wfn.org | [ENS] Out of Deep Waters: Diocese of Texas rises to the 'Katrina'

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Out of Deep Waters: Diocese of Texas rises to the "Katrina" occasion

By Carol Barnwell

ENS 091505-1

[Episcopal News Service] As more than 1,500 emergency hygiene kits piled
up
in the hallway of St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, cooks
in
church kitchens throughout the Diocese of Texas gathered to prepare
meals
for evacuees in shelters and motels along the highways from New Orleans
to
Houston.

Episcopal churches partnered with local aid and ecumenical groups to
provide
specific needs up and down the Louisiana border and far into Texas.

While Houston has absorbed the lion's share of evacuees, the diocese's
smaller towns are full as well. Orange, with a population of 18,400, is
located in the southeast corner of Texas on the western bank of the
Sabine
River, which separates Texas from Louisiana. St. Paul's, Orange, reports
that the community has become more ecumenical than ever before. A local
school is home to 1,000 evacuees and more are in motels.

St. Paul's helped one evacuee celebrate the pending birth of her first
child
with a baby shower. They replaced many of the items the new baby will
need,
which were lost in the hurricane. The young mother shared pictures of
her
hurricane-ravaged home, a rocking chair from the nursery she had so
lovingly
prepared, dangled from the shredded back porch.

Volunteers across the diocese appeared at shelters with armloads of
towels,
sheets and pillows and stayed to help sort donations and offer
encouragement
to the bruised and battered hurricane victims.

Long term commitment to help

Fourth grade students at Holy Spirit Episcopal School, Houston,
collected
"Pennies for Hope" during carpool and at lunch September 7. Kindergarten
through 5th graders at Holy Cross School, Sugar Land, wrote cards and
notes
to the children displaced by the hurricane. "We love you and hope you
get to
go home soon," the cards read.

In Lake Jackson, children at St. Timothy's gathered stuffed animals and
games to entertain a number of evacuees who came to the church for a
meal.
"There were a lot of significant conversations in which people here were
able to offer comfort, support and practical help to many of our
guests,"
said the Rev. Liz Parker, assistant rector at St. Timothy's.

"This is only the beginning of a long term commitment to help," she
added.

Seven evacuees who began junior high school in Beaumont were given
physicals
at the Episcopal clinic, Ubi Caritas, so that they would be able to play
sports. "We have provided whatever the specific needs have been," said
Ubi's
executive director, Clark Moore. "We've gathered furniture, food and
encouragement for these folks. Their courage is inspiring to all of us."

In Houston, initial confusion has been replaced with an incredibly
smooth
operation at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Volunteers have
remained
flexible as the needs and plans change daily.

Episcopalians in the Diocese of Texas have partnered with a large
interfaith
group to volunteer for a week's feeding program at the Convention
Center.
Cost to feed the evacuees will run more than $1 million for the week.
More
than 375 volunteers are needed for each of three shifts and another 100
for
the 10pm-4am "graveyard" shift.

Members of St. John the Divine in Houston have worked for more than a
week
volunteering at the Convention Center, one of Houston's largest
shelters.
They needed 200 meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner for the medical
staff
who don't have time to leave their posts to eat. Palmer Memorial,
Houston,
stepped in to help. They have served more than 2,000 meals this week to
evacuees at the church near Houston's Astrodome and in nearby motels.

One hundred fifty miles northwest in Austin, seminarians from the
Episcopal
Theological Seminary of the Southwest joined Austin clergy as chaplains
at
the Austin Convention Center where 4,000 evacuees are housed. Seminarian
Catherine Boyd said one evacuee was separated from her husband and son
and
only later located them in Arkansas.

"When it was time to evacuate and get on the planes, there wasn't any
time
to get together," Boyd said, describing how the parents had carried
their
kids on their shoulders through chest-deep water. When evacuees arrived
in
Austin, their old clothes were collected and disposed of as hazardous
materials.

Another seminarian, Ede Plovanich, who is from the Gulf Coast, showed up
to
volunteer as a chaplain, but when officials found out she was a
pharmacist,
they put her to work in the CVS pharmacy truck.

"The needs change daily and the churches just keep responding," said
Sally
B. Rutherford, diocesan outreach coordinator. "It's been a tremendous
outpouring of support so far and we are prepared to hang in there for
the
long haul," she added.

--Carol Barnwell is communications director for the Diocese of Texas.

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