by Teresa Nicodemus
We will call him, Mr. Joe. An eighty-one-year-old former resident of
New Orleans, Mr. Joe tells Canon Walter Friese, interim director of Hardnter
Camp and Conference Center in Pollock, Louisiana, about his aching arms
as he swam his way to safety through the swirling waters of a devastated
city in the midst of a catastrophe that many of us could never imagine. "Mr.
Joe was so gracious and kind to those suffering around him. I would watch
him listen to other's stories with such compassion while he constantly
reassured them as he believed others were suffering more than he was," said
Friese, "You would never know that he just encountered a life-threatening
experience that he not only survived, but came through with the desire
to help others."
During and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rattled the Texas and Louisiana
coasts and beyond in the late summer and early fall of 2005, many stories
like this one of human loss, victory, and salvation were being heard
by camp directors as they opened their doors to evacuees.
Open Gates, Open Hearts
When Hurricane Rita was just a prediction, Jane Ragsdale, camp director
of Heart O' The Hills in Hunt, Texas, began receiving calls from
camper parents wanting to stay at the camp. With desperate voices they
would ask to bring their families because all of the hotels in the surrounding
cities were booked, recalled Ragsdale.
Scrambling to prepare for at least 130 evacuees, Ragsdale made arrangements
with local vendors, who made special deliveries of food and linens. A
local drug and alcohol rehabilitation center loaned blankets and pillows. "Families
began arriving at all hours, some in the middle of the night. I left
a walkie talkie on the desk in the office with a big note telling them
to call me when they arrived. I would sleep on my couch with the walkie
talkie at my ear," said Ragsdale. "The families were coming
from Houston and Galveston, which would normally be a five-hour drive.
It took some families twenty hours in grid-locked traffic to reach the
camp. They would arrive exhausted but relieved. One family had an infant
daughter. They were so grateful to stay, they told us: ‘You will
see my daughter at this camp in six years.'"
In the rolling hills of Midlothian, Texas, surrounded by giant mesquite
trees and fields, Camp Hoblitzelle and its small staff began preparing
for over 100 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. After responding to the
county judge's request to become a host site, the camp was linked
with the city of Midlothian's emergency management system.
"Our first bus load of 120 evacuees from the New Orleans Superdome
arrived at 2:00 a.m. We wanted to take steps to provide a safe environment.
Our city officials provided screening services, a portable metal detector,
and local EMS workers did preliminary medical questionnaires," said
John Horton, executive director of Camp Hoblitzelle. "Many of them
arrived with a handful of belongings in a garbage bag, and they had not
slept or eaten in days. We provided them with sack lunches so they could
eat right away. Hurricane Katrina evacuees stayed with us eleven days,
and 160 Hurricane Rita evacuees stayed only five days. In both instances,
our local police department went above and beyond, supplying two officers
on twenty-four-hour duty to help. Our initial group of evacuees had been
through rough experiences, and this helped them feel secure."
Overcoming Challenges
Many challenges were faced and conquered by host-site camps as they
took in the frightened evacuees from both hurricanes. The LA Lions Camp
in Leesville, located in west central Louisiana, was on the fringe of
Hurricane Rita's
wrath and lost electrical power and water while hosting Hurricane Katrina
evacuees. "We had a supply of bottled water at the camp, and that
supply became very valuable. Local families and friends of the camp pitched
in and hauled water to us. By the time the water and power came back
on, we were in pretty good shape," said Ray Cecil, camp director.
The medical needs of evacuees also posed a challenge. The LA Lions Camp
served as a special needs camp during normal operation and was familiar
with the special requirements of diabetics. "We had several elderly
people among our evacuees who had diabetes. Through our local community
suppliers, we were able to provide them with the supplies they needed.
We also set up a Diabetes Relief Center in Baton Rouge, helping evacuees
with free testing equipment and oral medications," said Cecil.
Meeting Needs
Host-site camps worked diligently to meet the needs of their evacuees.
Almost immediately they needed access to phones and the Internet to make
FEMA registrations or to connect with family and friends. Camp Hoblitzelle
developed an intake form for each evacuee. "Once their basic food
and shelter needs were taken care of, we began to work on the social
service side of the issues. We sat down with them and took basic information,
asking them questions: Where do you need to go? Where do you want to
relocate? We helped them make decisions. Many of the evacuees came from
inner-city environments and depended solely on public transportation.
