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Hurricane Katrina

Spring, 2007

Helping Hearts

Reflections on the Spring 2006 Mission Trip by Madelyn Lanham

We are flying; above the clouds, below the sun. Caught in a world where even the largest of land masses look like little squares. I look down: roads crisscross rich, green grass. The world I came from and will return to. I look up: fat, cotton ball clouds and a blazing fireball. The world where the magic I am experiencing is. The loud roar of a plane engine jolts me back to my senses. "We will be landing in 15 minutes," says a voice. My heart leaps. I'll finally be able to help those poor people in Mississippi.

We ride in a crowded pick-up truck to where we are staying, Camp Coast Care, to find it is just a big white tent with plywood walls between the rooms, and sand and mud everywhere. I take a deep breath, crack my knuckles and look around. Looks like I have a hard day of work ahead of me.

We spend most of the week digging antique china, people's clothes and bits of houses out of the swamp that used to be a back yard.

My favorite part though, is at the school. You see, a school got destroyed, and they were using mobile trailers for classrooms, with boardwalks leading to the classrooms and posts holding up plastic roofs above the boardwalks. The "crew" I am with decides to paint the posts to make it more colorful. (My "crew" is friends from church.) We'll paint the posts the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. We will paint the tops purple.

After we are finished, I visit the special class, and ask them about their favorite things. Then I make their list into a poem: Morning feeling, starlit sky, music, seedling, scholars try. Swallow's flight, nature's truth, memory's sight, grace of youth.

In too short of a time, we are flying back home. I look out the window as the plane takes off. My heart soars with it, down to the people I hope I helped. Down to the coast near the gulf, to Pat; south to New Orleans, to Brianna. "They always say helping hands." I think. "It's really helping hearts."

January 9, 2006

Christmas Vacation With the Katrina Care Campaign

A group of 20 volunteers from St. Michael's and Holy Apostles spent five rewarding days working on Katrina rebuilding in New Orleans and Mississippi over the Christmas vacation break. Traveling to help at the Dragon Café and work in Waveland, MS, were Kevin Callahan; Megan, Ryan, and Caitlin Donohue; Sue, Brittany, Kelsey, and Mackenzie Jaekel; Kristen Krueger; Ric, Ellen, and Katie Lindeen; Rick and Marsha Taylor; Jeff, Judy, and Eddie Tolle; and Rick, Ann and Katie Ryba.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Harvey graciously gave the volunteers the use of their church for accommodations. Katrina Care Campaign funds were used for groceries for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We also used funds for two rental vehicles to transport our crews from New Orleans to Mississippi. Each volunteer that goes to work on Katrina related work trips is allowed a $250 allowance for travel if they so desire.

Four substantial projects were completed at St. George's, New Orleans. Our tasks were to build a large metal shed, work the Dragon Café, clean out and renovate a room in the rectory and restore two bathrooms. That renewed rectory space will be used for accommodations for other youth groups who travel to serve the Diocese of New Orleans for Katrina mission trips.

Over the course of two days we built a foundation for the shed and assembled it in preparation for storing the large supplies of canned goods that the Dragon Café uses. We moved the food to a staging area for the Dragon Café manager to organize.

In the rectory, we cleared furniture and other supplies that had been stored since the church flooded in the hurricane. We then scrubbed, painted and redecorated the large room and adjoining bathroom. Katrina Care Campaign funds were used to purchase paint supplies and a new vacuum cleaner, as well as redecorate the bathroom.

In a second bathroom, our jack-of-all trades, Kevin Callahan, removed a toilet that had "exploded" during the hurricane and installed a new fixture. Rick Taylor worked on several electrical tasks around the church and rectory.

Several members of the team remained to serve food and clean dishes at the Dragon Café that evening. Approximately 140 guests were served chicken dinner on Thursday, and catfish was the special on Friday.

We had two work sites in Mississippi. Primarily, we helped to hang sheetrock with Ronnie and Lois Lafontaine. They lost their home in the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina, and have built a new home on their land with very limited resources. The Lafontaines have done almost all of the work themselves, including sinking the pilings in concrete, framing the home and adding the insulation and exterior walls. In the midst of the construction, Ronnie suffered a heart attack and stroke, yet has continued to work on the house as he is able. He has been out of work since the storm. Lois works as Pat Baird's teacher's aide at North Bay St. Louis Elementary. They received only $5,200 from their insurance company for damage for their destroyed home.

Pat Baird had anonymously donated the Katrina Care Campaign funds designated to her to Lois and Ronnie for their rebuilding. That $3,200 was used to purchase all of the drywall, and several doors and other fixtures for the home. We completed the sheetrock installation on all of the ceilings, and finished the main room of the house. The top row of sheetrock has been hung in all of the other rooms, and Ronnie can finish the lower row by himself. A special $1000 gift to the Katrina Care Campaign was used to purchase paint for the exterior and plywood to seal the underside of the home from the elements.

Our second stop was to help Pat Baird, who suffered a setback during the holidays. She returned from spending Christmas with her family to find a large tree had fallen on the shed that stores the possessions she had recovered from her former home. The fallen tree damaged the shed extensively, but Kevin was able to miraculously put it back together, to Pat's relief. The same anonymous donor also requested that Pat be given $1000 for rebuilding and this was given in the form of Home Depot gift cards.

During the course of the week a Diocesan representative gave a thorough overview of Hurricane Katrina's damage to the area, and we learned about the slow recovery process. We also took driving tours of both New Orleans and Bay St. Louis/Waveland to survey the incredible damage. After the course of 16 months it seems impossible that so few signs of recovery are visible in either destroyed area. We plan to return, and hope that others will join us.

December 3, 2006

Compassion from a Knowing Heart

Republished with permission from the Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

by Jean Gordon

Deng Mabil is one of 4,000 "Lost Boys of Sudan" who relocated to the United States in 2000. Now a college graduate, he works at Camp Coast Care in Long Beach helping Katrina survivors rebuild their lives. The camp houses volunteers from around the country who tack the names of their cities on this crowded signpost.

