Salem Katrina Team Report - January 29

Terrible news today, when Joan emailed me the news that Morella Larson's sister died in a car crash. My last blog entry mentioned Morella, and she was so happy with her work in Palm Springs when she phoned me on Friday. You and your sister are in our prayers, Morella. God Bless.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 28

Last night I heard from Morella Larson, our well-traveled team member from Salem who is continuing her winter in Palm Springs. She is also continuing her work for Katrina relief, mentioning that she's making a presentation on our work in Gautier. Her friends in Palm Springs should be very proud of sending Morella to the Gulf with such generous gifts! I will always have a picture in my mind of Morella standing in the fellowship hall, wearing her work apron with the MORELLA name tag.

Various paperwork delays have kept me in Tampa, so today I worked with the RV dealership in preparing their donation of a travel trailer for me to tow to Ocean Springs. There, Christus Victor Lutheran Church has a couple older motorhomes parked behind the church for volunteer housing, and this very wonderful donation will allow up to four volunteers to have a bit more privacy and comfort after a hard day. Judy, an insurance manager here at the dealership told me earlier in the week that God must have a reason for slowing things down a bit and keeping me in Tampa longer than I'd like. She was right.

I phoned Bob Montgomery (a retired Navy commander and church member) at Christus Victor to give them a heads-up on this unit coming in, and he was eleated! A couple more such vehicles and it will look like we're having an RV rally! Bob and his wife Brenda have set new standards for Joan and me to consider in their tireless rededication of their entire lives - home, income, time, prayers, everything they have - to help their church meet the needs of Katrina victims. And we see folks like them in Gautier as well, and I'm thinking of Pam Martin, Fred, and so many other wonderful folks like them. Also...ever notice how so many of them are retired military?

Bob and Christus Victor remind us that money is still needed. Lots of money. Besides their free medical clinic and labor crews, Christus Victor continues to operate a huge distribution point where storm victims get food, clothing and other necessities. Although some food is donated, most has to be bought and they need money to meet the need. I wish we could do more than we have!

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 27

I've been feeling pretty useless, sitting here in Tampa while completing arrangements to replace our burned motorhome. The insurance folks considered it a total loss following the fire in the Norcold refrigerator, but have their channels to follow...and they take time, of course.

Anyway, today made up for all that, and in spades! I asked various managers of the dealership we're working with about their donating a travel trailer for Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, and a few minutes ago they agreed! Amazing and wonderfully kind on their part. Their donation trailer sleeps four, is a modern, 1996 unit complete with a nice bedroom, a kitchen and a front "living room", and will be ideal for church volunteers to use back in Gautier or Ocean Springs. The dealership, Lazy Days RV in Seffner, Florida, is even providing RV supplies to get folks into it promptly.

Thus, whenever I finally can drive our replacement motorhome back to Mississippi, the mission of old Salem First Pres continues by bringing this useful donation, thanks to great people in business who care about helping Katrina victims.

Thanks, Lazy Days! Glad we came here to do business. And I can't wait to tell the folks in Mississippi!

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 20

I wanted to comment on the strange feeling as I arrived in Tampa and looked around.

Something is wrong! These streets are clean. The fences are upright. The homes don't have blue plastic covering the roofs. The trees aren't broken off and crashed all over the place. It smells clean. No little signs stuck in the ground at each intersection hawking roof repairs or discount electrical work.

It looks normal. It looks like what this entire country looked like the day before Katrina. Suddenly seeing "normal" really hits you after a few months in the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I've been working here in Tampa on insurance papers, bank stuff and details about replacing our burned motorhome. It is necessary, and we have to do it to replace our loss and not suffer the loss of our investment, but boy, do I feel I'm wasting time! Here I am in Tampa, playing with my "toys" instead of working. I learned that our RV sales rep's aunt lives in Gulfport and lost her home. The sales rep's company sent her a motorhome and it pulled a travel trailer which was donated elsewhere.

