Residents of the village of East Palestine gathered Monday to welcome Vice President J.D. Vance and send a message to their local government.

"Fight for us. Represent us. You know that's why you were voted in is to represent the people, you know have transparency," Jami Wallace, community liaison for Golomb Research Group said. "I want them to stand up for the people that are sick, for the people that have been impacted you know their human health was impacted," she said.

The group shouted to the community their lingering concerns, calling for relocation and better health care.

"Our home has showed more contamination after each testing. We need a place to live that is safe," said one resident. "Other communities have been erased off of the map for less contamination events than this," shouted another.

Two years have gone by and Wallace said there's still so much uncertainty.

"It's just, no one's secure in our future and the future of our health," Wallace said. "Our local government focuses on economic recovery, but they don't focus on the human health piece. We still don't have health insurance, like the very least they can do is you know, get us health insurance," she said.

There's also still concern over receiving funds from the settlement with Norfolk Southern. People were shouting "where's the money," during the gathering.

Although residents tell 21 News they're pleased with what Vance has done for them up until this point, they're also calling for him to keep his word and institute the Stafford Act. It's a federal law that provides financial and physical assistance to the United States after a disaster or emergency.

"He's been here, he's seen our suffering and he knows what we've gone through," Wallace said. "We know how far these chemicals went, to 16 different states, we have research study that shows that now so at least a 20 mile radius, we should have health insurance for life," she said.

Wallace said they'll keep fighting for themselves and their community.