Where He leads...: Disaster Relief in Alabama

Disaster Relief in Alabama

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If you've been watching the news in the past couple of months, you've seen how places in our country have literally been ripped apart by storms, flooding, and tornadoes. It's been heartbreaking to see the images and hear the stories from the devastation. Recently I heard about a father in Joplin who's son was ripped from his arms as they were huddling together in a car as the tornado came through. Can you imagine that kind of heartache and loss? Or the mother, also in Joplin, who went out for pizza during her son's graduation party and never came home. What a tragedy.

My heart first really opened to people affected by disaster after I spent some time volunteering in Baton Rouge just days after Hurricane Katrina. Since that time, whenever I hear of a devastating event like a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or tsunami, I want to leap into action and offer some kind of help. The more I've watched the news lately, the more I've wanted to do something to love on the people who've been affected here in the South. For me personally, giving money is not enough. (And I wouldn't have much of that to give anyway!) I wanted to physically go and do something to help the hardest hit communities. So I researched some options and off I went...

After a couple dead ends with other organizations, I got online and found a group called Hands on Birmingham. They are an organization that believes in the power of volunteers and aims to put people with a giving heart in touch with places that can use them. I searched some options for disaster relief and found Pratt City Disaster Resource Center. I signed up to help out Thursday and Friday and off I went!

Local people who were affected by the storm can come to this resource center to receive assistance. After filling out a form with the needs they have, a volunteer takes them through the center to gather up some of those requests (i.e. clothing, toiletries, household items, toys, etc). If they have other needs such as assistance with debris removal or rebuilding, they are put on a list and hopefully soon helped with those needs too. FEMA was also present gathering information and assisting where they are able. I saw some Red Cross and Americorps volunteers come through the center, and there were other corporate and church groups in and out volunteering their time as well.

The resource center is set up in a school building that is only used now as a temporary location when other area schools are being renovated. It has proved to be the perfect place for the center's operations.

Each of the classrooms is being used either as an office or is filled with specific items that help meet the needs of the local residents.

Volunteer groups set up here to feed the volunteers. So wonderful!

When I arrived Thursday morning, I was greeted with open arms. The ladies were nice to me from the beginning, but once I mentioned that I drove down from TN to help, they were elated and kept giving me hugs. Now that's a good Southern welcome! You never know what the atmosphere is going to be like when you volunteer somewhere like this. It can be a bit chaotic with all that is going on, and people are often in emergency mode. But these ladies were not only getting the job done, they were so grateful for the volunteers and let them know it. (And these folks were all volunteers themselves!) Sweet Ms. Thomasine assigned me to help with data entry. That wasn't really what I expected to do, but it turns out that is exactly where I was supposed to be. Every volunteer who comes through to help and every client who comes through for assistance gets entered into the database and their paperwork is filed. To give you an idea of the amount of people who have helped and been helped, they had some tables pushed together long-ways and a few dozen fat binders in alphabetical order from one end to the other. My administrative skills were put to use yet again. And on Friday, I compiled all the data from the three separate computers volunteers had been using into one big database. That was a job! But it was very helpful for them, and I knew God had me at that place for that specific time to do that very task. (It's always a sweet thing to know you are right where God wanted you to be!)

Not only do I feel like I made a difference in those two days, but I got to meet some of the most wonderful people in the world. The three people in charge of the whole operation were Ms. Peaches, Ms. Helen, and Pastor Eric Harris. They are stationed in the computer room (Room 12) where I was at. And so it was neat to be in the same room with the big dogs who were getting things done! :) Pastor Eric is a local pastor, but since the storm, he has been busy working on helping and restoring the community. He's at the center practically every day all day guiding the team and making important decisions for the day and for the future of that community. He is trusting that God will help to build back a community even stronger than before. Ms. Peaches and Ms. Helen are two angels who are really making an impact. Ms. Helen is volunteering her time from morning to evening to help keep things running smoothly. And Ms. Peaches is "on loan" from her church to direct the operations and provide the backbone for the center. The foundational people like these three and others all came together from different churches knowing they needed to do something. It's a little over a month since the storm came through and I am amazed at what they have created with God's help. They could teach others how to provide effective disaster relief! And not only were these three people doing a wonderful job with the task they've been given, but they truly made me feel like family. In just two days, they did an incredible job making me feel loved and appreciated. They even surprised me with a big gift basket and bag filled with goodies to thank me as an out-of-town volunteer. How sweet is that?

Ms. Peaches, Ms. Helen, and William

Two good friends of mine, Benny and Ronnie, who live near Birmingham. They helped Friday to clear out some trees and debris.

While I was there I had the opportunity to drive through two of the hardest hit areas in the Birmingham area. Pratt City was one... and I first saw that disaster area on my way to find the resource center. It literally took my breath away as I looked over and saw what looked like a war zone. House after house was either ripped to shreds or just completely gone from the foundation. I drove down those streets a few different times to take photos and document the wreckage. The other area was Pleasant Grove. My friend Ronnie who has been a long-time supporter of mine when I was in New Orleans and Africa lives near Birmingham and he took me around a few neighborhoods in Pleasant Grove. This was an even wider area of destruction, though the city has already done quite a lot to clear the area. My first thought was that it took New Orleans a whole lot longer to get their act together on clearing places like the 9th Ward. But this town has really rallied, and they've cleared so much of the debris away already. The lots of homes that were nearly destroyed or totally destroyed were already cleared... not even the foundation remained. But there were still many homes that were still "standing" and I took photos of those. I'm sure some people are still searching through the rubble for anything they can salvage before they send the machines in to completely clear it out. When you're driving through these areas and you see home after home in such devastation, you'd think it might lose its effect on you. But it doesn't for me. Which is why I took a photo of nearly every home I passed. Each one was just a terrible sight. And I think these photos are important to show, which is why I'm going to post some now and I've even made a slideshow so you can see even more.

(Above) A church completely ripped apart by the tornado

Any one of these homes could have been our home. We have been spared, this time. But what about our neighbors who weren't spared. What about those who lost everything? What about those who lost a loved one or their entire family? What are we going to do to help those in this dark hour of need? Sure, the bulldozers may have everything cleared out in another couple of weeks... but then there is the rebuilding... the putting back together the pieces of all that was lost. Restoring hope when people need it most.

I wrote a blog entry back in 2006 called "Remembering Baton Rouge". At the end I wrote "[my prayer is] that our tomorrows are few in which we find ourselves looking back on the days before... wishing we could have done more." What are you doing to make a difference in this world? What can you do today to brighten someone else's tomorrow?