UMCOR Bright Spots

IN TODAY'S ISSUE
December 07, 2006

Storm Survivor Touches Younger Generation During Rebuild Of Home

Rebuild Efforts Extend To Central Mississippi

This Week's Quote

Recovery Stats

Come Enjoy It With Me (Slide Show)

STORM SURVIVOR TOUCHES YOUNGER GENERATION DURING REBUILD OF HOME

By Susan J. Meister, Gulf Coast Communications

In early November, on the day before representatives of the Louisiana Conference Disaster Recovery Ministry gathered to celebrate the completion of her Slidell home, Ms. Leona donned a fuzzy red bathrobe to stave off the chill in her rebuilt house. Outside, volunteers were completing work on the gas lines so that she could have heat in her home once again.

Ms. Leona watches volunteers hook up the gas lines into her newly rebuilt home in Slidell LA.
Susan Meister/UMCOR

"I was getting discouraged, but then help came," said 95-year old Ms. Leona, whose home sustained five feet of water from the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina. Dale Kimball, operations coordinator for the Northshore Disaster Recovery Station, was driving in her neighborhood when he met Ms. Leona and began to schedule volunteer teams to help repair the home.

Kimball said that a total of 16 teams from nine states worked on the house, originally built in 1951. Each team signed the inside of her garage door to commemorate their work.

Young Volunteers Deeply Touched

Ms. Leona was especially impressed with the high school and college students who came to work on her home, and they, in turn, were deeply touched by her.

"Those young people are an inspiration," she said. "They took an interest and I saw God in them."

Kimball remembered many times when Ms. Leona would be outside in the yard in her rocker and the young people would gather around her to hear stories about her life, including her recollections of World War 1, the Great Depression, and World War 2.

"She has given so much to us," he said. "Ms. Leona and people like her are why these volunteers are here and keep coming back.

"One young man even wanted to bring Ms. Leona to his history class," Kimball laughed.

"Put God First in Your Life"

Ms. Leona evacuated to Atlanta and Denver after the hurricane, and was encouraged by some in her family to move. But she wanted to return to the home built by her husband in the woods and where she raised five children.

"It is so nice to be home," Ms. Leona said. "All you have to do is put God first in your life, follow him and you can't go wrong.

"When your cross gets heavy just think of the Lord."

A companion story about Ms. Leona is at the Louisiana Conference Storm Recovery Ministry web site. Her home was the 50th rebuild managed by the Northshore Disaster Recovery Station, Slidell. Volunteers are needed to continue the work in Louisiana and Mississippi. Go to the conference web sites to learn more about volunteer opportunities to help families rebuild from the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

TELL-A-FRIEND

Please pass this email on to your friends who aren't yet acquainted with UMCOR so they can learn about our long-term recovery work in partnership with the annual conferences of Mississippi and Louisiana.

For more on the United Methodist recovery work visit these web sites:
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
UM News Service
Mississippi Conference
Louisiana Conference
Texas Conference
Alabama-West Florida Conference

BE SURE TO RECEIVE OUR BRIGHT SPOTS EMAILS. MAKE UMCOR YOUR BUDDY! Some Internet Service Providers like AOL, Yahoo!, Hotmail, and Juno use email filtering software that allows you to add email addresses to a "buddy," "trusted," "safe," or approved list. Please add umcor@gbgm-umc.org to your list so that our messages don't end up in "junk mail" or the "trash."

For More Information

Our Work

Ms. Suzan and Mr. Timmy's new home is nearing completion.
Susan Meister/UMCOR

REBUILD EFFORTS EXTEND TO CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI

Damaging wind and rain from Hurricane Katrina extended well into central Mississippi in August 2005. Miss Suzan and Mr. Timmy's trailer in McHenry, nearly 30 miles north of the Gulf Coast, sustained extensive wind and rain damage from the storm.

But the couple and their young son didn't let the destruction overwhelm them. They decided to move ahead with plans to build a brand new home.

Mr. Timmy, who has a background in construction, asked a friend if he could mill downed trees for the new home. FEMA money got them started. And when they heard that the United Methodist Church had sheet rock and insulation, they began their paperwork with the Stone County office of the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Ministry, headed up by Glenda Marshall.

"It was amazing to see these young people help themselves," Marshall said. "We were thrilled to help them with some of the supplies they needed. Little by little, they have worked to purchase what else they need."

"They Do What They Say They're Gonna Do"

Mr. Timmy's mother was enthusiastic about the help given by Glenda and the case managers at the Stone County office. "They do what they say they're gonna do," she said, while giving a tour of her son's new home. "Glenda has been wonderful, and I am so proud of my son."

But when Marshall sent a volunteer team in to assist with the construction, they found the home so close to completion that they traveled on to assist another elderly couple. The team didn't forget the younger couple, though. Before they left the area, they dropped off several buckets of drywall mud, so that Mr. Timmy could finish their walls and ceiling.

Miss Suzan feels so blessed by the outpouring of love and support they have felt in the aftermath of the storm. "Sometimes I have to just go sit and cry," she said. "People have been such a blessing."

The Stone County office is part of the Central Region of the Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response, directed by Elijah Mitchell and headquartered at Camp Seashore, Biloxi. The Stone County office is housed at Wiggins First UMC. To volunteer in central Mississippi or other locations affected by Hurricane Katrina, contact the Mississippi Annual Conference.

Power Point Slide Show DOWNLOAD
COME ENJOY IT WITH ME
Download this slide and use in your Sunday morning announcements or mission minute