Help Martha Stark Rebuild After Hurricane Helene & Milton

NEW UPDATE - A deep read inside the front lines of what it is like to be a hurricane victim.

Martha Stark's ground-floor retirement home on Eldorado Avenue, near the Gulf of Mexico in Clearwater Beach, was caught in the path of Hurricane Helene and Milton. Her home is in devastation. No electricity or water and the sewage is backed up everywhere. The area is no longer in a livable state.

Martha desperately needs your help. She is going through an absolute nightmare. She is in her 70s and struggling, and her health is starting to deteriorate due to stress and the unknown. For an older couple, the hardships of recovery and the financial burden of staggering losses are exemplified.

Please donate any amount you can. A $20 donation and a written message to Martha will go a long way to fixing her broken heart. She is a strong person but emotionally, it has been tough, as I have been helping her cope with the aftermath of these horrible storms. They have turned a gorgeous North Beach community into a WWIII zone. A debris field lines the neighborhood streets along with many piles of sand washed up from the severe beach erosion.

When you have worked all your life and finally settle into a place of retirement that makes you the happiest, and it is ripped from underneath you, it takes its toll. I do not wish this on anyone. Martha needs our support more than ever.

An older couple should not have to go through the process of losing everything in their home. Martha is unsure if they will be able to recover, whether that means rebuilding or finding a new retirement home. She says this has been a huge burden. Very sad. If a donation is not feasible, please pray for health and strength to move forward.

A Ring photo was taken from a neighbor’s house where Joe Hargett lives. His house is a few houses away from Martha’s. He said they live in a North Beach area that is 7 feet above level and has not flooded in decades. However, the storm surge was too powerful when Hurricane Helene started rolling in. Flooding was incomprehensible.

When the storm hit landfall in the early night hours, it was the start of hell on Earth. The next day, reports of severe flooding, unrelenting hurricane-force winds, prolonged torrential rainfalls, and powerful storm surges surrounded North Beach. There was no way in; and no way out. Road closures were everywhere. Drainage systems were overwhelmed, water contaminated, and power lines had fallen over, as well as fallen trees making navigation nearly impossible.

The funds will be used for the slow cleanup process. Everything will need to be checked, replaced, and evaluated for mold. Mold can cause tremendous havoc if preventive measures are not followed. All furnishings will need to be replaced, repairs and inspections will need to be looked into, and then the rebuilding of the foundation will need to be evaluated.

As the fundraiser admin, let me explain who I am. My name is Jeffrey Mehlhorn and I live in Pennsylvania. I am part of a small health group with members from all over the country. This is how I met Martha several years back and we have become good friends. Our small group felt helpless during Hurricane Helene, and we wanted to do something for Martha. I suggested the idea of a GoFundMe campaign and ran with it because time was of the essence and things needed to be implemented quickly.

I do have good news. Martha was up North on business when both hurricanes hit Florida. She just recently settled into her Florida retirement home a few months ago. She is formerly from Cambridge, MA where she has been conducting business most of her life. She still works to pay the bills and is trying to wind her life down to where she can work from a home office in Florida on an as-needed basis.

We chose not to tell Martha about the campaign because she had enough on her plate, besides, we had minimal contact with her. We had to piece together this campaign from little we knew with no updates because we do not live in the Florida area. With Martha temporarily on business up North, she has been out of the picture similar to us. She is not one to ask for help and many people don’t (even though they should) because of pride. This became another reason why we secretly created this campaign. I apologize to all the donors for the lack of information. Hopefully, this new update will answer a lot of questions.

Even though Martha is up North, I talked to her extensively about the ordeal and found out her dear sweet Gunnar of 47 years went down to Clearwater Beach to assess the situation. He drove 1400 miles in their 2010 Toyota! At first, Gunnar was denied access to their home because the bridges to the “barrier island” had been closed, so he spent two nights sleeping in his car outside an evacuation center. When he finally got bridge access and proved "resident” status, he soon discovered devastating damage to their home. If Gunnar had taken photos, nobody would have seen them because Martha thinks he is trying to "protect" her. She knows he wants desperately to make things right. With that said Martha was able to obtain a few photos of the debris piling up on the streets within proximity of her home.

Gunnar salvaged as many personal items as he could from the debris field and then transported them by vehicle around the mounds of sand piled high on the roadway. He took the items to an empty rental property on the third level of a vacant building. The elevators were not working, so he carried what he could up to the 3rd floor. He went back and forth and up and down steps for many hours until no more items could be rescued. He ended up sleeping on the floor. Let me remind you, he is in his 70s!!!

When he thought he was making progress, he got word from authorities, that another hurricane was approaching. Gunnar was forced to evacuate and spend another night sleeping in the car. He approached his breaking point and sent a text message to his dear Martha. Her heart weakened even more. He stated he would never be able to do this again and they would need to put their heads together to figure out another plan moving forward.

Nobody wants to give up on their dream retirement home that they have worked so hard for (and still working). They are tired of living in a northern climate. The harsh weather is taking a toll on their elderly bodies. Martha wears an Oura Ring. It is a smart ring designed to track health, sleep, heart rate, body temperature, and activity levels. Her ring tells her she is not doing great, and being alone without Gunnar is not helping. She is worried sick about how he is faring, while at the same time, not knowing where they are going to live. Martha anxiously waits for Gunnar to finish up and drive back up North so they can dig deeply, put their heads together, and figure out what needs to be done next.

As I said, Martha is NOT in the best of health. She is a dear friend to many. She is a dear friend to a wonderful health-conscious group. We do not want to lose her. I cannot express enough gratitude how a small donation will go a long way to healing Martha’s heart. She was a person who would reach out and always help others but she also has reached her breaking point. It is up to us to show we care and give them hope, a reason not to give up, and to provide them light at the end of the tunnel. Our donations will get them back on track.

Bless you for reading this latest update. I realize it was long but I wanted to put you in the middle of this tragic event. I wanted you to know at this very moment, Martha is crying, and is alone in her tears. We both agree it is okay to cry. It releases endorphins, oxytocin hormones, and much more to help recovery. But she needs more than that. Please donate. I promise you, it will go a long way in helping Martha and Gunnar overcome this tragic event.

Thank you ❤️