Hurricane Katrina Relief

August 24, 2007
Ps 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

In April of 2006 I visited New Orleans with a man who has become a close friend. We stood in front of what used to be his daughter's house in the Lower 9th Ward. This was one of several areas where the levy breach was sudden and deadly. The devastation is unimaginable. Even pictures don’t do it justice. To stand in the presence of such destruction was crushing. The smell of mold in the air was so strong, even after eight months, that we couldn’t stay in the area very long. My friend's daughter and three grandchildren had gotten out before their house was wiped off its foundation and the contents swept away. They were alive and well in San Antonio. With tears in our eyes and hands on each other’s shoulders we simply blessed God for the lives of his family and cried.



2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.



The house had been gutted. Moldy, water logged furniture, clothing and personal effects had been taken to the curb and hauled away. All that remained was the shell of a house and the memories. So many hurdles were set up to get assistance that many folks in his neighborhood simply chose to leave and not look back. But Alvin wasn’t about to give up. A man of God, he prayed for strength and the means to rebuild. By June of 2007, with the help of three churches and over fourteen people he rebuilt his home and replaced the basic contents. Even as his home was coming together he reestablished the Trinity Education Enrichment Program which blesses the poorer children of New Orleans. The a month after he moved back into his home summer classes began for TEEP. Almost a dozen schools and fifty children came daily to Trinity Church, New Orleans to be blessed abundantly with love, personal attention, excellent educational enrichment activities and more. Smiling faces have a way of showing, with crystal clarity, the abundance of God's love. Alvin is an instrument of that Love.


August 23, 2007
This past June, John Barret and I went back to New Orleans and helped Alvin finish off the inside of his home. We patched a few cracks in closes, build some beds for his grandsons, delivered some furniture and a gift from the folks at Christ Church. If all goes well the next and last project will be painting the outside of his home next week.

October 11, 2006
I just returned from a weekend in New Orleans with Alvin. We were able to begin the painting of the inside of the house. We prepped the rooms, filled cracks, covered electrical sockets and switches then painted the two bedrooms, closets, hallway, dining room and living room.


Last week we were able to sell the travel trailer to generate additional funds to use for the ongoing work. Thanks to all of you who have continued to support our outreach.


August 30, 2006
It has taken some time to process all that we did in New Orleans this Summer. We focused on two houses, Alvin Edinburg's and Mary Packer's. Mary was one of our evacuee families that worshiped with us from just after Katrina until October of last year. We had set out to work on Alvin's house by clearing his property of dead trees, shrubs and weeds, power wash the house, sidewalks, porch and patio, and driveway, as well as do the mold remediation inside. Everything we set out to do we accomplished in about half the time he had set aside in large part to the wonderful help from the team from Christ Episcopal Church, San Antonio, led by The Rev. John Barrett. They sent twelve people to us the first week of our three-week expedition.

As a result of their help we were able to branch out to assist Mary with the clean up at her home.

We had roughly $4000 in donations and spent all but $900 of it. We are planning to return to paint the inside of Alvin's house in October after his floors are refinished and the dry wall installed in the kitchen.

Please continue to watch for updates throughout the year. The work is far from over.


June 30, 2006
Final preparations are underway for the trip to New Orleans to work on Alvin's home. Supplies are purchased and assembled. We depart San Antonio on the 6th of July. Please keep us in prayer. Updates and pictures will follow throughout the month.

June 17, 2006
A trip is planned to help Alvin Edinburg continue the restoration of his home in New Orleans. Teams from Christ Church, St. Luke's and Holy Spirit will be working in three shifts from July 10th-14th, the 17th-21st, and the 24th-28th.

Lodging as well as breakfast and lunch will be provided. There are specific types of work to be accomplished which is outlined in the team meeting notes available from Father Reese. If you are interested in going, and we still need people, please let Father Reese know ASAP. If you would like to go, but can't take the time donations may be made to our Katrina Fund. Make your check payable to Holy Spirit and put "Katrina" in the memo section. Blessings on you for your help.

