It has been more than three months since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana and Mississippi. Search and recovery phases have ended. The Red Cross and other first responders’ mission in the Gulf Coast areas affected by the hurricanes has now largely ended. Now Catholic and other long-term relief efforts are well underway, offering shelter, financial assistance, counseling and hope to those displaced by the hurricanes.

Catholic Charities is playing a major role in assisting evacuees by providing long term assistance. Susan Engel, Director of Community Services for Catholic Charities in Kansas City, stated that the general public “doesn’t see us initially when there is a disaster because we are not a first responder.” However when the first responders and news media move on to the next event, Catholic Charities is there to help individuals and families recover.

Dante Gliniecki, Statewide Volunteer Coordinator for Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), stated that the Catholic Church has played a crucial role in long-term recovery efforts and is a part of Missouri’s Disaster Recovery Partnership (DRP). Deacon Larry Weber, Executive Director of the Missouri Catholic Conference is the vice-chair of the DRP.

Mr. Gliniecki stated that Catholic Charities is one of the primary agencies providing long-term relief assistance. “The Catholic Church has been a great partner and shows the importance the Church is to disaster relief and recovery needs,” said Mr. Gliniecki, who is a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier in Taos

In the case of Hurricane Katrina, many individuals and families have been displaced and are without housing, food and employment. The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has assisted 1400 evacuees. The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau helped 1800 evacuees, and the Archdiocese of St. Louis served 1600 evacuees. Diocesan agencies worked with the evacuees to assess long-term goals.

“It’s important to know who plans on returning to their home on the Gulf Coast and who plans on staying in Missouri,” said Ms. Engel. Once this has been clarified then housing and financial needs can be ascertained. Evacuees who have decided to stay in Missouri will need long term housing and employment.

St. Martin’s Parish Adopts the James Family

One family displaced by the hurricane has settled in St. Martin, Missouri in the Diocese of Jefferson City. Chris and Debra James and their two young sons lived in Biloxi, Mississippi. During the hurricane they stayed at a relative’s house three hours inland. The next day they returned to Biloxi only to discover that their home, place of employment, and children’s school had been destroyed.

The James family contacted relatives near Jefferson City, and with the assistance of the Red Cross and Salvation Army were able to find housing. “Our landlord’s wife’s family are members of St. Martin parish,” said Mrs. James. “That’s how we got hooked up with the church.”

At all three Masses on Sept. 11, Fr. Edwin Schmidt, pastor of St. Martin Church, introduced the Jameses and announced that they had lost most of their belongings in the hurricane, and asked parishioners to help in any way they could.

“We were at the 10:00 o’clock Mass,” Mrs. James recalled, “and from then until way after dark people brought any and everything: beds and pots and pans and groceries and blankets and clothes and a washer and dryer and a lawnmower and a Christmas tree and everything you could possibly imagine.”

She remembers crying when the people kept coming and coming offering their help, best wishes and “things I would never expect for people just to give us.”

Mr. and Mrs. James have found jobs in Jefferson City, and their sons are in school making new friends. The move has required adjustments, especially for the boys, ages 3 and 9.

“Sometimes my 3-year-old says, ‘Mommy, why don’t we live in Biloxi anymore?’” said Mrs. James. “I say, ‘Remember you saw all the trees and our house and everything broken?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, everything is broken.’”

The Jameses are certain that Biloxi and the rest of the Gulf Coast will recover with lots of time, money and patience. But they’ll be here. Missouri is now their home.

Fr. Schmidt says St. Martin parish is better for having gotten to know the James family. “They’re a delightful family,” he said. “They don’t talk a lot about all the pain they’ve had to endure. They just talk about how great the people of St. Martin have been to them.”

Long-Term Recovery

While the James family is beginning to settle into their new community, many others are still looking for housing and employment. In the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph there were still fifty families living in hotels through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Catholic Charities of St. Louis has put together a financial assistance package for those moving into rental housing. Households are receiving funds for first month’s rent, security deposit and three months of gas and electric bills. Catholic Charities of St. Louis anticipates spending about $4,000 per household.

While the Diocese of Springfield/Cape Girardeua does not have a Catholic Charities office, their Office of Social Ministry has partnered with the local Salvation Army in obtaining free temporary housing for evacuee families. They are also working with the Council of Churches of the Ozarks to enlist congregations that are willing to sponsor evacuee families.

“This disaster exposed the vulnerabilities of people we know exist but choose to ignore,” said Ms. Engel. “Families were vulnerable before the hurricane but were invisible. After the hurricane they became very visible and a lot of attention and money was thrown at them but they will become invisible again. It is so important for us to see our response in years and not months. Local communities are going to feel this for five years out."

St. Martin’s Parish Adopts the James Family was written by Jay Nies and originally appeared the the Catholic Missourian, November 25, 2005.