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As I watched and read about the approach of
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in late
August and the first week of September, I
felt increasingly "compelled" to travel to
the affected region to directly assist the
relief effort. Despite not having had any
previous experience in working for the Red
Cross, that organization came first to mind
as an agency to contact for possible
volunteering. I called the Centennial
chapter, and was informed about the minimum
qualifications and the training process,
which was being "fast-tracked". After
gaining support from my employer and my
family, I made the decision to proceed.
Within 10 days I was trained and on my way
to Gulfport, Mississippi, which is on the
coast in the Biloxi to Waveport region that
bore much of the brunt of the hurricane.
My two-week assignment was to assistant
manage a shelter. We had a staff of about 20
Red Cross volunteers along with a sizeable
medical staff. The two weeks were very
intense, physically and emotionally. I
worked 17 hour days, and gained a whole new
definition of "multi-tasking". Most of our
100 or so clients not only had the effects
of the hurricane to deal with, they also
existed below the poverty line, suffered
from mental illnesses, and/or struggled with
drug and alcohol addictions. For me,
witnessing the hurricane's physical
devastation was staggering, but hearing the
personal recounting of dozens of stories of
fear-filled escapes, losses of all
possessions, and the death of neighbors was
heart-wrenching and indelible. The emotions
were intense and abundant, and they ran the
gamut. The frustration, anger, grief, and
despair pained me, while the compassion,
gratitude, love and courage touched and
inspired me.
In addition to the general duties of
operating the shelter, I felt blessed to be
in a position to make a significant
difference in people's lives, including the
following examples:
- I offered to assist a woman to start
her life anew in Fort Collins, and she
accepted. Anna struck me as an extremely
positive and compassionate woman that
was successfully overcoming some tragic
and grim circumstances, even before the
hurricane hit. She is now
well-established in Fort Collins, with a
rental apartment, self-employed cleaning
homes, and many new friends.
-
 Ray Caraway, the executive director
of the Community Foundation of Northern
Colorado was needing the contact names
and phone numbers for non-profit
agencies on the Mississippi coast, so
that they could donate some of the
several million dollars that was raised
in Fort Collins in an appropriate and
accountable manner. Many of these
agencies had their buildings flooded
out, so where hard to reach from Fort
Collins. I was able to get the names and
numbers of several United Ways and local
relief foundations, and hook them up
with Ray.
- I was also fortunate to be in a
position to help two additional
hurricane victims with their travel. One
was a Vietnamese man who wanted to move
to Atlanta, where he had an uncle.
Another woman had arranged for donated
airfare, and I assisted him in getting
to the airport and through security. A
second man, 62 years old, wanted to
travel to Brooklyn, New York, to help
his cousin that was dying from cancer,
but he didn't have enough money. With a
small donation and assistance with the
travel details, I was able to make that
happen.
Reaching out to people and assisting them
with the most critical of human needs opened
my heart and catalyzed a spiritual
transformation, so much so that I am in the
process of writing a book about my
experience and am considering new directions
in my life.
Jim Clark
December 20th, 2005 |
