Katrina Relief Efforts

A Summary and Recent News

In September 2005, days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the UU Society of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts (UUSWH) was asked by the UUA’s Interim District Executive in the Gulf region to partner with the North Shore Unitarian Universalists (NSUU) to help it “get back on its feet.” At a congregational meeting on 9/12/05, we decided to relieve our Louisiana partners from the worry of meeting their monthly mortgage payment for one year. By partnering with NSUU, we hoped to extend the reach of our UU values by enabling them to maintain their place in a community that is in great need of a liberal religious presence.

In five weeks, we raised $26,000 to cover a year’s mortgage for NSUU, and then committed ourselves to developing an ongoing, supportive relationship with our Louisiana partners.  To that end, forty four UUSWH members and friends have traveled to Lacombe on six different trips from November 2005 to February 2008.  We have also hosted visits to Wellesley by several congregation members.  We have advised church leadership, led worship, counseled congregation members in crisis, cleaned debris from the church garden and members’ homes, and reached out to NSUU youth—and feel that we have been greatly enriched in the process.

UUSWH has served as the “managing partner” for four other UU congregations which were also asked to partner with NSUU.  The group established a Grant Fund and allocated close to $13,000 to assist congregation members in need.  Through our connection with NSUU, we have established relationships with UUs across the country.

-- Elaine Mittell    

First-hand Thoughts and Reflections on the February 2008 trip

• The physical service we did created real value for members of the community.  In each case, we accomplished more than the local organizers planned or imagined, in spite of often adverse conditions
• Each project we took on proved meaningful and satisfying in some important way
• Our garden work helped maintain and improve the centerpiece of their grounds and an important resource for their faith community
• Our work in Pearlington made a real difference to both the church community and to individual homeowners, helping get them a few steps closer to living and worshipping in safe and sustainable structures
• Our plantings at City Park Storyland helped restore beauty to an important New Orleans community resource.  While the "need" for beautification may seem less urgent than the need for safe and sustainable shelter, that park is an important landmark and gathering place for the community, and its restoration is an important symbol of the return to "normalcy" for the residents of New Orleans
• The work we did to help individual NSUU families around their homes helped them get going on projects that had been neglected since the storm, again helping them return to some sense of normalcy and pride in their homes.  While only directly impacting one family at a time, and while often seemingly mundane projects (raking leaves, for example), we helped them overcome the overwhelming sense of the enormity of the tasks they faced, getting them started in tackling these long-overdue tasks.
• Our presence in the community boosted the spirits of the people with whom we interacted and fostered a real sense of connectedness and mutual support.  Our willingness to sacrifice our vacations to help others made a chaotic, brutal post-Katrina world seem just a little more gentle and supportive.
• We formed deep and, I hope, lasting bonds among the members of our group.  Each of us got to know the others in a much more profound way, developing a deeper sense of trust, respect and understanding through shared experiences.
• We worked hard, ate well, slept pretty well, and developed outstanding teamwork.  We laughed a lot, and generally enjoyed each other's company.

In all our lives, most of us will get to enjoy only a small handful of experiences like our week in Louisiana.  The intensity of the group experience, the rewards of hard work, the meaningful interactions with others in need, and the special sense of spiritual support we were able to provide -- for most of us, these are rare and precious moments to be savored, remembered, and shared with others.

Our trip's organizers -- led by Carol -- were truly outstanding.  I can't say enough about how well everything came off.

Personal thoughts, memories, etc.:

• The conversations I had with Gay, the Pearlington lunch lady, the Lower 9th Ward homeowner, Johnny and Patricia Stout, and some of the other members of NSUU left a deep and lasting impression on me.  Katrina itself was a traumatic experience for all of them.  Perhaps more traumatic has been the extended disruption they have all experienced in their lives.  When they talk about "pre-K" and "post-K" they are referring to fundamentally different lifestyles, even to a different sense of personal safety and security.
• A few smaller favorite moments:
• Clicking that stubborn piece of siding into the channel underneath the church window after 20 minutes of frustrating tugging, pulling, re-cutting, and so on
• Raking leaves in a monsoon at Johnny and Patricia's house with Charlie, Andrew and Laura P.
• Clare naming the GPS Jill, and then speaking to it as if there were a real person in there
• The joyful squeal Laura Patten let out when we agreed to go to Sonic
• The quiet leadership of several of the Youth, who led by example, helped others find productive ways to contribute, and steered the group toward positive energy
• The web of yarn and streamers (and our pitiful attempts to throw it across the circle)
• Solitary contemplation of the fire at our campground at 1:00 in the morning, reflecting on a satisfying day of service
• Countless small one-on-one conversations in which I feel like I got to know at least one special thing about everyone on the trip

-- Rob Markey

More about our Ongoing Involvement

Since November 2005, 44 UUSWH members and friends have journeyed to the Gulf Coast on six different trips to contribute to the effort in more concrete ways.   We have worked along side new friends from the Winchester, Mass. UU congregation, and our partners in San Diego, Olympia, Chicago, and Littleton.  We have counseled congregation members in crisis, led worship, and advised NSUU leadership.  Two large groups of adults and youth (ages 12 and up) have traveled together to undertake projects at NSUU, at congregation members homes, in the Lower Ninth Ward, at New Orleans’ First UU Church, in Pearlington MS, and in City Park’s Storyland.  The mission of these large group trips has included providing NSUU youth with a sense of connection to youth in the wider UU world.  Bearing witness to the tragedy that followed Katrina, we have fulfilled our promise to NSUU that we would not allow them to be forgotten:  we have given presentations to our congregation and our classmates, and have written newsletter and newpaper articles to highlight the ongoing need for our attention and assistance.
 
Since March 2006, UUSWH has funded visits by several NSUU congregation members who have traveled to Wellesley, and has hosted others who have decided to include us in their vacation plans.

Fundraising efforts to support travel between Wellesley and the Gulf Coast have continued at UUSWH.  While members have generally covered their own airfares, group expenses have been subsidized with the help of individual donations, a Mardi Gras celebration, a car wash, and car wash coupon, t-shirt, candy, and lunch sales.  Additionally, a few UUSWH congregation members have contributed to NSUU’s stewardship drive.  In total, UUSWH has raised approximately $43,500 for its Katrina Relief work and for NSUU, $17,500 beyond its original commitment to pay one year of NSUU’s mortgage.

We have been deeply touched by the warmth, generosity, and resilience of NSUU members as they have shared their hugs, food, homes, and stories and made great effort to extend their Southern hospitality to us despite their own struggles to recover from the storm.  Infected by their spirit, UUSWH members who have visited NSUU tend to greet each other with a warm embrace and share the latest news from Lacombe and the Gulf Coast.  Many of us read the NSUU Weekly Update and look forward to returning.  We all greatly appreciate having had the opportunity to make a difference.

At the end of our last Gulf Coast trip, in February 2008, our congregation donated a live oak tree to NSUU’s garden.  As the group planted the tree, we shared our hope that it would grow tall and strong over the coming years along with the relationship between our congregations.  We have certainly established some deep roots to support continued growth!

-- Elaine Mittell