LONG BEACH — Ronnie Moody settled in a plastic chair across the desk from Deng Mabil before unpacking a thick envelope stuffed with insurance forms, utility bills, pay stubs and a rejection notice from FEMA.

"This is not my first time trying to get some assistance," said Moody, who lives with his wife and three children in a mobile home on his Gulfport property while he repairs his hurricane-damaged home. "What I need now is just to get back in my home."

Mabil can relate. He's been yearning for home most of his life.

As one of the so-named "Lost Boys of Sudan," Mabil fled his country as a young boy to escape the violence of its two-decades-old civil war.

His journey as a refugee brought him in 2000 to Mississippi, where he finished high school and later graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson.

He now works as a case manager for Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi, where he spends his days in this storm-ravaged city helping Hurricane Katrina survivors rebuild their homes and lives.

The 23-year-old listens with compassion to all their stories, never thinking that his loss is worse than theirs.

"As somebody who came from a war-torn country, when we think of America, America is like heaven on earth," he said. "But when I came to this country, there were certain things that happened that I did not expect. Things like Sept. 11 ... then came Hurricane Katrina. Really we are not insulated from natural forces or from manmade disasters that can happen at any time."

Survival

A child of war, Mabil ran for his life at age 5, when militiamen attacked his village in southern Sudan.

The militia destroyed homes, schools and hospitals. They killed his father.

Separated from his mother, the little boy joined the throng of other young boys escaping on foot to Ethiopia, more than 1,000 miles away.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa and is more than one fourth the size of the United States.

After more than a decade in refugee camps, Mabil moved to Mississippi in 2000 as part of a United Nations resettlement program that brought more than 4,000 young Sudanese to the United States.

More than 50 settled in Jackson, where foster parents, Catholic Charities social workers and volunteers from the Sudanese ministry at Jackson's St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral worked together to build a caring community around the boys.

"I feel like now I'm in a position to give back," Mabil said.

The Sudanese refugees who have fared the best in the United States are those who have formed relationships with American families, schools or faith-based groups, said the Rev. Nancy Frank, who directs the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, which assists Sudanese in the United States and Africa.

"For many of them they've really broken into our systems," Frank said, explaining many of the young Sudanese have managed to work their way through college while also sending money to family back home.

Mabil credits Greg Miller, a Millsaps College English professor who chairs the Sudanese Ministry Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, with helping him grow up in America.

Miller tutored Mabil through high school, and over the years the pair have become friends.

Miller thinks Mabil is a natural fit for the job on the Coast but worries that it may dredge up bad memories.

"He's been through some pretty horrifying events," he said.

From 1989 to 1992, Mabil wandered between Ethiopia and Kenya with 15,000 other young boys.

Along the way, thousands were killed by lions or other wild animals, drowned in rivers or died of starvation.

The ones who survived eventually landed at a Kenyan refugee camp called Kakuma, where Mabil lived for eight years among 63,000 refugees.

The boys had to fend for themselves, eventually building grass-thatched huts for shelter.

"If you had a blanket you were lucky," Mabil said.

Camp Reminders

Mabil started his job helping Katrina survivors in July and works out of a mobile trailer at Camp Coast Care, a volunteer village set up on the grounds of Coast Episcopal School.

Since Katrina struck, teams of volunteers that repair homes have been sleeping on canvas cots in the school gym.

Mabil said the sleeping quarters remind him of a refugee camp - though the ones he lived in had no air-conditioning or roofs, and few volunteers.

Though he finds it deeply gratifying to finally be in a position to help others, Mabil admits his early days on the job were tough.

"This place looked like a ghost city," he said about the abandoned cars that littered the streets almost a year after the hurricane.

And it was shocking for him to see Americans reduced to living in tents and to hear them called the same name as he: refugee.

"I did not know someone in their own country could be a refugee," he said. "But it was a natural category to be put for where they were."

Journey Home

Like many Sudanese refugees, Mabil considers his American education to be this most powerful tool to help his embattled country.

He will embark Saturday on a six-week trip to Africa. It will be the first time he will see his mother, who now lives in Kenya, in six years.

Though war has separated the pair for most of Mabil's life, they are now able to talk on the phone almost daily.

But the days following Hurricane Katrina brought new worries for Mabil's mother, who saw news reports about the devastating storm to hit Mississippi and was unable to reach her son by phone for several days.

"She was really sad about that I just left the horror of the war and now I was in a another natural catastrophe," Mabil said. "I told her that I was three hours away from where the natural disaster was taking place."

Mabil's upcoming trip to Africa will take him to Sudan for the first time since he was a little boy.

"I want to go there and see exactly what I can do," said Mabil, explaining he hopes his experience working on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will be valuable to those trying to rebuild their lives in southern Sudan.

The two-decades-old civil war has claimed 2 million lives and displaced 4 million people.

The southern Sudanese conflict is different from the more recent crisis in the western region of Darfur, where since 2003 a government-sponsored Arab militia called Janjaweed has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced 2.5 million others.

"The only hope we have right now is people like myself who were brought to this country and got the best education," Mabil said. "If it is God's will to allow people to come back home and try to help our country then we'll go back."

It is this same longing for home that Mabil sees in his work with Katrina survivors who can't think of living anywhere else but the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.

"That is home," he said about his country. "That's where I was born."

August 26, 2006

The following prayer was read by Pat Baird at the Tent Revival on Saturday, August 26.

Rewriting the History of August 29th: A Prayer Written by Tom Teel and Reilly Morse

Thank you for letting me understand homelessness, living without power, without television, without cool air in the heat; Thank you for letting me understand hunger, the leisure of dry clean clothes and the relief of a place to sleep.

Thank you for letting me understand the deep and overwhelming sadness when forces, beyond our personal control, take the loved, the familiar, the usual.

