US Conference Sends Five Young Ecumenists to Report on the Tragedy in the Gulf
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA's 2008 Ecumenical Work Week Group.
The devastation of the Gulf Coast and the resilience of survivors was experienced first-hand by a group of young adults sponsored by grants from the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches. From August 17-23, 2008 four young ecumenists joined 35 other participants for the National Council of the Churches USA Ecumenical Work Week. John Asher, the Office Administrator and Program Assistant for the US Conference, accompanied participants and facilitated reflection sessions during the course of the week. The majority of the Ecumenical Work Week was spent rebuilding homes that had been swept away by the floods. Participants also had the opportunity to hear stories from local residents in Biloxi, MS and New Orleans, LA. and were moved by the resilience of their faith and determination to rebuild. The trip to the Gulf impacted each participant differently. Reflections from the four participants follow. You can also view photos by clicking here.
Name: Ray Ranker
Denomination: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Last year at the National Council of Churches in Christ USA (NCCC) ecumenical work week in New Orleans, a local woman gave her time to help with the week. She drove volunteers around the neighborhoods of the city, especially in the devastated 9th Ward, so that these visitors from all over the country could see the horrible damage that Hurricane Katrina left, and the immense devastation that continued to plague New Orleans. This woman, Darlene, worked with those volunteers, helping to rebuild her neighbor's houses so that they could once again live in their homes.
Darlene also lived in the 9th Ward, and like so many others her family lost their house to Katrina and the flood. At the same time that she was helping others to get back into their homes, she lived in a FEMA trailer, lacking enough money to rebuild her own home. The conditions were cramped, and news eventually broke that these trailers had formaldehyde- a chemical that causes respiratory problems.
Before the storm hit, her son attended a school in the neighborhood run by Desire Street Ministries. Katrina forced the school to relocate, and soon she was separated from her son who went to the new Desire school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After two years, her son came back home to live with his mother Darlene and his family. But, there wasn't enough room in the FEMA trailer for him or his clothes, and he was forced to look for an alternative. A staff woman at Desire took him in.
This year, the NCC work week came back to the gulf region, working in Mississippi and New Orleans. Seeing the devastation, I couldn't help but wonder if we were really in the USA. After all, the storm hit 3 years ago! So many people had nothing to return to. Vacant lots, with only a foundation, vastly outnumbered the livable houses in both Mississippi and New Orleans. 3 years- 3 years later! And people (in other parts of the country) have started to forget
In both places, we worked on rebuilding houses for locals. Some houses were farther along than others. In New Orleans, we went to work on a house that had been gutted, but not yet rebuilt. There were holes in the floor, walls and ceilings. There was no plumbing or electricity, and the yard was a mess. A group of us helped put up sheet rock for the ceiling, and another group got working on the yard.
Two days later, we were almost finished with the ceiling and had started on the walls. The yard looked so different that a local staff person with Desire Street Ministries had driven by the house because she didn't recognize the yard. The owner of the house, who was now renting an apartment across the street, came over to help us in the afternoon and gave us frozen refreshments on the hot summer days. She probably would have helped us more, but she volunteers to deliver meals to the elderly in the morning.
The woman was so grateful for the work we did, she cooked us dinner after our last day. She had finally gotten the money to rebuild her house, but it hadn't gone as quickly as she had hoped. We helped jump start the rebuilding. Sitting in the space provided to us by Desire Street Ministries after eating this great meal prepared for us, we heard the story about this woman, the owner of the house we had worked on. Her name was Darlene.
I encourage everyone to come to the gulf region and to help in the rebuilding. You will probably be enraged by the lack of an adequate response from the government. Please, share the stories of the people who once lived here, who could use our help.
