Families and individuals still being impacted by the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment received a reprieve from their troubles Tuesday — they shared a Thanksgiving meal.
According to CBS News, the event brought displaced residents together and offered them a free meal for the holiday.
Jami Wallace of East Liverpool attended the event and stated the importance of “just having that togetherness.”
She then described the hardship she and her family have been through.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the Twilight Zone,” she said, adding she feels isolated. “I’m all by myself, that I have been abandoned by town, by my government.”
Wallace and her 4-year-old daughter have been living in hotels since the train derailment in February.
The train derailment occurred on Feb. 3 and led to controversy over the federal government’s lack of preparedness, per RSBN.
Now, over nine months since the disaster, the former residents of that area are still experiencing hardship.
Single mother Zsuzsa Gyenes told CBS News she and her son also do not have a permanent residence yet.
She noted, “It’s been completely on hold since Feb. 3.”
“We’ve not had a home to live in since then. My son is doing online school because we don’t have a place to settle down,” she added.
Gyenes then concluded, “We don’t know where we are going to end up.”
To help offer some stability the Unity Council for East Palestine organized the meal.
Hilary Flint, he group’s communications director, stated, “The people behind me, they don’t have the peace of mind.”
Flint said 200 families are still living in temporary housing because they don’t feel safe living in their homes.
According to the Unity Council’s Facebook page, the group was formed to help “not only residents of East Palestine but also residents of outlying areas that were impacted by the chemical bomb ignited over our village and miles beyond on Feb. 3, 2023.”
The grpup’s mission is to create a “Community oversight board to ensure the right of the people to maintain clean air, water, and soil.”
The purpose is, “To have all members of the EP community, and surrounding areas affected by the derailment, represented in the oversight of our mission, to share information, and to stand in solidarity while truth seeking for our communities.”
No federal disaster declaration was made despite the displacement of the residents from East Palestine.