Thank you for my needfulness and for my newfound empathy for those homeless before the storm and homeless now and for those hungry anywhere, for those in need everywhere.

Thank you for the opportunity you provided to help my neighbor, to be my brother's keeper, to serve food, to patch roofs, to clean yards, and to start mending that which was broken.

Thank you for the chance to change ourselves, for a reprieve from the normal, commercial day, for teaching us to make do, to get by, to improvise, for drowning our conceit, complacency, callousness, for silencing the noise, for stopping the clock, and for the chance to act our best when the worst occurred.

Thank you for the people who reached in, pulled out the living, cradled the dead, comforted the broken and torn apart, wept for the splintered and uprooted.

Thank you for the people who didn't wait to come right away, who opened their homes, who emptied their shelves, their closets, who cleaned, fed, healed, held us, who told us our spirit was amazing, and who keep on coming.

Thank you for the people who measure their faith by their actions, and measure their actions by its consistency with their faith.

Thank you for all the people we have met, who are new friends, new Loved ones, new brothers and sisters, new neighbors.

Thank you, KATRINA.

Not for the wind,

not for the water,

but for the appreciation of the things no storm can shatter, no water can wash away, no wind can move.

Text of Pat Baird's speech

July 27, 2006

From Pat Baird of Waveland, MS

It's been almost a year since Hurricane Katrina came roaring into Waveland and sometimes I still can't believe what happened. When I look at pictures from the first days after the storm I can see evidence of the progress and movement to recovery, but when I look around my neighborhood today there is still so much to be done. Everyday I ask myself, "Where do I go from here?" I want to rebuild and live in my "paradise," but still don't know if that is really what I should do.

So, what are my next steps? First, I need to make sure that I have all the financial resources needed to begin rebuilding. I need to figure out what kind of house I want to build and how much that is going to cost. I also need to figure out what the cost of insurance will be. I am worried that I will not have the finances to build the home I want and that insurance will be too expensive to continue living here. I have applied for grant money to rebuild and have been approved for a Small Business Administration, low interest loan. I am still trying to get additional payments from my homeowners insurance. They paid only a fraction of the policy, but I believe there was more wind damage than what the insurance company has determined and am due additional benefits. My teaching position is secure for at least another year and I am encouraged that I will continue to be needed in the school district in the years to come. I hope that all of this will come together and that I will be OK financially, but I am so worried about getting into BIG financial debt. My other worry is that I will be forced to compromise so much on what I want to build, that I won't be happy with what is left.

My immediate plans are to have house plans drawn up by a friend who is an architect. Then I will try to find out what insurance will cost for that house. Next, I will get estimates from contractors on the cost of building. All this sound so monumental and so scary!!!! I pray for strength, direction, wisdom, and patience everyday. I know everyone at St. Michael's is praying for me too and that helps me not feel so alone in all of this. Thank you for all that you have done for me and for your continued love and support.

November 21, 2005

From Christy Cressey and Carol Stephens in Mississippi

Shock, utter disbelief, confusion and fear filled our first few days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and completely changed our lives. I had been a nursing supervisor for an urgent care facility in Bay St. Louis. It suffered immense damage from flooding and has yet to reopen. Our church, St. Patrick’s in Long Beach, was completely wiped out. In the midst of the uncertainty of those early days, I felt I had to do something, to help people, to get busy.

I first tried to volunteer for the Red Cross to no avail. Then I was escorted by Bishop Gray and David Johnson (who had the right credentials to get through all the road blocks) to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport where I had heard they needed nurses. They also turned me down!

Somehow, a few of us found our way to Coast Episcopal School (CES)—maybe because it was the only structure standing, maybe because it was divine intervention. Either way, there we were, struggling to put together a way to help the community. The need for medical attention was apparent. The only operational hospital was already stretched beyond its means. Most clinics and MD’s were gone. As the relief effort got under way at CES, I received a hasty phone call from the Bishop. He gave me permission to start the medical relief effort. So up went Camp Coast Care Medical Clinic. With help from some young adults from Hattiesburg and Oxford, a Meridian medical group, a team from Virginia, and some local Mississippi nurses, we were up and running in less than 3 days. We used hand-painted, plywood signs around the area to let folks know we were open for business. On that fateful first day, we saw over 350 patients. Thus began a free medical clinic that would serve people without discrimination. It offered services that would otherwise be unavailable during this time of need. Now, months later, we are still up and running and seeing over 160 patients a day. We treat everything from wounds to colds, and we even have mental health providers in the "Tent" to talk with people as they live through this devastation. Our staff are volunteers from all walks of life coming together with one purpose: to heal and help.

Even though there are days and moments when I don’t think I can go another minute, this experience shows me miracle after miracle. Amongst the tragedy, there has been joy. Friendships have been made. Lives have truly been changed. We have had volunteers in the clinic from all over the nation and beyond. When people leave here, they attest that they have been changed forever by the experience. They sleep on cots under one roof in the gym. They eat together three meals a day. They work outdoors in tents that are, at times, full to capacity. Yet, the work gets done mostly with smiles and warm hearts.

A preacher from the local area frequented the clinic several times since our opening. During one of his visits, I talked to him about his own doctor, and he told me his story. Before Katrina, he lived a comfortable life. After Katrina, he lost everything he knew to be "normal." He is now dependent upon our "system" to sustain him day to day. And our system has failed him. He is among what I call the "newly poor." He comes to us because he has no income and doesn’t know how to get help. We assisted him in getting Medicaid and helped him receive medical attention. This grown man, once a well know preacher in our area, cried on my shoulder while thanking all of us and praising God for showing him to our tent. There was no time to stop and process this moment because I was being called to an emergency patient with low blood sugar who needed an immediate IV. After getting her stable to the point where she could talk to us, she begged us not to call an ambulance because she couldn’t pay for it or the hospital visit. We were eventually able to send her home, crying with gratitude.