I certainly missed the crowd at evening and morning devotions back at Christus Victor.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 19

Today is quite an adventure, building on yesterday’s events. Last night I got an email from our motorhome insurance carrier that they decided our burned coach is a total loss. This means we’re able to get a replacement for the same price we’d paid for the first vehicle, but it will be quite a bit newer and thus very much to our advantage, and is everything we could have hoped for as a solution. So, this morning as I type I’m sitting in an AirTrans plane flying to Tampa to visit a couple dealerships, select a coach and complete the paperwork. I’ll then return to Ocean Springs to reload our salvaged personal items, partly cleaned of soot and smoke damage, into the replacement coach and complete the donation of our son Ben’s Dodge van to our host Lutheran church. I want to say that this week's “life lesson” has been that insurance folks can’t fix things instantly, but they can be very, very fast when they’re needed, and we are grateful both to them (Mike McGuinness of National Interstate) and our selling agent (Lazy Days RV).

We were at first afraid we’d have to ask to be excused from our promise to donate Ben’s van because we'd need it to pull the UHaul trailer with our belongings back to Oregon, so this solution of a replacement RV might be totally perfect. The old Dodge van is needed here to provide crew transportation and to haul large loads for the volunteers. I am also so grateful for the folks at Christus Victor who’d kept asking how things were going regarding our personal needs and the insurance issues, and I appreciate their happiness when I told them last night how things were resolved. I must say that these two pastors have been a blessing here in Mississippi, but they would be the “dynamic duo” anywhere they chose to serve. I have been blessed with meeting saints everywhere during these four months. And Lutheran saints are pretty good!

We heard from Wayne and Mary Swanson, members of our original team, that they’re to visit in Dallas soon, so I hope we can somehow connect. They were also a couple saints who walked into my life, and into the lives of those folks in Gautier they came to serve.

Work crews were busy here in Ocean Springs all week. They have restarted repairs in the sanctuary, which Joan was worried about, as well as finishing roof repairs in the back. Other teams worked at the distribution center, joined by 30 or so Air Force volunteers from Keesler Air Force base who came to help. As a retired Air Force man, I am proud of these young folks giving up their time off to help the community.

We’ve started getting more job requests. For awhile, we had more volunteers than work for them because bad weather forced cleanup crews to suspend outdoor work. We have had several folks who need help sent over to us by the local FEMA officials, who themselves have requested assistance on their personal homes. Glad to help!

Joan is at home in Oregon, busy scheming how we can continue to help both the Lutheran and the Presbyterian missions in Gautier and Ocean Springs. She’s designing some sort of a matching gift proposal to run by other members of our Salem First Pres. She’s also organically unable to keep from volunteering for her other interests, mostly trail maintenance for the Park Service so she’s already got new trips scheduled. Her months here in the Gulf will be the highlight of her volunteer work, I’m sure.

Late note: I made it to Tampa just fine, looked at vehicles and have some papers to complete, then I hope to head back to Ocean Springs early next week.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 17

Except for my missing Joan so much, yesterday was about as perfect as a day can get! Although celebrating Martin Luther King Day, the FEMA disaster center was open and managers there okay’d our church group putting up a wheelchair ramp for an elderly lady who has been waiting for one for nine weeks! I went back to Christus Victor and their folks scheduled it for completion by Wednesday! Plus…the FEMA lady I was working with needs help with her house so we will be sending crews to help her also, and she’ll spread the word so others can seek help. Thus, we were spared wondering what dramatic action would be necessary to have somebody in FEMA’s food chain meet their obligation to our elderly friend, with the paralyzed veteran son.

I visited the lady's bank and the manager there put a hold on her checking account so all large checks will be carefully examined to make sure the lady isn't being victimized in any way. The manager also had a church friend doing family law who might help us arrange a financial guardian for her.

Last night, I expected to sleep in our Dodge van and had put an air mattress and sleeping bag in it. All local hotels are either damaged or are filled with displaced families and construction workers. Joan, ever caring about my needs, was on the phone with the housing coordinator, who located a church member with a spare room. Warm digs, nice folks, a hot bath--life is good! The air mattress is still in the van, however.

