Staff photo / Chris McBride.... Pastor Jeff Schoch of Abundant Life Fellowship Church on Tuesday sits at the church as residents fill out inconvenience allocation payment forms from Norfolk Southern as a result of the East Palestine train derailment on Feb. 3.

NEW WATERFORD — “Invite the stranger” — words adopted by Abundant Life Fellowship Church — have taken on new meaning for pastor Jeff Schoch since the massive Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine.

One day after members of the congregation were discussing ways to help, Schoch said he was on the phone with New Waterford Mayor Shane Patrone, who asked if the church would open its doors to host the Norfolk Assistance Center to distribute Norfolk Southern’s inconvenience payments to affected residents.

“He (Patrone) knows our church for its community outreach,” said Schoch “We’ve told Norfolk they can stay as long as needed, and they’ve been terrific about letting us know their plans.”

A representative for Norfolk Southern said the process begins with residents establishing on a map th-at shows the evacuation zones where they lived within it to determine if they are eligible for inconvenience or reimbursement payments.

If residents are in the zone, representatives from the railroad company gather their credentials, including verification of residency and receipts to show costs associated with the evacuation for a base amount of $1,000 plus additional expenses.

Based on their information, the company using household size tabulates how much money will be allocated.

For those who fall outside the zone and do not qualify for the inconvenience payment, the same process is done for the reimbursement for expenses related to lodging, meals and incidentals.

Claims will not be paid for expenses beyond the end of the evacuation period. Also, residents are not obligated to take the payment.

Residents should bring their Social Security card, driver’s license or government-issued identification, proof of residency and receipts for expenses incurred while evacuated. For minors residing in the household, proof of dependency is needed. That can include a Social Security card or birth certificate.

Receiving a reimbursement payment Tuesday was Tim Harrold, 74, of West Highland Avenue.

Harrold, who lives 1 mile outside the evacuation zone, said he was made to leave his home. He went to stay with his son in Columbiana.

Harrold is critical of how the situation has been handled.

“I think it was handled poorly with fire chief and the mayor because they did not know what they were talking about and they should have had the professionals do the talking,” Harrold said.

Harrold said he returned home Feb. 8 but remained frustrated.

“Afterward, I heard all this other crap about new chemicals, and I think we should have all been told that and the railroad company knew that. They knew what they had on that train,” Harrold said.

Joshua Figley and his family left their home Feb. 5.

He said they took refuge with his brother in Struthers, where they remain. Figley said his family’s home is within the 1-mile evacuation zone, so he received inconvenience and reimbursement payments.

“We basically grabbed a couple of pairs of clothes for the moment that we could sleep at my brother’s and essentials for brushing our teeth and things like that,” Figley said.

With the research he has done, he said he still worries about the potential for future risk of exposure.

“We’ve been in our home for almost 20 years. We have a 2-year-old daughter and 7-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old boy that lives with us. And it’s just been very nerve racking for us to think about what health risks might come up,” Figley said.

Schoch said hundreds of people have come to the church since it has been working with Norfolk Southern. Over that period, there has been a large influx of community support and donations.

“When we first opened, people were just dropping off all kinds of things because at that point, people were still still evacuated. So people brought clothing, bottled water and hygienic stuff, toothpaste, soaps, dog food, cat food. So our lobby was was full of just supplies,” Schoch said.

The church will host people for claims 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

cmcbride@tribtoday.com