These stories are only a piece of what we have seen in this clinic since its birth. I thank not only the people that have come to help in this clinic, but also the people that have helped by sending donations, medications, and certainly prayer. It is only with their help that we have been able to care for these people in the manner they deserve. We are now trying to work with local MD’s and health facilities to get people back to their own doctors or to doctors that are able to see patients. It is not going to be an easy task. It is going to take longer than we ever imagined. This devastation goes beyond words, beyond imagination, and way beyond any pictures you might have seen. We ask for continued support. Even though months have passed, we are still in a state of emergency. We still need help, funding, time, and prayers.

October 13, 2005

From Judy Tammi in Mississippi:

We went to four houses today with Bill Heinrich and four men from Sterling, VA, including an Episcopal priest.

First house — Provide passage so owners could gain access to house. Solution: cut trees in way and drag debris across street.

Second house — Rake lawn free of debris for elderly home owners.

Third house — Met the homeowner, an African-American gentleman who owned
five acres of pecan trees. Problem: clear a path so he could put his FEMA
trailer on his property because his house had been moved off its
foundation. Solution: Use chain saws - oops chain saw - we broke one.

Fourth house — Move furniture from a house that had about two feet of water in it. We were unsuccessful, however, because the homeowner was one and a half hours away.

I did have an opportunity to view more damage in Gulfport and Pass Christian. Every time I said nothing could be worse we'd turn a corner and it was....incredible (my new word of the day). Just think if Hyde Park north to Milwaukee, WI and west to State Street were turned into rubble and debris you might have an idea of the destruction here. Incredible.

October 12, 2005

From Judy Tammi in Mississippi:

Hello! Up at 6:30 to help with breakfast. The kitchen is on a trailer on loan from Viking - beautiful stainless steel appliances and work surfaces. The refrigerator is a refrigerated semi-trailer filled with food supplied by Sysco. I put ham slices into aluminum trays, cover them with foil and bake them for a half hour. Next are the biscuits which are sprayed with butter flavored oil then baked. Finally I get to stir the oatmeal so it doesn't get lumpy. Mmmm good! We spent the day tearing out drywall from a house owned by a 93-year-old woman. She's fine, living with relatives somewhere, but her house is not. The water line is one foot from the ceiling — a perfectly straight line of mold clearly indicates how high the water came into that house. Someone else had removed all the possessions to the street (including a crumpled up wheel chair) except a complete set of twelve Haviland china, Waterford crystal, and Reed and Barton sterling silver flatware which were now stored in the garage. I was with four elderly men (76 and up) from Knoxville, TN. They have built many Habitat houses over the years, and we all decided that it was a lot easier to build a house than to do what we were doing. This house is located about three tenths of a mile from the coast. Trees were down but most damage was due to this thirty foot wave surge that moved north and pushed anything and everything that was in its way and then it washed backed out to sea sucking
whatever was left with it. Unbelievable.

October 11, 2005

From Judy Tammi in Mississippi:

A semi from Toronto, Canada arrived filled with furniture, food, cleaning supplies, clothes, kitchen stuff, and linens. It took most of the day to unload it. The furniture was left on the lawn; suitcases and small tables and chairs went quickly, but the beds remained (can't fit a bed in a tent). I unpacked kitchen stuff: dishes, cooking utensils, and pots and pans went quickly. One man with his young son came through — he had a dazed look as he rummaged through the stuff and I'll probably never forget those two. So many are still reeling from what has hit them. Jim is now co-forklift driver and spends most his time at the loading dock. Bill is in charge of diapers and tries to keep up with the demand for "#1's" but is not successful. This afternoon I go back to sorting clothes in the boutique — it's hard to see progress, but the number of boxes are decreasing. Dinner was meatloaf and mashed potatoes — a real man handler. Judy and I wash dishes this evening. Not bad except for the mashed potato pot. I'm tired.

October 10, 2005

From Judy Tammi in Mississippi:

Lights on at 7:00 a.m. although many people are up long before that (don't know what they do in the dark). Breakfast at 7:30 (Jim and Judy H. are very happy because they're serving grits). Meeting at 8:30 where we get our work assignments. Judy H. is at registration, Bill is in the store, Jim volunteers to operate the forklift, and I get to work in the boutique sorting clothes. Everyone wants blue jeans so I create bins of ladies jeans by size. The extra large go quickly. Met one woman who looked very out of place because she was dressed very well and wore a huge diamond wedding ring, and yet she was looking for shirts and pants and shoes for herself. She had a good attitude, but you just knew that she never thought she would see herself in this predicament. Later that evening we learn that on this day the camp served 1400 people (based on one person comes in for a family of four), 60% white, 30% African American, 10% Vietnamese and Hispanic. Hurricane Katrina did not discriminate.

Plans for the Future:

October 5, 2005

A working Mission Trip to clean up and rebuild homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is being planned for November 5 through 12. An informal meeting about the trip will be held on Sunday, October 16 at 11:45 a.m. Whether you’re interested in attending, providing matierials, or support in other ways, this is a great opportunity to find out more about St. Michael’s will be working to assist those in need in the area.

More supplies will be transferred to the area as a part of the trip. The Diocese of Mississippi suggests the following supplies that are needed and are NOT needed:

Needed Supplies:

  • LOTS of canned/dry food — Individuals and families who are looking for dry food goods are particularly requesting rice and beans. Special diet foods (diabetic, elder care, infant) are still needed; paper plates, napkins & plastic cutlery are still needed
  • Personal items — specifically: Shampoo, Alcohol based hand sanitizer, Distilled Water, Toilet Paper.
  • Cleaning supplies — specifically: POWDERED Laundry detergent; Clorox II, Oxy clean but also rubber boots, large buckets, heavy duty/industrial brooms & mops, shovels, rakes and heavy-duty garbage bags; garbage cans; Clorox Bleach, Pine-Sol etc - including the disposable wipes of those brands; extension cords with multiple-outlet pigtails, power strips, electrical tape; sunscreen, Insect Repellant, gel-based hand-sanitizer, face masks ; Batteries (all sizes and voltages); Tarps/Visqueen, Duct tape & other heavy-duty adhesive tape; Heavy-duty paper towels, disposable shop towels, etc.
  • Supplies for rebuilding — Nails and screws of all sizes, gauges and lengths; construction foams, sealants and adhesives; Basic Hand Tools - hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, saws & replacement blades, work gloves, etc.

