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!