June 3, 2006
Notes on working conditions in New Orleans on the July Trip: it will be hot and humid in July. t-shirts and shorts with good work boots should be worn. Hazmat suits (disposable coveralls) can be worn over these. A hat and bandana will be important to have. The hat for sun protection and the bandana to keep wet around your neck to cool you. Work gloves for yard work as well as eye protection for both inside and outside work. Inside work requires a gas mask with canister filters (Home Depot sells them for around $20-25). For outside work disposable masks will be provided. The soil in the yard and under the houses is contaminated due to the flooding and overflow of the sewer system. While much of the contamination has lessened thru time and exposure to the sun it should still be treated with caution. Hence boot covers, coveralls, eye protection, gloves and masks need to be worn.

If you have a respiratory condition you should not work in the house, under the house or in the yard. You can serve at the hospitality tent which is essential due to the heat.

We will be working in teams of two or three. Ideally, two in the house, two in the back yard and two in the front yard.

Work schedule:

Travel days: Monday and Fridays
Work days: Tuesday -Thursday 9-noon, 1-4pm
Weekends as arranged
Evenings free
Meals provided by meals on wheels ( in planning stage)

Work to be done Outside :
Clear under house
Shrub removal
Lime under house
Backyard cleanup along fences + side of house

Work to be done Inside:
mold remediation - spray and paint
Kitchen
Den
Master Bedroom
Guest Bedroom
Livingroom
Foyer
Bathroom
Closets

Equipment: * = item provided; ** = provided by Reese; *** = provided locally
**Wet vac + *filters
**Generator
**Free standing halogen lights
**Ryobi jig saw and blades
**Ryobi Skill + rotary saws w/ battery + charger
**Ryobi flashlight and batt. w/ charger
**Router + bits
**Chain saw, oil
**air compressor, hose and nozzles
**high pressure cleaner, gas can, oil
**Wagner power sprayer
*Pump Sprayer
**spray bottles
*4" paint brushes "Workforce" $7
*Hand wipes
*Paper towels
*Trash bags
**Crow bar
**Hammer
*Extension cords 100'
*Plastic sheeting: 9x12 $9.67//10x25 $12.57
*Tarp: 8'6"x11'6" $11
*Face shield + replacement shield $13/7
*Duct tape 2 roles/60yds $6.17ea
*Rope
***Rakes, brooms, shovels, axe, hatchet

Chemicals:
*Kills $11 1 gal//$49 oil base//$62 water base 5gal
*Foster's 40/20
*Paint thinner
*Bleach
*lime

***Hospitality:
tent
table and 2 chairs
cot
music/TV/DVD
bottled water
wipes
eyedrops
sun screen spf 45
first aid kit $20
Hospitality con’t
Ear plugs $10 for 60 (already purchased)
Snacks
ice chest
ice

Personal Gear:
*masks and filters: Disposable:MSA Safetyworks model 00817629 $5
* " " 00817892l $7
hazmat suit heavy duty with hood $10
hazmat suit regular duty no hood $8
hat and bandana
kneeling pads $7
boot covers pack of 3 pair
leather work gloves $15 pr or less
eye protection
rubber gloves over style box $8 pr
*rubber gloves - surgical 1 box $12
rubber gloves - heavy duty $6 pr
eye drops
nose spray
wipes
Bug repellant
Tetnus shot
personal medications
toiletries


Images from our New Orleans trip - April 19-20, 2006






May 17, 2006
As a result of the trip in April several of us from Holy Spirit, and other churches from both San Antonio and New Orleans will be working on Alvin's house in July to remediate the mold and prepare the house for reconstruction. We depart San Antonio for New Orleans on the 6th of July and return on the 27th.

April 7, 2006
We are planning a trip to New Orleans the week after Easter. We are going to assist Alvin in evaluating the mold problem at his home. Additionally, we will meet with local political and religious leaders to see what the long term recovery plans are for Alvin's area of the city.