NOT Needed:

There is an abundance of the following items so no need to send — First aid supplies, etc.; Disposable diapers and wet wipes; Depends; Tampons and sanitary pads; Deodorant; Toothbrushes; toothpaste; mouthwash; Bar soap, clothing.

St. Michael's Relief Effort No.1

September 14, 2005, 2:32 p.m.

Vicar and volunters at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

Dear St. Michael's,

I am a member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I want to thank you for your efforts on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Even though Hattiesburg was not hit as hard as the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans, life has still been difficult here. These difficulties along with our grief for our neighbors on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans has been overwhelming. However, the outpouring of love and generosity expressed by people such as you from across the country has been such a help.

I'm not an eloquent person, and I'm struggling to verbalize any feelings about this disaster because there is just so much to process. But please know your generosity has touched so many here. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for doing God's work. We have been lifted by your wings.

In Christ's love,

Jennifer Downey

September 14, 2005, 1:38 p.m.

Sir:

As senior warden here at Ascension Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS., I want to personally thank you and your parish for stepping up and sending the relief goods. They have and will be distributed to the needy down here. And, I want to assure you, there are thousands of needy that severely feel the effects of Katrina. It is grass roots efforts such as yours that binds us together in humanity. I know you have heard the bickering about whose fault was worse in the initial phases of relief. There is enough to go around. I think that the main cause of the bungling at the start is the magnitude of the storm itself. Planning for disasters includes involving the first responders in the affected district. In this storm, the first responders themselves were devestated. Their homes and families were destroyed and no time or communication facilities were there for them to respond. So, rather than finger pointing like the press and everyone with axes to grind, you and your congregation rolled up your sleeves and opened your hearts and wallets to help those who could not, and will not, be able to help themselves. Very Christian, in my opinion.

Thanks so much.

Paul Charbonneau

Sunday, September 11, 2005

More Supplies Headed South

Fr. Johnson, Patrick Duncan, Rick Ryba, Ellen Lindeen, Ann Ryba, and Ric Lindeen made a visit to the loading dock at Pepper Construction after church on Sunday, September 11. They dropped off several boxes of additional supplies that had been collected at St. Michael’s for hurricane victims. Pepper Construction included the supplies in a shipment that was sent on Monday, September 12. Supplies will be sent to a central location serving many of the hardest-hit areas and redistributed to those in need. Visit St. Michael’s website at www.stmichaelsbarrington.org/HurricaneKatrina.htm for continuing information about St. Michael’s continuing effort to bring relief to those impacted in the South Central Gulf Coast area.


Saturday, September 10, 2005, 2.24 p.m.

Judy and Jim Tammi departed Wednesday afternoon with the second truck full of supplies. In a letter to her sister following their return, Judy writes:

Hello!

Our adventure started on Monday night when Jim said he'd volunteer to drive a truck if needed. About an hour later, I read the latest email from church, and there it was..."volunteers needed to drive the next shipment on Wednesday". Jim called Ann, the church disaster relief coordinator, and Jim's thought became a reality. We left at 3:45 PM Wednesday after getting directions, funds, and a blessing. Jim drove the first leg, and fortunately, the traffic getting out of Chicago wasn't too bad. Getting used to driving this fifteen-foot truck was a different story. David, one of the drivers in the first trip, forewarned us that the truck may be do some "rockin' and rollin'", but if you slowed down and held on tight, the oscillations would eventually go away. And they did until you hit the next bump, and then it started all over again. The cab was air conditioned, but manual windows and door locks - what are they??? We stopped for gas south of Joliet, and that was sticker shock - almost $80 to fill it up. Oh well. My turn to drive, and after I got used to the load doing what it wanted to do, I relaxed and followed the eighteen wheelers ahead of us - there was no cruise control either so this allowed me to keep a safe distance at a reasonable speed. Drove until 10:30 PM. Back on the road at 7 AM. I called Ascension Lutheran Church to let them know we were on our way, talked with Pastor Tom Clark and he said c'mon down! We settled into the drive, Jim listened to a book on tape, and I prepared for my biology methods class that starts next week. We saw lots of trucks pulling trailers (they were part of FEMA) and a national guard convoy. I had the pleasure of driving in Memphis. Everything was fine except for the exit ramp when it really did feel like we were going to flip - I think there was an angel or two holding us up. Jim drove in Jackson, our destination. Everything was fine except the roads were under construction and there weren't any street signs (Mapquest didn't mention that)! We finally pulled into Ascension Lutheran Church at 3 PM. They had several people there to greet and welcome us. We started unloading almost immediately - they wanted us out because another truck was coming in to pick up supplies to take them to the hurricane victims (our water and food would be on that truck). So I moved the boxes of diapers, pedialyte, food, new and used clothes, toiletries, linens, and water from the back of the truck to the front so a stock broker, volunteer National guardsman, two college coeds, and Jim could unload it and take it into the staging area. The staging area was a gymnasium filled with boxes of supplies, clothes, tools, and other stuff. A dozen workers moved our supplies to the appropriate area where it could easily be retrieved when requested. We left Ascension church at 4:45 PM and headed back north. I had the pleasure of driving through Memphis again, but now it was nighttime. Unfortunately, we saw a bad accident on the bridge over the Mississippi between a semi and a National guard truck - we said a prayer that everyone was OK. Spent the night in Blytheville, AK just south of the MO line. Friday AM we met an elderly couple (we're only seniors) who were pulling a house trailer to Baton Rouge. The woman said she had called the Red Cross and asked what she could do, and this was their assignment. Everyone we met wished us well in our journey - and our journey ended at 5 PM on Friday when we returned the rental truck. It was a journey - really uneventful, and yet very meaningful in so many ways - all due to the helping hands of so many generous people. Jim and I are ready to do it again.

