Groups of volunteers from across Northwest Indiana and other Midwestern regions are still "mucking and gutting" -- or clearing out mold and water damage -- from September's floods through a consortium of community groups.

Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana was formed by the United Ways of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties and community groups in response to September's catastrophic storms and floods.

The group is funded in large part by a $3.5 million grant from the 2008 Indiana Natural Disaster Fund, and they run lean on paid staff, George said.

"We are really, really heavily reliant on volunteer workers," she said.

Recovery specialists assess the damage in homes and decide which homes get what work, often including major appliances like washers and dryers, furnaces and water heaters.

The grants given by Regional Recovery aren't always as much as homeowners want, but their guidelines sometimes mean tough decisions, George said.

"It gets tough for us sometimes, too," she said.

A group of five volunteer workers from a Presbyterian youth group in Peoria, Ill., spent much of the week cleaning houses, including one on the 1900 block of Tyler Street in Gary

"There's a large concentration of mold and water damage in there," said Dale Perry of Dyer, a Regional Recovery site supervisor. "They must have taken in a foot and half of water."

Jim Tenhaken, who led the youth group, said his church has experience dealing with flood damage.

"We're dealing with the aftermath of the floods, and right now, we're dealing with a real big mold issue," said Tenhaken, wrapped in a full body protective suit, respirator, safety glasses and special gloves and boots. "It's a service project, so they're seeing what value they can offer for other people who can't do it for themselves."

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