The word from National Interstate, the insurers of our motorhome, was that the the coach might not be totaled, but it remains a possibility. That would be good news for us as we could more easily slide into another motorhome than to wait a year for this one to be repaired, paying on it all the while but unable to use it, and then be stuck with a vehicle with unknown water and electrical complications. Already, there is a suggestion of mold, only ten days after the fire, because it has been a very warm winter thus far.

Read King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail, won’t you? You can find it online very easily.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 15

As Joan and I drove to church, she was concerned about a young family whose house she had worked on still had a day's worth of mudding to do. She hoped a team would finish it because she was flying home. As we went through the breakfast line at the church, a guy who had worked with her said he and three team members would go there and tackle it! Isn’t that perfect? Also I got to hold the baby of a couple whose house Joan had mudded last week... it made this grandpa wannabe happy!

We enjoyed another great service and appreciated the skillful weaving of the letter from the Birmingham jail by Dr. Martin Luther King into the message. I thought about that letter all day, and how Dr. King’s protest meant so much, and how his defense at being an “out of town” visitor applied to me.

The sad part for me was Joan's departure, combined with the damage to the motorhome and impatience about how the insurance will cover it. So, I’ll wait here a few days longer. On the way to the airport, we drove through the devastation of Biloxi and Gulfport. On my prior trip two months ago, most access roads were blocked. The damage is profound, reminding me of riding the school bus in Stuttgart (where my dad was stationed) past piles of rubble--not yet removed, seven years past the war's end.

Returning to Ocean Springs after Joan’s flight departed, I took a power nap, and then headed for the church around 7:00 p.m. for dinner (a great stew, followed by a chocolate chip cake Joan reminded me not to miss!) By 8:00, with no sign of a pastor at hand to lead evening devotions, I led them. About thirty were there, patiently attending to the message and prayers, but things certainly did fall apart as I tried to lead in singing “Now the Day is Over”. I can’t carry a tune to save my life, and it turns out no one there could either. (Joan's piano accompaniment had guided us for two weeks--the gap is certainly noticeable now!) We painfully limped through to the amusement of a couple of students (and I know who they are!), but at least we kept going! I enjoy the time spent sharing about projects they had gone to and homeowners they had helped. It was also nice to hear a compliment about Joan's singing that morning.

I met Mark, a marketing manager with UPS who is volunteering with his church from Atlanta. We discussed writing journals, and I went on about how this blog is my first attempt to keep a record of events as they unfold in my life. I hope I’ll keep it up.

I picked up trash around the parking lot of the church-- a small gesture of thanks for their warm hospitality in allowing me leave the RV for some time after the fire.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 13

Our work at the Lutheran relief center here in Ocean Springs is about to wrap up. We have especially enjoyed the time spent at Christus Victor because of the great size of the organization. At times, over 280 volunteers and a handful of paid staff have been laboring at the distribution center, free clinic, client intake office, pastoral counseling office and the on-site work crews! And it was made so much nicer because of an immense church building dedicated to Katrina relief, yet still focused on its traditional mission. Yesterday, we watched the rehearsal for a wedding and teased the bride a little. I gestured to her dad during the rehearsal to step aside, and when the bride reached for his arm to march down the aisle, I had moved into his place --she went several steps before she realized something was wrong!

I was able to visit an elderly lady I met while helping her disabled veteran son. Ever since early November, we have been trying to get FEMA to put in handicapped access to the woman's trailer so she could move in. I've been promised by several FEMA leaders that the work would be done "within a couple days"...for over two months now. When Joan and I visited her on Wednesday to see if the wheelchair ramp had been put in (and it haden't), we learned to our great surprise that the local television station had discovered her and done a brief news story on her which focused on her age, surviving Katrina, and difficulties living in a damaged house...but they didn't know about the problems with her trailer! What luck...it seems nobody in government or business is immune from a 60 Minutes- type exposé! I was able to track down the reporter who did the story and briefed her on what we'd learned...the station promised to keep following up. The reporter, Julie Gold of WLOX Channel 13, also didn't know about the lady's paralyzed son and the station has had a special interest in disabled veterans.

