R.I. Club Survivors Deal With Finances

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- Tammy Passa plans to go back to her job as a child-care worker, but she knows it will be some time until she recovers from the burns she suffered in The Station nightclub fire.

Her mother, Barbara, visited the Station Fire Family Resource Center, which the state recently opened here, to find out what benefits were available while her 24-year-old daughter waits.

``She just wanted to see what I could qualify for,'' said Tammy Passa.

Sadly, she said, ``I qualify for just about everything.''

Passa, who sustained burns primarily to her arms in the devastating fire, is among the survivors and families just beginning to feel the financial pain of the Feb. 20 blaze _ and navigate the bureaucracy that may be able to help.

For the scores of people injured, and for the families of the 98 people killed in the blaze, there are hospital deductibles, funeral and travel costs. And then there are the regular household bills to pay.

``There was one woman who came in with her young child and her husband had been killed, and he's the breadwinner. So what's she going to do?'' said the Rev. John E. Holt, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and chairman of The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund's coordinating group.

For many, the immediate needs are the most pressing _ like back-rent needed for one mother who lost her companion and provider, Holt said.

In another case, the fund covered suit rentals for mourners at a funeral. Other families of burn victims sent to Boston-area hospitals needed help paying for hotel stays near their loved ones.

For all those contingencies, the fund has set a goal of $2 million, Holt said.

``We're really focused right now on taking care of the short-term needs,'' Holt said, adding that the fund has already collected more than $400,000 in donations and expects to reach its $2 million goal shortly.

But distributing the money isn't as simple as just handing out checks. To comply with Internal Revenue Service regulations, relief workers have to determine need _ just one of the tasks that has fallen to the staff at the Family Resource Center.

The center has turned into a one-stop resource for all those affected by the fire _ and at least 93 families have come for help so far, Holt said.

The low, white-and-green building has been packed with folding tables staffed by representatives from some 20 groups. They include the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, the crime victims compensation unit, the Rhode Island Funeral Directors Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Children, Youth and Families, and various congressional offices.

Staffers _ some of whom have been provided by the state _ connect survivors and families with agencies and programs, such as Social Security, temporary disability benefits and counseling.

``It's set up so it provides a full continuum of care for the families and the victims, so they don't have to go office-to-office-to-office,'' said Gary Alexander, assistant to the state human services director.

Caseworkers guide each family through the programs represented at the center. For those needs that aren't matched by an existing program, there may still be funding.

``At the end of the line, we end up with a list of things that can't be cared for any other way, and that's when the fund kicks in,'' Holt said.

Still, Holt knows people like Tammy Passa may well discover that their needs last a lot longer than the money in the victims fund.

So Holt is beginning discussions about finding longer-term help. State officials also are looking at the same thing, said Jeff Neal, the governor's spokesman.