usable without any noticeable damage. We are arranging for a new area to store them in the future.

Some additional details…

Major areas of loss

• All carpeted flooring areas (classroom, library, lower stairwell)
• Nearly all cabinetry (kitchen, classroom, library, trophy case)
• Cabinet tops
• Lower 32 inches of all drywall in the affected areas
• Three furnace rooms (including 6 furnace/AC units)
• Kitchen appliances (stove and oven, refrigerator, slow cookers, sink)
• Kitchen supplies (paper goods, food items, etc.)
• Bathroom tile damage
• Carpet mats
• Baseboards
• Electrical repairs
• Piano
• Wood shelving units
• Book cases
• Display cabinets
• Coffee cart
• Thousands of library books (estimated over 13,000 books)
• Significant school curriculum textbooks, materials and resources
• Main fellowship hall exterior doors and frame
• Interior doors and door frames of affected areas
• Wall hangings
• Trophies
• Science materials
• Vacuums/dehumidifiers
• Podiums
• Classroom teacher desk
• Christmas and other sanctuary decorations
• Personal teacher instructional items
• Personal student items
• Additional costs
  • Professional company (ServPro) who provided the necessary drying, sanitizing and mold prevention work
  • Large dumpsters
  • Sandbags
  • Clean up supplies

Insurance

We filed a claim with our insurance company. It appears unlikely that we will receive any financial recuperation through insurance.

Damage Cost Assessment

It has been carefully estimated that the cost of our building damage and property loss will potentially approach $250,000. This includes restoration of all items above plus drain remediation and/or upgrade to alleviate recurrence. Note that this amount assumes a large amount of volunteer labor and self-performance.

Critical work already performed

Some immediate work was deemed necessary in order to continue our facility operations as normally as possible. This included replacing three of the six damaged furnace/AC units and hiring ServPro to perform the above-mentioned work.

Next Steps

At our recent September 17^th Voters’ meeting, the following action items were passed. The Voters…

• Authorized establishing a Flood Fund.
• Approved payment for immediately needed expenditures at the time of the flood ($22,000).
• Authorized the Church Council to immediately spend up to an additional $25,000 to perform other repairs necessary to make the affected areas minimally functional and secure. (exterior doors, furnace/AC units …)
• Authorized the Church Council to spend up to $50,000 for drain remediation.

Cost Breakdown for some of the major items

Proposed Timelines

There is no clear timeline for full restoration. The only items that have been completed (or will be shortly) include Servpro demolition and cleaning, and replacement of furnace/AC units and exterior doors. One of our school classrooms was moved to a multi-purpose music and Sunday School room. This will remain as shared space only as long as necessary. Other repairs, including library restoration, will happen as funding is available and work can be completed.

Financing

• As stated earlier, we do not believe that we will receive an insurance settlement.
• We are in contact with the Ozaukee County Office of Emergency Management to see if we might qualify for some financial assistance.
• We will reach out to WELS Christian Aid and Relief for a relief grant.
• We have heard that other ministries (church and school) may be directing offerings to us to assist in our recovery.
• We are, through this letter, seeking financial support from our church family for our Flood Fund. Our best estimate right now is that after all other known or potential gifts and grants are received, we may still need approximately $200,000 to fully return to pre-flood status (including drain remediation and/or upgrade).

Current needs

• Financial gifts to our Flood Fund.
• Patience and understanding as we work together to rebuild and restore.
• Willingness to volunteer (contact Sarah in the church office).

Not needed

What’s not needed… Material items, as it’s too early to know specific replacement items and we currently have a lack of storage space.