While we were with this elderly client, we learned that she'd been trying to submit an application for a home repair grant. She was required, among other things, to provide a photo identification. She had never had a driver's license or any other kind of identification. I phoned the driver's license bureau and they said a birth certificate was required for a non-driver's identification card, and we then learned our friend's papers had all been washed away in the storm. Our goal for Monday is to try to find how to get a copy of her birth certificate from Mississippi's Department of Health so the identification card can be issued so the repair papers can be submitted so the house can be repairs...so that this elderly, frail lady trying to take care of her paralyzed son can try to keep her life together. So many victims...so little time. I'm not writing that as a joke, but a true feeling which overwhelms us all the time.

Yesterday we continued cleaning up the back parking lot at the church, helping church member Bob Montgomery move pallets of food and relief supplies, picking up trash, taking out garbage, giving first aid to a couple injured volunteers, and other fun stuff. Bob wasn't pleased when we were picking up canned food from a collapsed pallet, and as I handed him cartons of canned spigetti sause one burst all over his shirt!

Our RV insurance folks, National Interstate, had their accident inspector visit us yesterday and examine our burned coach in the middle of a thunderstorm. He apparently didn't need to look into the damaged lower storage areas but he did photograph several areas inside, got the four corners of the vehicle, and a photo of the top. Nice guy and I guess we now wait for his report to go in, and the company to advise what their next course is. We are worried that repairs may take over a year from what we've seen on the Internet of similar fires, with the motorhome having to return to the factory to have the roof and right side replaced and the inside gutted or cleaned. In any case, here we are 2500 miles from home, and we've decided that Joan will fly back to Oregon tomorrow, and I've rented a UHaul vehicle for our belongings and will start driving on Tuesday unless the insurance company suggests otherwise. At least, there is no suggestion thus far that we won't be covered and we hope whatever news eventually is good.

Joan has had a special project of helping a couple with three young kids, now living in their FEMA trailer alongside their ruined house. The husband and Joan, sometimes with other volunteers when they're available, have been putting up wallboard. Yesterday she tried to help but the man was unable, because he has ruptured cervical disks and is in great pain. He can only help his family and work on his home after work and when he isn't in such pain. Another "so many victims, so little time."

I played with three great kids last night just after dinner..they were all under six and spoke both English and Spanish, helping their folks who only spoke Spanish. They have been living in a car for quite some time with their parents, and the family had approached the church for help finding a place to sleep. The husband has a job but it will be some time before he's earned money for his first month's rent and deposit on an apartment - which don't seem to exist anyway, given this area's damages, dislocated families and contractors seeking their own lodging. Henry, our professional social worker, tried to talk them into returning to their family in Atlanta and said he could find a room for the husband, but the wife vetoed that...won't tolerate her young family being separated. Christus Victor provided a motel room for last night but this certainly won't solve anything. I scrounged toiletries for them and found a box of children's books, some neat little cars and off they went. Another of the volunteers boxed up some food but the family's car is small, and five people in it don't leave much room for supplies.

See you in church tomorrow!

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 11

Joan had another great day mudding a house with a team from Christus Victor Lutheran Church here in Ocean Springs. She draws great satisfaction, as she should, from this hands-on work so important in helping Katrina victims. A neat thing...a question on technique came up while we were driving her to one work site, and Joan called our wonderful old handyman Bill and sought his advice. The old sage came through and Joan got the tips she needed for a good job. If only Bill were fifteen years younger and here with us in the Gulf...he'd have this mess squared away in a week or two.