We leave San Antonio on the 17th and will be returning on the 22nd. Your prayers are important to us. Thank you in advance.

February 12, 2006
We continue to assist Alvin in his post hurricane recovery. He is still making trips back and forth between San Antonio and New Orleans. He is still trying to salvage and now reconstruct his home. Some of his family have found a home here in S.A.. Alvin reports that they had a good Christmas due to the generosity of his S.A. adopted family.

There are still a fair number of unresolved issues, both spiritually and materially. Prayers and support are still needed. We will continue to assist he and his family in whatever way they need.

We have also been contacted by the Good Samaritan Center here to provide clothing for several other evacuee families just this past week. With time running out on FEMA assistance churches and local agencies are still needed.

One of the other familes who worshiped with us during the months immediately after Katrina had returned home just befor Christmas. Just this past week Mary returned from New Orleans to help out with some of her family who lives here. We had lunch together and discussed her desire to move back permanently to San Antonio. Folks are still wrestling with not only the aftermath of the damage to their property, but the damage to their spirit. Grief and not a little fear about the future are common themes. It will be a long time before their lives are settled.

December 15, 2005
It has been a while since I have updated our site. Three weeks ago we were contacted by Episcopal Migration Ministries regarding the additional family we were to receive around Thanksgiving. The husband in the family who was supposed to move to San Antonio from Houston died suddenly. We've not received any additional word from EMM about how we could help. I never did get a name so all we can do at this point is continue to keep them in prayer.

Alvin's family is still in San Antonio and we continue to assist them with clothing and financial assistance. He has made two additional trips to New Orleans to try to wrap up things there. It has been very tough on the whole family. Fortunately Alvin has had a lot of support, not only from our church, but from others as well. We've had several donations for his family for Christmas and will be meeting with him this coming week. Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers.

As January approaches and FEMA deadlines approach there will be more families heading for San Antonio. I will be in touch with EMM in the morning to find out how we can follow up on the families already in the pipeline. Even after all this time it is still frustrating to try to connect with families.

November 14, 2005
Alvin E. and his family have come to us from New Orleans. They were refered to Holy Spirit by a friend who is a priest in the Diocese. Alvin has been to Holy Spirit and shared his story with us as well as some of the pictures of his home. We hope to have them posted soon. It has been a struggle trying to care for an extended family on only his retirement income, not to mention the increased expenses of having to purchase necessary items lost in the flood. FEMA has only recently been assisting he and his family. Even so there are significant gaps.


Alvin has had to make trips back to New Orleans to begin the process of cleaning out his house which was declared a total loss. He is still not sure what the future holds. Insurance companies have been slow to render checks for lost items.

We have been able to supply some modest aid in clothing and monetary assistance thanks to the generosity of many both in and out of the parish. But it is only the beginning.


At the time of this writing we have had four families touch our lives. Three have worshiped regulary with us and have since returned to New Orleans and surrounding areas. One is still in touch and plans to move back to San Antonio permanently in the Spring.

Friday we were contacted by Episcopal Migration Ministries about another family who wants to relocate to San Antonio, so this week we will get the details and begin the process of helping them.


Our trailer that was donated by Summer and Chris Pierce needs some work on the A/C as well as an inspection. We were able to purchase a gooseneck adapter so we can transport the trailer to the R/V dealer to do the work. This will take place after Thanksgiving.

Thank you for your continued interest. More is coming.

Father Reese

October 23,2005
Since my last entry I have been contacted by a woman who is having to vacate the shelter at Kelly. We will be speaking this week to secure housing for her and her children.

So at this point we have three families in the process of establishing a sponsorship with us. two have housing, one does not.

October 21, 2005
One of the families we have been in contact had a granddaughter go in for surgery yesterday. She is doing well, but is in some pain. The grandfather, who is our contact and head of household, has been busy with the medical issues, but will be meeting with us next week to see how we might assist he and his family.

The other family seems to be doing well. The mother has found a job already and has been working for two weeks now. She is out of town this weekend attending to some matters back home and will return Sunday night.