They often did not have driver's licenses. We transported some
to the Dallas area. We wanted to help them get to an environment where
they could continue their normal lives. About 50 percent to 60 percent
of our evacuees reconnected with family and friends. The other 40 percent
relocated to the greater Dallas area," explained Horton.
Kathy Naish, operations manager for Briarwood Retreat Center in Argyle,
Texas, whose camp hosted approximately 196 evacuees from New Orleans
provided televisions, Internet access, and snacks for the evacuees in
the cabins. "We
also assisted them with enrolling their children in school and finding
jobs in the local area. Eventually, many of the evacuees found apartments
in the surrounding cities."
Camps and Communities Working Together
Often camps made community connections to increase the outreach to hurricane
victims.
"It's one person at a time solving one issue at a time," said
Laurie Johnston, executive director of Camp Carter YMCA of Metropolitan
Fort Worth, Texas. Camp Carter mobilized a 1,000 member volunteer effort
from the local community to assist evacuees from the New Orleans Superdome
and convention center who where housed at the camp. "We had an incredible
grassroots volunteer effort that set up a computer lab of twenty-five computers
for our evacuees. Volunteers solicited the donated computers from Pier
One. Southwestern Bell donated the broadband network, and one volunteer
who owned a computer consulting firm, set the lab up overnight," said
Johnston. "We knew the evacuees could not move forward until they
got back with family members. They were frozen until connected with their
families. The evacuees were able to come in and look for loved ones and
job opportunities over the Internet. In the first week after Hurricane
Rita, 5 percent of nationwide matches of people missing as a result of
the hurricane came from Camp Carter."
"As far as seeing the worst of mother nature, we saw the best in
humankind," said Stephen Mabry, executive director of Texas Lions
Camp in Kerrville, Texas. Mabry's camp worked with a community nursing
care facility to provide housing and meals for nursing care professionals
and their families in both Kerrville and San Antonio, Texas. The project
was called Operation TLC. "Nursing care workers came with their families
and belongings to our camp. They commuted daily to the nursing homes to
give care. Everybody rolled up their sleeves to help."
Camp Bon Coeur in Lafayette, Louisiana, brought happy smiles back again
to the children of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The camp organized A Day
in the Park for children of hurricane evacuees. Bringing their own camp
equipment to the rental facility where they ordinarily do summer programming,
the camp staff provided a mini-camp for the children housed at the rental
facility. The children, ages four to seventeen, did marble painting,
played games, and enjoyed a day at camp. The camp staff brought care
packages for the children with stuffed animals, clothes, and toys. "Several
parents came up to us and said this was the first time since the hurricane
that they had seen their children smile and laugh," said Susannah
Craig, executive director of Camp Bon Coeur. "It was nice for me
as a director to see how much my staff was willing to give back at a
moment's
notice and to volunteer their time to organize this event."
Stories of Hope
and Lasting Bonds
The vast community response and volunteer mobilization in the areas
affected by the hurricanes proves that the resilient human spirit still
remains. Stories of hope and courage are blossoming from the camps that
helped the hurricane victims.
For instance, Kathy Naish, operations manager for Briarwood, remembered
Essence and her family that came to stay at her retreat center: "Essence
was a seven-year-old who along with her parents and younger sister were
pulled from a flooded area after being in water for twenty-four hours.
Her family was being housed in the Louisiana Superdome. When her family
finally reached our facility, the father had not slept for days because
he felt he had to stay awake and guard his family. For the first time
in her life, Essence saw nature and the woods. She and her little sister
now come to visit us once a week. Her family has now relocated, and her
father is now employed at the University of North Texas. They are driving
a donated car. They lost everything, but they have hope and a new beginning."
"One family that stayed at our camp was able to find their missing
sisters at another Dallas shelter through the Internet. We were able to
go pick family members up and bring them here. A sister, mother, and her
children were reunited. It was a joyous meeting and amazing to witness," said
Horton, executive director of Camp Hoblitzelle.
"Many volunteers and staff were profoundly changed by the aftermath
of the hurricanes and helping the evacuees. When you take someone who has
lost everything in their life, and you are able to help them, you find
out how much alike you really are. All the barriers are broken down," said
Naish. "We held a volunteer appreciation dinner at our camp and invited
the evacuees. Every one of them returned. I just sat back and watched the
friendships emerge and the change in these people. They were sitting down
with each other swapping stories about growing up and life. We had become
family."
Originally published in the 2006 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
