Salem Katrina Team Report from Gautier, November 17

First, we need a volunteer secretary for the camp manager and another for Rev. Chris Bullock at the Gautier Presbyterian Church. These two folks are burning out working without administrative support and we need two hardy take charge, boss-the-boss volunteers who can run small offices with vigor (picture Master Sergeant stripes in your mind's eye) to volunteer right now! Get down here now, please! The problems caused by not having good support are beginning to overwhelm the situation. Please - consider giving a couple weeks down here to be the glue holding this organization together and to let these two great people focus on delivery of the services so badly needed in Gautier. Call now. Book a couple weeks. Bring a friend to work with you or set them up to flow into the job when you leave. This is a serious need...right up there with getting more money! Remember Radar on MASH? Come be our Radar! Call now! Don't Wait A Minute! Continental Airlines flies into Gulfport...we'll pick you up. Give us a call! Great pay...nothing, just like the rest of us!

Our buddy Morella did a lot of of this during her two weeks in Gautier, but she's gone now and we have her boots to fill.

David Dyer has offered his thoughts for today's blog:

Good morning. November 17.

Time flies. On Veterans' Day about a week ago, a crew from Vienna Virginia and I went to a gentleman's home in Pascagoula to move some furniture. Flexibility is the key here. He has a full time job, his wife is ill, staying in the FEMA trailer with their daughter, and the inspectors said to save his home it must be gutted and raised or jacked up six feet (the amount of water in his home during Katrina). He wanted to move and save everything. He was robbed after the storm so he leaves his dogs in the house while at work to guard their belongings.

He apologized to us for the mess - with his problems so severe he still apologized to us! A humbling experience. We moved the entire contents to a shed, and again he apoligized for not having anything to give us as a thank-you. God Bless.
David

Thanks, David! This morning before devotions I raised yesterday's situation regarding the disabled veteran who has lost his glasses, hearing aids, dentures and leg braces. We were immediately given $100 by a team which had themselves been given the money to use. When I asked for more help, other teams immediately raised hundreds more, enough to cover the replacement dentures and glasses! Wonderful! We did have some disappointment when Karen called around to buy these things and couldn't even get a modest discount from local dentists!

Last night was the coldest yet, with frost on the ground this morning. Only days ago we were suffering in the high humidity. But last night there were people we can't exactly call "homeless" because they own homes, Gautier folks who suffered in the cold all night long. Here is one "homeowner" living in a tent among the support columns for his house which once was.

Hello, America. In case its not clear, there are still residents living in tents on their front lawns. There are still people waiting for water and electricity. There are still 62-year old widows waiting for FEMA to deliver trailers promised them to be delivered October 12. Still people waiting at home every day, as FEMA directed, in case their trailers are delivered...and they've been waiting weeks. There are still people with trailers waiting for FEMA to hook up utilities. There are still homeless folks suffering. There are still lines at the distribution centers before they open up. There are still volunteer teams coming in to help. There are still veterans who are not being served by the VA for want of professional staff. There are still military retirees not getting medical care at Keesler AFB because Keesler's doctors have been scattered. There are still people coming to this church to ask if they can camp with us. There are still volunteers living in unheated tents. You get the idea. Send help. Keep sending it.