I will keep you up to date as I have information.

October 17, 2005
Well at long last we've made contact with a family out of New Orleans. They have connections to an Episcopal church in their home town. Our initial meeting is this Wednesday at 1pm at Holy Spirit. I've asked the father to consider how we might best be able to assist he and his family while they are in San Antonio. Several members of our committee will be present at the meeting to help in gathering information about the specific needs of the family members as well as distribute whatever supplies, clothing and bedding they might need. At least one of the children is already in school. The family spent several weeks in a local hotel without FEMA assistance so they had to pay regular rates. They finally did get approved by FEMA and were able to secure temporary housing just recently. They are fortunate to have their own transportation at this point. I am intentionally not releasing their names due to confidentiality. As our relationship unfolds I will share with you what they give me permission to.

Additionally, we have another family who has been referred to us through the New Life Christian Center. I have placed several calls to the apartment complex where they are housed, but as yet have not received a call back. Hopefully I will hear something tomorrow.

In the meantime thank you for your interest and support. Keep your prayers coming. As needs present themselves I will pass them along. Our Resettlement Committee will meet again this coming Sunday to assess the two family's ongoing needs and see how we might best assist them in meeting those needs. Feel free to contact our church office if you have items to donate or if you would like to make a monetary donation. I will be happy to provide a letter, for tax purposes, for any contributions you make, monetary or otherwise. Many blessings....

October 13, 2005
At long last we havebeen assigned a family. A mother and father with four children. They are staying in an apartment complex just a few miles from church. Their names were received yesterday and today we will make contact and begin to see how we can help. Our resettlement committee will meet this Sunday the 16th between services while individual members of the committee will meet with the family today and tomorrow to provide immediate assistance.

Many thanks for your patience while we went through the maze of training sessions and sponsorship applications. Our persistance has paid off and now we begin in earnest. More to follow.

October 1, 2005
Tomorrow, October 2nd, Sunday, at 945am our resettlement committee meets again to go over specifics about receiving and supporting families. Please join us to see how you can help.

Donations are still needed. See previous entries for details. Many thanks.

Fr. Reese

September 28, 2005 update
I just spoke to Lisa Hamilton from the EMM in New York. We have been approved to receive families. They are in the process of locating our first family now. Due to Hurricane Rita the families that had been selected and were waiting in shelters for placement all had to be evacuated again. Tracking them down one more time is taking more effort than expected.

But the good news is that we are definitely green to go forward. More to follow.

September 28, 2005
Yesterday the sponsorship paperwork was faxed to the Episcopal Migration Ministries office. We will know shortly if we've been approved to receive our first family. From discussions with staff at the EMM to receive families a sponsoring congregation must house families in their own apartments and not in host homes. This is a change from our initial goal of providing in home support. In light of this one of our committee members who is a real estate agent has begun, with an authorization letter from me, to contact local apartment complexes to secure no cost or low cost rental units. This will not affect us receiving our first family since that family will be able to stay in the new 27 foot travel trailer, donated by some friends from Colorado. Additional funds, clothing, bedding, toys, and other items were collected from their friends there and brought along with the trailer.

Our committee will meet again this Sunday, the 2nd of October at 9:45am, to begin planning for the arrival of our first family. Continuing monetary donations are needed to support the ongoing effort. Funds received so far are enabling us to transport the family to San Antonio and get them set up on site. A special fund has been set up to receive donations restricted to help hurricane victims. Checks may be made payable "Church of the Holy Spirit." in the memo section put "Katrina HS-local". This is a long haul project and will require our continuing effort. Thank you in advance for your generosity and participation. Father Reese

September 24, 2005
Just a reminder that we meet tomorrow to firm up our commitment to sponsor families through the Episcopal Migration Ministries. We will be reviewing their Guide for Sponsoring Displaced Americans at 945am in the parish hall.

