wfn.org | Volunteers help North Carolina bail out, but frustration remains

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

TITLE:Volunteers help North Carolina bail out, but frustration remains

Oct. 12, 1999   News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71B{531}

NOTE: For a related report on the hurricane flood relief, see UMNS story
#530.

By Susan Kim* 
       
TRENTON, N.C. (UMNS)-- Residents in this town of some 500 people are
demonstratively appreciative of volunteers who have arrived to help them
clean out their homes. 
      
But they're also full of frustration and questions: "Why does the Red Cross
seem to do more for the larger city nearby? Why does FEMA (Federal Emergency
Management Agency) take so long? When can the church volunteers come back?
Why can't they come sooner?" 
      
There are no easy answers for people who have lost everything, have done all
they can, and are waiting for help from organizations that are overtaxed and
understaffed. The Rev. Billy Olsen, pastor at the Trenton United Methodist
Church, realized this as soon as the floodwaters receded enough for him to
walk door to door. 
      
"It started with a few volunteers taking a walk and going to work," he said.
Since then, Trenton has seen a steady stream of volunteers -- 120 on Oct. 9
alone. 

However, the outpouring is not even making a dent in this town, where it's
easier to count who wasn't flooded than to count the number of homes that
will have to be gutted before they can even be considered for rebuilding. 
      
Olsen's own home was among the majority hit by floodwaters. 

"None of us knew the water would rise like this," he said. "I woke up that
Friday morning and the Trent River and Mill Pond were meeting in the middle
of the road. At 11 o'clock that morning, the local fire department banged on
our door and took us out in a boat." 

Trenton United Methodist Church also had a foot of water in the fellowship
building and six inches in the sanctuary. The church dates back to 1791 and
is on the National Historic Register. 

Olsen has applied to the Duke Endowment, which supports rural churches in
North Carolina, for financial help in making church repairs. 
      
But he's concentrating primarily on helping a town that feels like it's been
forgotten. A donations distribution center was established in the church,
after the ruined floor was ripped up, and Olsen began coordinating volunteer
teams by word of mouth. 
      
Since then, Trenton has been visited by volunteers from across North
Carolina, including a foreign exchange student from Belarus, who, among the
majority of United Methodists present, proudly says, "Hey, I'm Russian
Orthodox." 
      
Even with the good deeds of volunteers and the boost to survivors' morale
they bring, the donations center staff members aren't without their own
frustration. Used clothing has begun to descend on the church, even though
response leaders put out the word from the beginning that clothes weren't
being accepted. "We never wanted to collect clothes," said Olsen, "but
somebody came and dumped a whole load of them." 
      
His wife, Elaine, who has been coordinating much of the donations, threw her
hands up: "Who let those clothes in here?!" 
      
Outside the donations center, the flood damage is everywhere - but so is
evidence that volunteers have been hard at work. At the St. Matthews African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Hurricane Floyd ripped off the steeple and
inundated the church with water. Volunteers already have ripped out ruined
flooring, and the same process is happening in scores of 	homes in
town. 
      
But amid gestures of appreciation, the same conversation replays. Clara
Farrow, whose home was ruined by floodwaters, then cleaned out with the help
of volunteers, said, "I appreciate what you've done. Do you have any idea
when they'll return?" 
      
"I always wish they could have done more," Olsen said about the volunteer
assistance. I also wish that handling all the government response stuff
wasn't such slow going for people." 
      
Still, Farrow expressed her appreciation for volunteers and for her own
family, which she said drew closer in the wake of Hurricane Floyd. "The
telephone is constantly ringing," she said. "My children call a lot to check
up on me. And my son, Gerald, who is over there volunteering right 
here in my house, is like the Rock of Gibraltar to me.
      
"When people come into your house and help you for no reason, when they
really don't have to, you just don't know what to say." 
      
Volunteer Greg Jenks described an angry teen-ager who returned to his home
as volunteers were cleaning it out, wanting to know where his posters were.
"I hated that the volunteers had to hear that," he said. 
      
But Olsen cautioned Jenks to put the teen's anger into context. "When you
think about what people have been through here, you can understand why
they're angry." 
      
Flood survivors Glatha and John Barber are more resigned than angry. "We've
lived in our house for more than 36 years," said Mrs. Barber. "The nearest
place the Red Cross could find to set us up is in an apartment 21miles
away." 
      
The lack of housing, the extent of rebuilding necessary, and the sheer
numbers of people needing help are mind-boggling to survivors and responders
alike. 

"We're very thankful for the help," Mrs. Barber added. "I don't know what
we'd do without them. But we've still got a long way to go." 

# # #

*Kim is a writer for Disaster News Network, where this story first appeared.
The network's World Wide Web site is www.disasternews.net.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns