RED CROSS HELPS FAMILIES WITH ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- When Robin and Bryan Clutts and their three sons voluntarily evacuated their Gorham, Ill., mobile home to escape the rising floodwaters last month, they faced a quandary.

Eleven-year-old Jacob is asthmatic, and they feared exposing him to the environment of one of the Red Cross shelters. "So we took all the money we had and rented a place," Robin says.

It's a small house in Murphysboro, where they plan to put the 8-, 11- and 16-year-old boys in public school until they can move home.

Suddenly, Bryan's salary was supposed to pay for two homes and the necessities that go with them. In addition, the boys needed clothes for school, and Jacob was hospitalized with Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

On Monday, Robin left his side in a Carbondale hospital and drove to Cape Girardeau where she signed up for the Red Cross's new Family Assistance Program.

The program provides a one-time cash grant to families who have been displaced by the flood for at least 21 days. These families can be staying with friends or relatives, in motels or in alternative housing.

The assistance does not affect other flood relief aid the families may be eligible for. The money can be used in any way the family wants.

Those who qualify receive a check about one week after coming into the service center. The amounts vary from $250 for one person to $500 for a household of six or more.

Kate White, a public information officer in the Red Cross's St. Louis office, called it "an unprecedented program because of the incredible time people have been out of their homes."

The Red Cross expects to help about 7,500 families and spend $3 million-$5 million on the program.

Yet many people who qualify haven't yet taken advantage of the program, according to Angie Carrillo, public information officer for the Red Cross's St. Louis office.

Since the grants were established Aug. 10, more than 3,750 families in Eastern Missouri and Southwestern Illinois have received over $1 million through the grants.

More information about the program is available by calling 1-800-930-HELP. Applicants also can obtain information at their nearest Red Cross service center.

Water hasn't gotten to the Cluttses trailer but they have no idea when they'll be able to move back.

The boys were to attend the private Christ Lutheran School there, "but because of the flood they were not able to because of financial reasons," Robin said. She said the school also has had to relocate.

The boys at times have been upset by the threat the river has posed for their family. "At first they wouldn't get out of my sight," she said.

"Before we moved, they were scared they were going to get drowned."

She said she's handling it "one day at a time. You don't know from one day to the next what's going to happen."

When the time comes to return to Gorham, they will. "We're going to go back and move again," she said. "It's just another stressful situation moving back."