We also spent the day finishing the removal and cleaning of our belongings following the small fire (caused when a line leaked ammonia which the pilot flame ignited). Trying to get that soot off is a lesson, a paradigm for the post-Katrina clean-up...soot is easier to clean than mold, which the folks here have had such trouble with since the storm. Soon we'll pack up a UHaul rental with belongings for the long drive back home...it's 2500 miles by myself, but at least I get to pick the music!! We also heard from our RV dealer back in McMinnville that there is little they do to help clients, even when their customer's coach is destroyed far from home because of a component they'd just serviced. This is miserable...certainly it is not the vacation trip to conclude four months of hard work in Mississippi that we'd been looking forward to. Instead, just so many wasted days and wasted money, on top of our loss.

Tonight's devotions were very meaningful and Joan accompanied on the piano, which I very much enjoy every time. We sang "Now the Day is Over", which I first learned in junior high school nearly 50 years ago.

I've started King's Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling now that Joan has finished with it -- at least I'm not reading by the new "fireplace" in the side of the RV where our refrigerator used to be!

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 10

We drove our son Ben to the Gulfport airport for his return to Vermont, concluding his 20 days here in the Katrina area. We are so pleased with the frequent comments from other teams about how hard he worked at the Christus Victor Lutheran distribution center...this will be something he'll remember all his life, and which has had significant impact on the victims of this historic disaster. Here's his crew, with Ben third from the left. A great crew!

Joan continued doing wallboarding work in D'Iberville, and I helped Bob Montgomery of the Christus Victor church sort clothing, looking for winter-weight items which will be needed here in the cold weather already upon us. Bob and his wife Brenda are only a couple houses away from their church, and they've been among the mainstays in the area's recovery. They're at the church working by 8:00 AM every day, and typically not back home until 9:00 PM or even later. Last night, I walked over to the church to help some folks in an older RV, and passed Bob walking back home at 10:00. How long can folks like this, strong as they are, carry such a burden?

Sorting the piles of donated clothes for our distribution center, I discovered a couple of chef's shirts and delivered them to our kitchen crew so they could look more spiffy...now the four without are jealous of the two who have them! Fun ladies-- Gladys has one of the shirts! We have a great food staff --all volunteers-- who arrive at 5:00 AM and work until long past dinner, usually wrapping up just before evening devotions.

The Ocean Springs Fire Department came back this morning to photograph the damage from our motorhome fire. There aren't many such fires (aren't we special??)and they mentioned doing some training with their photos. We are insured with National Interstate, and while their company's contract fire inspector has been here to do a careful inspection of the fire, we still have yet to hear from their adjustor five days after. The inside of the coach has the expected smoke and soot damage, but I'm surprised about the intensity of it. We heard from one dealer that such fires can result in a year of refurbishment. Our fire began in the Norcold refrigerator, which uses propane or AC power, and uses ammonia. The entire back of the refrigerator and a part of the areas left and right of it have burned, plus the flames destroyed the large awning and some inside areas. The firefighters had to chop through the roof to suppress the flames...that's a nasty looking hole. What a terrible stink.

Thank goodness for the couple who invited us into their beautiful home (where they put up eight volunteers a night). They need the room soon, however, for others arriving, and maybe we'll be able to start back to Oregon soon. Oh, the mysteries of life!

We have spent so many hours emptying the coach, to wipe off items using a Pine-Sol mixture to get off some of the soot. We've run pretty much every stitch of clothing through a washer, using Pine-Sol, color-safe bleach and Tide, as the internet suggested this combination to remove the soot and smell...seems to work. But hard to do, fitting in the hours around our chores at the church. We're supposed to be volunteers, not victims!! It is not hard to see how hopeless one can become after such a loss. But unlike the people of Mississippi, we have our regular home to return to. Their turmoil will continue for years to come.

The lesson from all this: life is good. We have a beautiful home to return to, unlike so many of the Katrina survivors. And we were washed with kindnesses and blessings from the folks we work with here at Christus Victor Lutheran. Thank you all. In a special way, this might be the best part of our four month mission to the Gulf Coast.