September 22, 2005
Well, it appears we will be able to assist the Rita evacuees before we receive the Katrina folks. I have already received several emails form the Bishop's office asking if we can help resettle members of the Episcopal Churches along the coast. I sent out a mass email asking for hosts very early this morning. Several of our members have already taken in family members from the coast.

I spoke this morning with Lisa Hamilton from the EMM in New York. She gave me the website to download the Sponsorship Commitment Form and the Guide for Sponsoring Displaced Americans. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3687_5328_ENG_HTM.htm is the site address to download both forms. I will have copies available at our meeting this Sunday between the services (945am).

Today we received two more donations from people who heard about what we are doing and wanted to be a part of this. Many thanks to those of you who have given to this relief effort.

Please continue to frequent our site to look for updates and opportunities to help. As frustrating as it is, the planning is essential. Keep us in your prayers.

Faithfully,
Father Reese

September 20, 2005
Yesterday morning the office of the Episcopal Migration Ministries contacted us regarding receiving our first family. They have given us some instructions and a manual to review. We are to contact them when we have completed the task at which time we will begin the process of receiving the name of the first family. It is possible that within a week we will receive a green light to move forward.

This coming Sunday the 25th the manual will be available at church and our Resettlement Committee will meet again to kick into high gear in its final preparations to receive the family.

Please keep us in prayer. Even though many families are leaving shelters and moving to locations closer to their original homes there are still many folks who won't be returning and will need a temporary place to live until they can obtain jobs and new housing. Any an all assistance you can provide is needed and will be greatly appreciated.

September 17, 2005
Thank you for checking in. Our resettlement committee will be meeting tomorrow, the 18th, to begin planning to receive families. Join us at 9:45am if you would like to be a part of this effort.

Sincerely,

Father Reese

September 12, 2005
About forty people from the Diocese of West Texas met with Richard Parkins from the Episcopal Migration Ministries. He shared with us general information about helping evacuees resettle, but deferred to local agencies regarding the specifics of hosting families, how to find families, and how to screen families. In our general discussion and networking it came up that Catholic Charities here in San Antonio would be our best resource for locating families to host in our homes. They have an "adopt a family" program. Also several of the people present have had contact with the evacuees at Kelly. It was suggested that through contacts there we might be able to come up with families to host.

Richard did give us some general training information and was willing to help us put together a Diocesan Task Force to deal with the resettlement issues and families affected.

From what I could tell he did not have the kind of plan in place that we have already begun working on at Holy Spirit. Our inter-disciplinary team concept is exactly how those who have done this before do it.

What all of us seemed to realize is that while we all want to help now it takes careful planning as well as long term committment. This tragedy is not something that will resolve quickly.

In summary then: there are five things we need to nail down to do this well.

1.) Form up the existing committee we have and solidify people's committments to serve.

2.) Develop policies and plans for what we will provide, by whom, for whom, and where it will be provide.

3.) Contact Catholic Charities and FEMA (to verify evacuee status) to begin to identify and screen potential families for "adoption." At the same time provide training for hosting families regarding how to host effectively, what to expect from incoming families, familiarity with policy and protocol to be used at Holy Spirit, and planning for the eventual independence of the adopted families.

4.) Receive and place families while continuing to provide support for host families through providing meals, transportion of adopted families, as well as host family day out programs and the like.

5.) Mentor families toward emotional and financial independence.

There are multiple steps in each of these steps. But is a good jumping off point. The committee will meet between the service this Sunday to make some decisions regarding meeting frequency, participation, dividing up tasks, and selecting a chairman.

If you are interested in being a part of the effort please contact the church office at 210-699-6460 and leave your name and a way to contact you. If you would like to make a donation you may write a check payable to Holy Spirit. In the memo section write, "Katrina - HS Local."

I look forward to seeing you at the meetings.

Bless you.