Hope all is well.

LOL, Judy

Click here for photos.

Thursday, September 8, 2005, 4:15 p.m. (Updated 9/9/05)

Pepper Construction will have a truck departing for Jackson, MS early next week and has offered to carry the remaining supplies to the area. Donations for this trip will be accepted through Monday, September 12. Because of limited storage space at the church, after September 12th donations should be kept at home. Another truck will be departing after St. Michael's day, September 25.

Per the instructions of the dioceses in the area, we are asking that donations be limited to the following items:

  • Insulin and antibiotics (we are looking for someone that can help get through the regulatory restrictions as well)
  • Neosporin/first aid supplies
  • Aspirin, ibuprofen, analgesics of any kind
  • Cold medications
  • Insect repellant
  • Depends
  • Chain saws
  • Any and all baby needs including diapers, baby powder, Desitin, wipes, baby food, spoons, Pedialite and formula
  • Sunscreen
  • Toothbrushes, toothpaste
  • All personal hygiene items including feminine hygiene items
  • Flip flops, sandals, sneakers—new only
  • T-shirts-all sizes child to adult—new only (Youth sizes are still needed)
  • Blankets, pillows, sheets — new preferred
  • Underwear—all sizes—new only (Youth sizes are still needed)
  • Socks—new only (Youth sized are still needed)
  • First aid supplies
  • Batteries, flashlights
  • Boxes for packing
  • Plastic tubs with lids for packing
  • Gas cards, MasterCard/Visa gift cards, cash for gas (we expect to need about $500 per trip)

Wednesday, September 7, 2005, 11:46 a.m.

From Dave Fleer, Driver-Truck 1

Click here for photos

Ray Kean and I left St. Michael's Monday afternoon and arrived at the Lamar County Multi-purpose Facility near Hattiesburg at 7:45am Tuesday. The timing was perfect: National Guard personnel were on hand to distribute supplies to area residents beginning at 9:00am. They pitched in to unload the truck with enthusiasm and good humour.

The Lamar County facility is in the village of Purvis, about ten miles southwest of Hattiesburg. It's used for horse shows, cattle auctions and the like. The large, covered arena, now operated by Field Response Coordinator Kevin Martin of the Lamar County EMA, receives and stores supplies brought in by Federal and State relief agencies and, of course, private donations such as ours. We were directed there by Vicar Susan Bear from Church of the Ascension, Hattiesburg, our original destination. Ascension's parish hall is already bursting with relief supplies, and its parishioners have their hands full handling what they've currently received; we would have overwhelmed them.

Our donation was received with thanks and appreciation. The baby formula and personal hygiene items were largely consumed the day before, and the generators were so prized that they were locked up inside an ambulance. Clothing donations aren't needed in Hattiesburg, but they are desperately in need along the Gulf Coast. Kevin and his assistant, Tracy Dickerson, are attempting to find transportation to ship the donated clothing they have on hand further south. Supplies of water are plentiful, we don't need to send more than our current stock.

Sergeant Gary Timms, the unit's medic, showed me the handful of insulin supplies he had to start the day. Folks, they need insulin. They also need analgesics, cold medications, insect repellent, "Depends" adult diapers, and any other pharmaceuticals you can think of. They need antibiotics such as amoxicillin and erythromycin, but I don't know how to get those, perhaps someone reading this can help out with the regulatory requirements. The first question I was asked was, "Do you have any chain saws?" At least 30% of Hattiesburg's trees have been uprooted or snapped in two, and most of the rest have lost branches. Hattiesburg and all of Lamar County are struggling to remove them and restore electricity and telephone service.

We left the Lamar County site around 9:15, driving past a mile-long line of cars filled with people in need of supplies. After a brief nap in the main aisle of the nave, Ray and I headed back to St. Michael's. We witnessed hundreds of military vehicles moving south along Interstate 55, interspersed with trucks hauling bulldozers, campers and RVs. We arrived back at St. Michael's about 1:30 am Tuesday morning, tired but happy to have been part of so great a cloud of witnesses that have come together to help our brothers and sisters in need. Thanks for your support and your prayers, they were heard and responded to!

Dave Fleer, driver

Tuesday, September 6, 2005, 7:04 p.m.

Dear St. Michael's Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your generous and quick responce to our effort to get needed supplies to those impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The truck was full within two hours yesterday with enough left over to fill it again...and that's exactly what we intend to do.

Dave Fleer and Ray Kean are on the way back and anticipate arriving in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Judy and Jim Tammi will be our next driving team and will take the second load of supplies on Wednesday afternoon. To accomplish this quick turnaround, the following help is needed:

  • At 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 7th, workers are needed to sort and pack the remaining items that will be loaded on to the truck.
  • Beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, workers are needed to begin reloading the truck.
  • A supervisor is needed to run the loading crew (don't worry...we have instructions!)

If you're still interested in donating supplies, a complete list can be found on the website at http://www.stmichaelsbarrington.org/HurricaneKatrina.htm along with updates from our driving teams. Items can be dropped off in the chapel 24 hours or during the morning tomorrow.

The contact person for this part of the activity is Leigh VanderMeer. She can be reached in the parish office at 847-381-2323 ext. 18.

Again, many thanks to all for opening your hearts!

St. Michael's Hurricane Relief Team


Tuesday, September 6, 2005, 9:00 a.m.

Dave and Ray arrived in Hattiesburg (actually Purvis) at 7:45 a.m. National Guard troops unloaded the truck in 45 minutes. They are now going to Church of the Ascension to lay down and rest briefly before heading back home.

