Retired couple returns home, thanks flood volunteers

Dan and Sandy McSpadden waited almost two years to again sit on the front porch of their home at 1342 Fifth St. NW and invite everyone inside.

A few things still need to be done to the house before they can move in, but the McSpaddens sat on their porch Tuesday morning, watching as state and national volunteer leaders celebrated the work that's been done there and on 13 more Cedar Rapids flood-damaged homes over the past six weeks.

“It's a real miracle; it's like a dream come true,” said Dan McSpadden, who has owned the two-story home for more than 40 years. “I didn't think we'd ever be coming back here.”

About 400 volunteers from Church World Service of New York and other faith-based organizations put in more than 9,000 hours over the past six weeks to get 14 flood-damaged homes in and around Cedar Rapids returned to habitable conditions. Hackworth said the goal of the volunteers is to see families like the McSpaddens return home.

“Two years is a long time to go without a home,” said Matt Hackworth, communications director with Church World Service. “This is our celebration event; this is why we're all here.”

A live polka band couldn't drown out the sounds elsewhere in the neighborhood, where bulldozers cleared the remains of two nearby houses.

“It's really bittersweet, but we can't control where the flood plain is,” Hackworth said. “We're here to celebrate those homes that are being rebuilt, like this one.”

Dan McSpadden said he and his wife have been living in a Gateway Gardens apartment since the flood, paying a mortgage on the damaged home and rent at the apartment.

“It's been pretty rough,” he said.