wfn.org | Mississippi churches shelter hurricane evacuees

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 29, 1998	Contact:  Joretta Purdue *(202)546-8722*Washington
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NOTE:  Photographs are available with this story.

By Woody Woodrick*

When Charles Weaver packed his family in the car at 4 a.m. Sept. 27, he
didn't know where he was going. But with Hurricane Georges bearing down
on the central Gulf Coast, Weaver knew the New Orleans suburb of
Metarie, La., was no place to stay.

Some four hours and 200 miles later, Weaver and his family sat in the
parking lot of a Burger King restaurant in Madison, Miss., still
wondering where they would go.
 
"I had no idea where we would go," he said. "I knew everything was
booked 50 miles north of Memphis. We were actually thinking about going
to the hills of Missouri and pitching a tent."

Meanwhile, the Rev. Bruce Taylor received a phone call from one of his
members at Parkway Hills United Methodist Church, a new congregation in
Madison. The church member had been to Burger King and had seen what
were obviously evacuees at the restaurant. Taylor went to the Burger
King, met the Weavers and began working on finding them a place to stay.

By mid-afternoon, a shelter opened at Madison United Methodist Church.
The effort was coordinated among three United Methodist churches -
Parkway Hills, Madison and St. Matthew's, also located in Madison.

About 35 people were housed at Madison United Methodist Church. The
coordinated effort was one of several handled by Methodist churches and
organizations in the face of the storm that killed more than 300 people
in the Caribbean. 

Wesley Pines Conference, Camping and Retreat Center in Gallman, Miss.,
some three hours north of New Orleans, provided beds and food for about
140 people. Brookhaven First United Methodist Church, about 2½ hours
north of New Orleans, also came to the aid of about 30 people.

Most of those in Brookhaven, Gallman and Madison were from the New
Orleans area. Those three cities are located along Interstate 55, which
was a main evacuation route. Since the storm turned north early on the
morning of Sept. 28, New Orleans was spared serious damage, but the city
remained virtually closed.

St. Paul's United Methodist Church served as a shelter in Ocean Springs,
where the eye of the hurricane made landfall. Reports on how many people
were served were unavailable early on Sept. 28. The Mississippi Gulf
Coast was catching the brunt of the storm. Heavy rains and possible
flooding were expected to be threats for at least 12 to 24 hours.

However, in Central Mississippi, Butch Harms explained how Madison, a
suburb of Jackson, came to open the shelter. Upon hearing from Taylor,
Harms said his wife, Diane Harms, called the American Red Cross to learn
how the church could become an official shelter. Diane Harms, a diaconal
minister at the Madison United Methodist Church, relayed the information
to Parkway Hills and St. Matthew's.

The shelter had to provide 24-hour medical personnel, he said, and
doctors and nurses volunteered. The Madison Fire Department offered its
emergency medical technicians, while the Madison Police Department
provided officers for security. A Kroger supermarket provided some food,
but most came from church members. In addition, church members donated
towels, bath items, games, sleeping bags and other items. Other people
simply showed up and asked what needed to done.

The shelter was at the Madison Church's Christian Life Center, where
Butch Harms is director.
Several evacuees from New Orleans were Hispanic, and the Spanish teacher
at Madison Central High School spent several hours at the shelter
helping church members communicate with their guests, Harms said.

Setting up the shelter was a bit of logistical miracle. The church held
a consecration lunch for 600 people following its morning worship. By 3
p.m., however, the center had been converted to a shelter.

Jose Bernardo, also of New Orleans, was another who arrived in Madison
seeking assistance. He had five family members, two cats and a dog with
him.

"We left Saturday and went to a Holiday Inn in Hattiesburg for one
night, but they didn't have a room for us to stay more than one night,"
Bernardo said. "At a gas station, someone told us they had opened the
shelter. They greeted us with love."

The shelter volunteers found housing for the Bernardos' pets, even
taking some family members to the home where the pets would be housed.

"At first my feelings about going to a shelter were negative," Bernardo
said. "The minute we walked in the door, they were greeting us with
love. They opened their homes us... Wow.
They really changed my way of thinking. There are good people out there
living the way God wants us to live."

In Brookhaven, the Rev. Loney Joe Hallberg was mowing his yard on Sept.
26 when someone stopped and asked about a motel. He began talking to
others in the community about opening a shelter. Everything was in place
by the following afternoon, and about 32 people spent that night at the
church. 

Hallberg said about half of those staying at Brookhaven First United
Methodist Church were from the New Orleans area, but others were from
the South Central Mississippi area, where Brookhaven is located. He said
local residents living in mobile homes were concerned about high winds
that still posed a threat nearly 200 miles north of the storm. Soon the
number of people at Brookhaven First Church had grown to more than 40,
and local authorities were sending even more local evacuees who live in
mobile homes.

At Wesley Pines in Gallman, Lee Smith, the center's associate director,
and the Rev. Ted Giordano, the director, began preparing for evacuees as
early as Sept. 25. Those needing assistance began drifting in the next
morning. One New Orleans couple was making their second trip to Wesley
Pines for shelter. They had also stayed at the conference center when
Hurricane Andrew hit five years ago.

All evacuees were welcome to stay at the center free of charge. In
addition to those staying at the center, people finding shelter at a
local Baptist church were brought to the center for showers.
Volunteers from Methodist churches in Gallman, Hazlehurst and Crystal
Springs, all within a few miles of the camp, pitched in.

Carol Otillio learned about Wesley Pines while stopped at a rest stop
along I-55. She heard a security guard giving directions to the camp,
inquired about it and went there. 

"Since we stepped out of the car, we've been in heaven," she said. "If
I'm ever able to repay their kindness, I will do it."

Otillio teaches emotionally disturbed students at a public school in New
Orleans. Among her students are children from a United Methodist home.

Otillio, a Minnesota native whose father was Methodist, was traveling
with her daughter, a friend, three other children, two dogs a hamster
and a rabbit. All found refuge at Wesley Pines. 

"I called my sister and she said, 'Dad brought you there.' She might be
right," Otillio said.

Felton Jones Jr. and members of his family left New Orleans at 6:30 a.m.
Sept. 27 in three vehicles. Over the next 10 hours, they drove from town
to town seeking shelter. They first stopped at Camp Shelby, a National
Guard training center, but found the accommodations unsuitable for a
5-week-old baby. They eventually stopped at 20 motels, Jones said.

Finally, they wound up in Gallman. They had been driving 10 hours and
were no more than two hours from their home. While buying gas, they were
approached and asked if they needed a place to stay and were referred to
Wesley Pines.

"They've provided us with comfort. They've allowed us to settle down,
calm down and call our families," said Angela Fassitt, Jones'
sister-in-law. "The accommodations, the food, the people, everything has
been just wonderful."

Malord Gales, another New Orleans evacuee, has been so moved by the
generosity shown by the Methodists at Wesley Pines that he had to help
out. "I just felt like I had to earn my keep," said Gales. "I just took
it upon myself to do my part."

Donations to assist hurricane victims may be sent too UMCOR's disaster
response, special #982515-0, earmarked "Hurricanes '98." Checks may be
placed in church collection plates or mailed to UMCOR at  475 Riverside
Drive, Room, 330, New York,  NY 10115.

# # #

*Woodrick is editor of the Mississippi Advocate newspaper.
United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/