We heard the police were looking for us!! Turns out that when we were parked at the D'Iberville PDA camp around Christmas Day, while we were off and resting in Jacksonville for the holiday, the city folks sent their sheriff to check out the ownership of our vehicle. They wanted to know who the heck owned the RV (that's us) parked alongside the unused tennis court about 100 yards away from the main PDA camp which has been built in the town's baseball field. We understand they were worried it might be an unauthorized repair contractor or "squatter" even though we had our mission signs on the sides..but that location was where George, our first PDA camp manager, assigned us, and the current volunteer manager, Dr. Bill Caldewalder, set things straight...he explained the situation to the officials, but also explained to us that the RV would have to be moved. Which we did, of course...over to the Gautier Presbyterian Church and then, after a night, to Christus Victor Lutheran.

Visiting with other folks volunteering for the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, we learned again how important PDA feels it to be that volunteers not represent themselves, or misunderstand in their own minds, that volunteers are with PDA. We volunteers are coordinated and in some ways also supported by PDA, but we are certainly not part of their organization. This is all confusing but it must be important to them. For our part, I'm glad we were able to provide some financial support, especially the money given to Julie in Gautier before she left, and the support sent before we arrived to help set up their Internet access and other items. It seems our donated equipment (copier/printer, generators, multifold ladders, drills, first aid gear, food and food preparation equipment, tarps, cleaning supplies, etc. have been useful as well. I understand that Gautier Presbyterian is no longer accepting donations, but other churches in the Gulf area certainly are, and I recommend contacting Christus Victor in Ocean Springs if you can donate items.

This last Sunday we attended my first Lutheran service. I enjoyed it very much, and the pastor was focused so perfectly on the Katrina situation, yet still lighthearted. The service seemed more structured than ours with more hymns (Joan loved that, of course!), and communion was quite formal, like an Episcopal service. Joan felt very much at home, having begun her musical career as minister of music at a Lutheran church after completing her Master's at Northwestern. During devotions this morning, we were asked to shout out the states represented by today's volunteers: Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Minnesotta, Mississippi, Iowa, Idaho, Colorado, New York, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia. All together, over 260 youth and adults here at this camp, and there are volunteer centers just like this all along the Gulf Coast.

Keep coming to volunteer, folks. And send money or gift cards along with your teams. Clothes are not needed any longer, and neither is water, but pretty much everthing else that life requires should be brought here. Sewing machines, washer-dryers, used computers, good furniture, tools...send these things to help the people of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 7

We have just a few days left here in the Gulf, and I know we will want to return. Please, if you are coming to volunteer, hurry! If you have already been here, when is your next trip? There will be satisfying and worthwhile work to do for years.

We handed out the last of the beautiful Salem Quilt-a-Thon quilts yesterday, giving them to members of Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs. These folks have been both victims and relief workers, suspending their lives and turning everything they have over to helping their church and the entire community recover.

Ben continues his work at the distribution warehouse, and I have been simply astounded at the constant flow of praise from various adults that he supervises (that's right..supervises) as they distribute relief supplies to victims. Ben really wants to stay but has to get back to Vermont to help Landmark College get ready for their next batch of RAs. He'll work a bit after than and then continue his studies at Rochester Institute of Technology.

We had a tad bit of excitement last night during devotions. Prayers had just started when we smelled a burning insulation odor, when my phone rang. It was Ben saying to get outside...the motor home was on fire. One of his friends had seen it, called him and he called us. The fire department had already been called and the 15-foot flames coming from the center of the coach were quickly knocked down...the refrigerator had caught fire. We winced as the firefighters had to axe through the roof to suppress the fire. Great folks at Christus Victor invited us to stay in their home until we leave...what a blessing! They even put mints on our pillows and folded our laundry after washing to remove the soot.

Now, we are hoping to learn more from our insurance company on Monday about what our situation is. This morning, we were joined by four great youth volunteers helping us empty the coach, wipe everything free of soot and box it for whatever is next...a replacement RV or shipment back home. In the daylight, things didn't look a bunch better, but we are blessed that we weren't hurt, and neither were the kids who ran to the coach and tried to fight the fire with our fire extinguishers, or the firefighters.