They expect to depart mid-day today and will call when they get close to home. Arrival should be early Wednesday if they are able to do so. Gasoline availability has not been a problem.

Judy and Jim Tammi have volunteered to take the truck on a second run as soon as Dave and Ray return and the truck can be reloaded. If you are able to assist with sorting, packing or reloading, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Dave and Ray report that in addition to the needs noted on previous messages, the following should also be added to the list:

  • Insulin
  • Neosporin/first aid
  • Aspirin
  • Depends
  • Chain saws

Monday, September 5, 2005

The response to our first effort has been outstanding! By 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, over 200 parishioners had dropped off enough supplies to fill our 15-foot truck and there was enough left over to fill another (maybe two) with cars still arriving. On behalf of the recipients of these items, thank you for your gifts!

Our drivers, Dave Fleer and Ray Kean, have departed to get these supplies to the to hurricane victims as quickly as possible.

Click here for photos

But just because the truck has pulled away doesn't mean your help isn't still needed. The library is filling up with more and once the truck returns (tentatively on Wednesday), it will be reloaded and sent on another run. The destination for both trips is Ascension Episcopal Church in Hattiesburg, MS. This small mission church has become a relief center for many of the refugees who have been displaced from New Orleans and the surrounding area. The church will help with the redistribution of what we've sent and will assist with making connections to others in the area who are in need.

Your help is needed!

The Bishop of the South Central Gulf Coast, working through Dave Fleer, has requested the following including a few additional items that you'll note at the bottom of the list:

  • Any and all baby needs including diapers, baby powder, Desitin, wipes, baby food, spoons, Pedialite and formula
  • Sunscreen
  • Toothbrushes, toothpaste
  • All personal hygiene items including feminine hygiene items
  • Flip flops, sandals, sneakers—new only
  • T-shirts-all sizes child to adult—new only (Youth sizes are still needed)
  • Blankets, pillows, sheets
  • Underwear—all sizes—new only (Youth sizes are still needed)
  • Socks—new only (Youth sized are still needed)
  • Bottled water
  • First aid supplies
  • Batteries
  • Boxes for packing
  • Plastic tubs with lids for packing
  • Gas cards, MasterCard/Visa gift cards, cash for gas (we expect to need about $1000 per trip)

Thanks to your generosity, we have a full supply of used clothing, shoes, baby equipment (such as car seats), toys, and books and these items are not needed for the second trip. The diocesan office in the area has asked that we supply only the essentials listed above.

Drivers Needed

Because the truck will be making a second run, we are also sending out a plea for two relief drivers to make the second trip to the area. This trip will depart (tentatively) on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning and will return by Friday.

Packers Needed

Last, if you are able to come to the church on Tuesday or Wednesday during the day, we need people who can repack the many articles of clothing that have been donated so that they can be easily placed on the truck when it returns on Wedneday evening.

If you can help, contact the Parish Office at 847-381-2323 or Ann Ryba at 847-358-5808.

Saturday, September 3, 2005

St. Michael's first effort in assisting with hurricane relief will be collecting supplies on Labor Day to fill a truck to take to the Episcopal Diocesan Relief Center of the Gulf Coast. The church will be open from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Monday, September 5, for you to bring these needed items. Dave Fleer and Ray Kean will on Monday at 5:00 p.m. The need in this area of the country will continue for some time. Please watch for more information about upcoming efforts to provide assistance and relief.

These following is a list of immediate needs as requested from the Bishops of the Central Gulf Coast. Please go out and buy as much of the following as possible and bring it to the church tomorrow. Keep in mind that there are multiple Labor Day sales in all retail areas.

  • Any and all baby needs including diapers, baby powder, Desitin, wipes, baby food, spoons, Pedialite and formula
  • Sunscreen
  • Toothbrushes, toothpaste
  • All personal hygiene items
  • Flip flops, sandals, sneakers—new
  • T-shirts-all sizes child to adult-new
  • Blankets, pillows, sheets
  • Underwear—all sizes—new
  • Socks

Many thanks to you for opening your hearts. We will have multiple opportunities to help, this is our first push.

A Message from a Friend

Friday, September 2, 2005

Dear friends,

This note came in today from a fellow Mardi Gras Krewe friend who has costumed with us for the past 20 years. She is in Baton Rouge with her 12 year old daughter and husband. Their home is 2 blocks from the Mississippi river. They will be traveling to California to enroll Ellie in school where her sister lives and have no idea when they will return to the city they love, the home they've built, the possessions they own.

Ann Ryba

Hi everyone -

First off - thank you for all your concern and thoughts - though we are displaced and having to move temporarily - we are safe.

Though national news is often sensationalized, the severity of this situation has rarely been shown. Many of you have asked me what you can do - - If any of you are so inclined - PLEASE call your elected officials and beg them to send help now, not tomorrow, not next week - NOW. Do not believe what you are hearing - they have promised help since the first levees broke - There are thousands of individuals stranded and have been stranded for four days without food and water in 90 degree heat and extreme humidity. In Waveland, Mississippi, for example, no food, water or supplies have been dropped - In New Orleans they are just beginning to tell you that there are 1000's of people outside the Super Dome in OTHER shelters who haven't received the paltry amount those in the Super Dome have received. Individuals are still stranded on roof tops.

Anarchy is rampant across the gulf coast - not just in Louisiana. Innocent individuals are dying - not because they "refused" to leave - but because they did not have the resources to do so. Many of you don't realize that this hurricane was projected to have a landfall in Florida until Friday evening at 5:00 p.m.. Those of us who had the resources - and weren't working - dropped everything - boarded up, packed, picked up our yards and left the next day - Many other individuals didn't even KNOW that there was a hurricane bearing down on our city until Sunday. Those who could leave left - those who wanted to may not have been able - the city was running out of gas as early as Saturday morning. Even with a full tank of gas - at that
late date - the interstate - our major artery out of the city was gridlocked with fleeing individuals...Please don't assume that those individuals left in New Orleans deserve their current plight - they don't, they don't, they don't.