Father Reese

September 11, 2005
On Monday the 12 there is a meeting with the Chair of the Migration and Refugee Committee for The Episcopal Relief and Development Fund. He will be meeting with interested churches about receiving families into our church homes. He will address screening issues, arrival times and what is expected of host families. I will provide an update by tomorrow evening. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

We have had many donations and can use much more. If you wish to make a monetary donation please make your check payable to "Holy Spirit" and mark in the memo section "Katrina - HS local". All monetary donations will receive a letter of thanks which can be used for IRS purposes. For the time being please do not donate clothing. God Bless you.

Sincerely,

Father Reese

September 9, 2005
Update: We are still waiting for a response from the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund's Office of Migration and Resettlement as to receiving families to take into our homes. Several local agencies are now doing that including Catholic Charities. The Diocese of West Texas now has a link on their website to local ways to help including how to contact Catholic Charities. If we don't get a response from ER-D by the end of today I will make contact with Catholic Charities and begin to coordinate with them. In the mean time any donations may be sent to Holy Spirit and marked "Katrine HS - Local." Those funds will be used to help families that we work directly with here in San Antonio. We will meet briefly this Sunday morning around 10am to update and discuss direction. Thank you for your responses so far. They have been great. The travel trailer arrived and is being set up. Several friends of the trailer's donars from Colorado gave toys, clothing, bedding and toiletry items along with monetary donations.

September 6, 2005
The New Testament reading from this past Sunday speaks right to the heart of what defines Christian community. We care for those who are in need and we treat each other with love and hospitality. It is, at our best, the hallmark of who we are. The reading from the twelth chapter of Romans, verses 9-21, particularly verse 13: NRSV, "Contribute to the needs of the saints,; extend hospitality to strangers" or as it is written in The Contempory English Version: "Welcome the stranger into your house" speaks directly to the day.

These are more than timely words. They are a call to us to open our very selves to the needs of those suffering from the truly catestrophic events of the last week. While not everyone will discern a call to open our homes to refugees, some of us will. Others of us will respond with financial aid, transportation, and donations of clothing and food.

Right now at Holy Spirit we are receiving canned goods, dry goods, diapers, toiletries, and the like. We are holding off on clothing for the moment until families arrive. We should have a better idea by the end of the week as to timing.

We have formed a Refugee Resettlement Committee and met Sunday for the first time. The team consists of doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, financial and insurance advisors, as well as legal and counseling personnel. We are still in need of a dentist to join the team.

We will be collecting funds to be used locally through our work at Holy Spirit. Donations, in addition to those earmarked for the ER-D, may still be made payable to "Church of the Holy Spirit" and in the memo section put "Katrina-HS local." If you are interested in knowing the details of our plan please email me directly at reesethepriest@earthlink.net.

UPDATE: http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_64836_ENG_HTM.htm IS THE DIRECT LINK TO THE ERD NEWS WEBSITE. TAKE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT'S UP.

September 3, 2005
The National Church has sent out information to local Dioceses about sponsoring families displaced by Katrina. We are in the process of preparing to receive families at Holy Spirit. I've already had people volunteer their homes. We are putting together a plan to receive names and match them with our families. I've already had offers of food, clothing, and other donations. It is my hope that we can assemble a team to include medical screening, as well as, legal, educational, and financial assistance for the displaced families. We will be able to make the parish hall, nursery, restrooms and library available durning the day for families that will be staying with members of our congregation. If you are interested in participating in this effort please email me at reesethepriest@earthlink.net. In the subject line write, "Refugee Assistance." Donations of time, talent, and resources will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your generosity.

Faithfully,
Father Reese Friedman

August 30, 2005
It is difficult to imagine the devastation and loss that the people along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Western Florida are experiencing. We've all seen the footage on the news showing the roof tops, piles of debris, people waste deep in water, and so much more. I've already had calls about what the Church is doing to help. At this moment the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund is assessing how and where to send aid. Donations may be sent directly to Holy Spirit marked in the memo "ERD-Katrina." Or you may mail donations directly to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund, 815 Second Ave, NY, NY 10017. Or you can go to the website and donate online: www.er-d.org. Bless you for anything that you can give or anything you can do. But above all else - pray.