CARLISLE, Ky. — It's been almost three months since the historic Carlisle flood. The “little town with a big heart” is looking for a more permanent solution to help survivors of the flood with financial needs including home repairs and basic needs for themselves.

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster is stepping in to help start the committee, and they're asking for residents, community members and local government to be a part of the long-term committee.

Brushy Fork Creek is still full of bed sheets, clothes, and all types of personal items plus many more items that were loved by residents scattered across the town after the July flood.

Carlisle is in search of a long-term recovery committee, a group like this is defined by the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) as a "cooperative body that is made up of representatives from faith-based, non-profit, government, business and other organizations working within community to assist individuals and families as they recover from disaster" said VOAD.

Stella Dionysiou helps with flooding cleanup in Carlislie, Kentucky. (Spectrum News 1/Diamond Palmer)

Stella Dionysiou is a University of Cincinnati student helping clean-up Carlisle. She helped pull out heavy plywood, children's toys and knick-knacks to ease the burden on survivors. 

“I have done some things like litter pick-up but I have never done anything like this,” said Dionysiou.

One of the many survivors feeling defeated by the disaster is Rebecca Allison. Allison has lived in Carlisle most of her life, and she's spent her hard earned money on her home paying off each loan on the property.

“Emotionally each day is a challenge, there are not really good days, we are waiting on those to come back," Allison said. "We did not know how happy or how nice life was until this came and changed all of that. Now we have to work a whole lot harder to find happiness."

Within the journey of finding happiness again is long-term recovery efforts for the town of less than 2,000.

Items are still being recovered from flooding earlier this year. (Spectrum News 1/Diamond Palmer)

“So it is very critical that the local community form a long term recovery group to manage their recovery to have control of where their recovery is going to go,” said Jim Morse, a representative of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

Morse is helping residents, community members and the local government of Carlisle to join hands for a long-term relief committee because the help the community is seeing is drying up.

“We have seen kind of a die down in that, things have been kind of stagnant. We had this meeting today to get the ball rolling because we know in order to make an improvement and make a difference, we are going to have to work together and get help from outside sources,” said Rhonda Curran Koth, vice president of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce

Over 40 homes and businesses are still condemned without occupants nearly three months later. Everyday is a constant reminder of the trauma residents like Rebecca Allison have and continue to face.

“If we are not at work, we are working on something that has to be repaired or replaced or thrown away, decisions have to be made,” said Allison.

Morse believes the residents of Carlisle are capable of forming the long-term recovery committee they need. If not, residents will not receive the help they need.

“It has to start locally, it has to be driven locally and managed locally or it will be an incomplete recovery,” said Morse. 

The biggest goal of forming Carlisle's long-term recovery committee is finding co-chairs to head it, Morse said. The Carlisle Chamber of Commerce is vowing to create a frequently asked questions page on their website for flood survivors to seek answers to additional questions.