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[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Arkansas church camps receive Katrina evacuees

Sep. 16, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and related coverage are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By Jane Dennis*

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UMNS) - Waves of Hurricane Katrina survivors flooded
into Arkansas in the wake of the devastating Aug. 29 storm that
demolished New Orleans and dozens of coastal communities in Mississippi,
Alabama and Louisiana.

Two weeks after the horrendous storm, Arkansas government officials
estimated there were 5,000 displaced people at 26 sites across the state
and another 45,000 people in private homes and hotels.

Fort Chaffee, a military camp near Fort Smith, was the first stop in
Arkansas for many of the evacuees, some of whom were airlifted out of
New Orleans on C-130 military transport planes. From there, smaller
groups were bused to church and Boy Scout camps across the state. Gov.
Mike Huckabee's office has coordinated use of the camps.

Seven United Methodist camps were put on alert to receive evacuees. As
of Sept. 13, three of the seven - Shoal Creek near Dardanelle, Mount
Sequoyah at Fayetteville and Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock - were
housing evacuees. The other sites - Camp Tanako near Hot Springs, Mount
Eagle near Clinton, Wayland Springs Camp near Imboden and Bear Creek
Camp at Marianna - were standing ready for evacuees.

Most of the evacuees arrived at the three United Methodist camps by
school bus or chartered bus and carrying a garbage bag or two containing
a few precious possessions.

Four United Methodist camps in Louisiana, three in Mississippi, two in
Texas and one in Georgia also housed evacuees and relief workers. Twelve
church camps in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina,
Kentucky, Arkansas, Oregon and Virginia offered to host both evacuees
and relief workers. A list of sites and contact information is available
at http://www.gbod.org/camping/articles.asp?act=reader
<http://www.gbod.org/camping/articles.asp?act=reader&item_id=14879>
&item_id=14879. Katrina damaged five camp and retreat centers in
Louisiana and Mississippi.

All of the camp and retreat centers hosting evacuees and relief workers
need financial support and supply donations to cover the needs,
according to Kevin Witt, director of camping and retreat ministries at
the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. In many cases, the centers
faced a lack of normal revenue because they must limit serving other
groups while hosting evacuees, he said.

Late-night arrivals

The identification and registration process at Fort Chaffee proved slow
and tedious when each step was repeated several thousand times over.
After numerous delays in processing and transportation, the Rev. Bobby
Bell of Fort Smith "drove a couple of church vans over to Chaffee,
loaded up some people and sent them on to Shoal Creek Camp," said Pat
Bodenhamer, the Arkansas Conference minister for mission and outreach.

The vans arrived at the United Methodist camp around 11 p.m. on Sept. 5
and unloaded 88 evacuees, mostly senior adults. Some were in wheelchairs
or used walkers or canes.

"Tired is not the word to describe these folks when they arrived. They
were beyond exhaustion," said the Rev. Herschel McClurkin, a retired
United Methodist pastor from Alma assisting with the evacuees.

The visitors arrived at the rustic, open-air cabins to find neatly made
beds with health kits and letters of welcome. The governor's office told
camp leaders to plan on housing the evacuees for at least 31 days. As
with all properties used as shelters, supervisory camp staff or
volunteers must be on hand 24 hours a day for processing evacuees.

Volunteers from area churches provided meals as well as activities such
as music concerts, singing and bingo games. Additional phone lines were
installed to help the evacuees reach friends and family.

By Sept. 13, the number at Shoal Creek had dwindled to five, as evacuees
contacted friends and relatives, moved to other locations or found
permanent housing.

Mount Sequoyah, the South Central Jurisdictional conference and retreat
center in Fayetteville, initially housed 57 New Orleans area evacuees,
but as of Sept. 13 had about 35. Several of the evacuees found
employment or enrolled in the University of Arkansas, while many of the
school-age children were enrolled in public schools.

United Methodist volunteers and students from Philander Smith College
also cleaned a vacant three-story dormitory on the Little Rock college
campus in anticipation of its use by displaced people.

Camp Aldersgate, a facility in Little Rock owned by the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries' Women's Division, received about 60
displaced people, mostly men, from Fort Chaffee at 3 a.m. Sept. 3. One
of the first requests was for a translator for two Vietnamese evacuees
who spoke limited English.

Over the course of the next 10 days, the number was reduced to about 45.

Churches care for many

In addition to the camps, several local churches were providing
shelters. As of Sept. 13, Sugar Hill United Methodist Church in
Texarkana was caring for 41 evacuees, Dumas First United Methodist
Church had 20 and Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock
had 20. Dozens of churches were providing meals and housing assistance
and helping evacuees at local motels and shelters.

The Pulaski Heights church focused on caring for families. Partitions
were set up in the church's Christian Life Center to create semi-private
"apartments" for up to six families.

The church created "a family environment where (displaced people) can be
ministered to and supported as a family unit," said volunteer Barbara
Pardue. Families with young children faced a difficult challenge trying
to live in some of the larger shelters in the state, where 200 or 300
people were under one roof, she said.

"We did it on faith," said Associate Pastor Lynn Lindsey. "We've never
done anything like this before. But people really wanted to help. Our
phone was ringing off the wall."

Plans to stay

The 3,600-member congregation had little trouble rounding up volunteers
to serve meals, sort donations, provide child care and serve as
overnight hosts.

"We are very happy to be here. They've been wonderful to us," said Erica
Preatto, who left the New Orleans suburb of Marrero the day before
Katrina hit. Preatto, who is seven months pregnant, traveled the 350
miles to Little Rock in a 2003 Honda Civic along with her husband,
Johnell Williams, his mother, Joyce Williams, their 10- and 11-year old
sons and 1-year-old daughter.

Their new friends at the Pulaski Heights church helped in many ways. The
boys were enrolled in school and provided uniforms and school supplies.
Johnell, a barber by trade, was offered and accepted a job in a local
barbershop. Erica, a water-quality expert who worked for the city of New
Orleans, was interviewing for jobs and making regular visits to a local
obstetrician. The family's top priority was finding permanent housing.

"Little Rock is going to be my home," Johnell said. "I'm staying."

Donations of relief supplies and water given to the annual conference by
individuals and businesses across Arkansas have filled 17
tractor-trailer loads, bound for United Methodist Committee on Relief
operations in Louisiana and Mississippi. According to Roy Smith,
Arkansas Conference director of ministries, the monetary response by
Arkansas United Methodists to UMCOR for hurricane relief has topped
$1.7 million.

Donations to support the United Methodist response to the Hurricane
Katrina tragedy can be made online at www.methodistrelief.org and by
phone at (800) 554-8583. Checks can be written to UMCOR, designated for
"Hurricanes 2005 Global," Advance No. 982523, and left in church
offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY
10087-9068.

*Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist, the newspaper of the
Arkansas Annual Conference.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

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

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