Name: Sara S. Richburg
Denomination: UCC/American Baptist
"I fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith"
2 Timothy 4:7
As I prepare myself spiritually to return to my home in The Bronx, New York, I feel overwhelmed once again by what I have seen during the course of my stay in the gulf coast. I find that I am vulnerable to the despair, the stories from those who were directly affected, and what remains standing in a city that was once full of life and had the largest population of black home owners. On August 29th, 2005, we watched the water line rise to the poverty line, and expose our nation's shame. It has been three years since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the levees broke. The poverty and despair seen in New Orleans, is like that of a third world country. Although this is not my first trip, and will certainly not be my last trip to the Gulf Coast focusing on rebuilding the city, it is still unimaginable to me that the city looks like levees broke yesterday and that creative suffering still endures. I was blessed on this trip to meet those who have survived Hurricanes Camille, Wilma, Rita and Katrina. They are keeping the faith, and fighting a good fight to restore their communities. I learned first hand that even the least among us are precious too, and that we must help them finish the course.
The second annual Ecumenical Work Week is over, but the Gulf Coast recovery work is far from done. Statistics show that it will take the city of New Orleans fifteen years to recover from the devastation sustained when the levees broke. Through my participation in the Ecumenical Work Week, I have come to understand that my efforts will not be in vain. I have come to know that it is the presence of people like me who show-up, listen, and contribute to rebuilding a city which is loved by many, gives hope to all. It is through this Ecumenical Work Week that my faith has been deepened, and my moments of doubt have been transformed into tremendous hope, joy and a positive vision for the future of New Orleans. Through this week I have come to know the strength, comfort, peace and love that can be shared by a community of true believers working together for the common good of everyone. It has been my faith that has drawn me to this city. It is my love for my brothers and sisters in Christ that inspires me to continue doing this work. The participants of this work week walk away unified and understanding that: "We have been charged to repair the walls, to stand in the gaping holes of our society; to cry out and to do justice. We will repair the breach; we will raise the foundations again; we will restore the streets and make them livable again."
This is my prayer,
Ms. Sara S. Richburg
1) Valarie Bridgeman Davis, Ph.D., "In the Wake of Katrina: Lest we Forget Call to Renewal" Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, Inc. August 27, 2006
Name: Karin Brown
Denomination: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
A Struggle to Rebuild: Life Three Years After Hurricane Katrina
With his home and business destroyed by the floods, Scott used the insurance money he received to pay off his mortgage. At the very least, he thought, he could keep the property in his name and hope to rebuild some time down the road. And then he received a call from his former neighbor, informing him that the debris from his plot had been cleared. Cleared? But Scott had not asked anyone to do this. He called his bank and eventually discovered that they had never cashed his check, the check meant to pay off his mortgage, and in fact that the bank had actually held it for a year. After a year the fees and interest on his overdue mortgage payment added up to well over the sum of the check- and the bank had foreclosed on his property. Scott was no longer a landowner.
Through a series of connections Scott was lucky enough to reverse the foreclosure, but his credit will remain in the hole. Where this story leaves off, another picks up. Scott's experience is not an isolated incident. The question is: what happened to all those people whose homes and livelihoods were washed away with the floodwaters? What about those who do not happen to have connections, those who are not versed in the legal system, those who have no monetary resources to draw from- how are they now?
Three years after hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, how are all of these people?
Whether walking through Mississippi neighborhoods along the coastal waters or the hardest hit area of New Orleans, the Ninth Ward, it is more than apparent that people are still struggling. They are struggling to get back on their feet and into their homes. They are struggling to get insurance money, to find an honest contractor, to have a job, to get their children to school, to create normalcy for their families, to live in a community traumatized by the flood and demoralized by the rebuilding process.
And not everyone has returned. The most stunning example is the Ninth Ward, a formerly overcrowded area home to a predominately African American community. Entire street blocks now lay vacant, a concrete foundation or driveway hidden below the tall grass and weeds are your only clue that people actually used to live here. Images of these empty lots are in stark contrast to the houses already repaired and rebuilt in other, more affluent, New Orleans neighborhoods. Fewer than a quarter of the Ninth Ward residents have been able to come back.
Why? The inequity present before Katrina struck was simply exacerbated and brought into plain view. And still we are able to ignore it. There are systemic issues involving poverty, social class, and race that need to be addressed. The answers may not be clear or simple. But one thing that is evident is that the people of the Gulf Coast still need support, and what better way to start than with a shovel or a hammer?