Real information is hard to get - but here is a sample of what the area is facing.... In Jefferson Parish - the WEALTHY parish outside of New Orleans - the Red Cross has refused services and are not there...This isn't because they can't get there it is because THEY don't feel safe...

Those individuals you see looting for PERSONAL gain are now burning those areas they can not enter in retaliation. With no water, no electricity, those there to help can only watch the buildings burn to the ground.

We need help to stabilized this situation - Our governor, mayors, parish presidents are begging for more help - we haven't seen it yet - Please help us in Louisiana and ask OUR government to help us.

This is not the Middle East, this is part of your country - Please help....

Patty

A Message from Fr. Johnson

Thursday, September 1, 2005

Dear St. Michael’s Family and Friends,

The devastation, loss and pain are overwhelming. The Sentilles Family, who once lived behind the Rectory and moved to New Orleans several years ago, lost everything. Fortunately, they got out with their lives, but the challenges they face with grief and loss are overwhelming. Andrew Ryba, of our parish community and a student at Tulane, fortunately heeded the warnings and made his way to Nashville and soon on to Palatine, but he will not be able to return to Tulane anytime soon; a life put on hold. Ann Kimes, also of our parish, who has family in New Orleans and recently buried her parents in the area, awaits word on how her family survived and with what intact. And these are but a brief microcosm of the countless lives touched, derailed, or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Looking at the pictures on TV is almost surreal; to think nearly an entire city is underwater and uninhabitable, nearly one million refugees, the Superdome filled with people and difficulty getting out, entire communities leveled.

Last Sunday the sermon noted that the sufferings of our lives are the burdens we bear and everyone bears them The crosses we bear are when we pick up someone else’s burdens and carry them. That is our call as compassionate minded Christians in the wake of this natural disaster; to pick up the burdens of our brothers and sisters in the gulf coast region. I have asked Ann Ryba to coordinate our response to this tragedy in consultation with our Associate for community Life, Leigh VanderMeer. Look for a variety of ways to respond, some through our parish and some not. My hope is that we will connect with a parish church somewhere in the devastated region and even travel south to give a helping hand. For now two things are imperative: prayer and financial support. While we will have a designated Sunday in September for hurricane relief, if you are moved to give money please don’t wait…give now and give later. Besides the many credible charities, please consider Episcopal Relief and Development as this arm of our church gives 100% of all gifts to their intended destination. Visit this website for more information on how to give; www.er-d.org.

The reconstruction from this catastrophe will take years and will require strength and stamina in the American people in new and different ways. The healing of human hearts and spirits from so much loss will take a life time. Join me in praying to God for strength and protection for those who have lost so much; in praying for the departed and injured; in praying for strength for rescue workers; in praying for courage for leaders; in asking Jesus to wrap his loving arms around each person and hold them close; in praying for Jesus to lead us to be those helping, compassionate arms; ask for strength to pay attention for a long time.

Love and blessings,

Alvin+

A Message from the Presiding Bishop

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

I am sending this message by email to our bishops, clergy and congregations - insofar as is possible - so that it might be shared and that we might be a community united in prayer and service during this time.

During these past days I have been contacting bishops in the areas affected by hurricane Katrina and have spoken to the bishops of Alabama, the Central Gulf Coast, Louisiana and Mississippi. As you would imagine, they are ministering to their communities the very best they can under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Communication is tenuous, and in some cases impossible. As hour by hour the almost unimaginable ravages of the hurricane become more fully known we are continuing to learn of further losses of life, houses, churches, and other familiar points of reference, including the destruction of whole communities.

At this time let us be exceedingly mindful that bearing one another's burdens and sharing one another's suffering is integral to being members of Christ's body. I call upon every member of our church to reach out in prayer and tangible support to our brothers and sisters as they live through these overwhelming days of loss and begin to face the difficult challenges of the future.

Episcopal Relief and Development has been in contact with all the dioceses in the Gulf Coast area touched by the hurricane and will be working with them long after the television cameras have left. Funds have already been sent to the dioceses of Central Gulf Coast, Mississippi and Louisiana. I ask you to donate funds to the work of ERD such that our brothers and sisters in Christ will have the resources needed for the monumental task of reconstruction and rebuilding. Donations to ERD can be made as follows with an indication that they are designated for hurricane relief: via ERD's website at www.er-d.org 24 hours a day; by calling ERD at 800/334-7626, extension 5129 Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard time; by sending a check payable to Episcopal Relief and Development, Box 12043, Newark, New Jersey 07101-5043.

The Rt. Rev. George Packard, Suffragan Bishop for Chaplaincies, has been in contact with bishops in the Gulf Coast area. Bishop Packard is working such that a network of chaplains - police, fire, civil defense and military chaplains - is providing information to the bishops about what is happening in areas of their dioceses they have not been able to reach. The next stage of his work will be setting up training for clergy and others in dealing with the trauma so many have experienced.

Episcopal Migration Ministries is also responding and Richard Parkins, the Director of EMM, is investigating the possibilities of resettlement for people who are temporarily homeless.

Life affords us very few securities and yet deep within us, often revealed in the midst of profound vulnerability and loss, springs up a hope that contradicts the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Such hope emerges from the depths of despair as pure and unexpected gift. This is the way in which Christ accompanies us and seeks to share our burdens. May Christ so be with those of us who are enduring the effects of the hurricane, and may each one of us be a minister of hope to others in these dark and tragic days.

May we together pray:

God of mercy and compassion, be in our midst and bind us together in your Spirit as a community of love and service to bear one another's burdens in these days as we face the ravages of storm and sea. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord from whom alone comes our hope.
Amen.


The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA
815 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017