We are certainly lucky in one way. We frequently enjoy camping in remote areas, where a fire department response could have been far too late to be of any help. So, now we have suddenly become Katrina victims ourselves!

See you in church tomorrow!

Salem Katrina Team Report - January 4

Today began with a trip to take Phyllis Wright (from the Hillsboro Pres) to Gulfport for her flight home. We took a few minutes to drive through the housing area of Keesler AFB which was so devastated. Block after block of empty houses.

I then went to present one of our Salem Quilt-a-Thon quilts to Mrs. Register, mother of a paralyzed veteran who's issues I've been helping on. I arrived to find her just haven fallen in her kitchen. The center of the floors of each room in her house have collapsed following Katrina, and she fell trying to fix a meal for herself. I gave her first aid, and then gave her the blanket which thrilled her!

Less thrilling, however, was the news that FEMA still hadn't put in the handicapped access for the FEMA trailer delivered six weeks ago, something which should have been done within three days of delivery. I then visited the FEMA operations center where a supervisor assured me she'd resolve the problem today! I hope so, and will follow up with Mrs. Register on Monday. She'll also need our help getting her household goods moved into the trailer.

While at the FEMA operations center, they asked me to help a lady Gulf War veteran who'd had a domestic violence situation and had been sleeping in the local woods for two nights. A wonderful angel found her and gave her shelter for one night, then brought her to FEMA. We were working on various questions when she was suddenly taken ill and we had to rush her to the hospital across the street. After three hours in the ER, we took her to the local pharmacy for various medications, and tomorrow we'll take her to the Biloxi VA hospital to see what they can do...the lady is 100% disabled and the VA has responsibility, although they suggested over the phone that we try to take her somewhere else.

I have been amazed at the time working on one person's problems can take. It was virtually the entire day, but it was certainly satisfying.

Joan continued to work on an Ocean Springs house with a young fellow from Kansas. Together, they have just about finished with the wallboard and are looking forward to getting some tape and mud up. Ben is still at the warehouse, and I was so proud when another team come looking for me to say how hard he has been working! It is wonderful having him here and I know it is an experience he'll remember all his life.

Salem Katrina Team Report for January 2

Happy New Year, folks! We are excited about a new year of service and of happy family developments.

We enjoyed Christmas with our old friend Clara Webster and we were invited to worship on Christmas Eve at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville. Those great folks loaded a UHaul trailer for us to take back to Gautier, bringing new microwaves, television, beds, stoves and a washer-dryer. These goods were distributed to needy storm victims, thanks to Pam Martin, Gautier's Disaster Assistance Coordinator.

Pastor Chris Bullock emailed us that his church was filling up with volunteers, so we have relocated our little group, joining Christus Victor Lutheran Church in nearby Ocean Springs.

Ben, our youngest son, has volunteered at this church's distribution warehouse, where families affected by Katrina can get clothing, food, appliances...the "stuff" of life necessary for existance after the storm. Ben loves the hard work and great crowd of adults and youth he's working with. I'll continue doing case work with area veterans, which I've found very rewarding.

Joan continues to do her wallboarding and other hard work, but today was a change as she offered to drive other volunteers to their flight departing from New Orleans airport, about 100 miles away. Our local Gulfport airport had terrible fog which forced nearly every flight to be cancelled.

Dan Grimes, the area supervisor for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, came over to recover the PDA name badges we'd been given by Julie when we first registered at Gautier Pres. Seems we aren't allowed to put our photos on the cards we were given...only PDA officials can do that. He explained further the differences between the Presbyterian Church and the PDA, and why their logo, etc. cannot be used by churches. I gather, as he explained it, that the name badges we were first given should not have been pre-printed with their PDA logo on them as that would have implied that the volunteers were working as part of the PDA. These badges had the PDA logo at the top with the volunteer's name and city below, and were on a string which included a luggage tag from PDA also. These are identical to the cards distributed at the D'Ibverville camp, so I'm still confused.

Good news: Dan is having his stitches removed today and is obviously feeling better following treatment.