A Month in Hurricane Relief in September, 2007
John and Mary Miers
November 4, 2007
| John and Mary Miers were in New Orleans for the month of September, 2007 to observe firsthand the lasting aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina and to participate in the ongoing efforts to restore that city. They shared their experiences at the Adult Forum on November 4, 2007. |
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NEW ORLEANS-PART 2
JOHN: Many thanks for coming to hear about our month in New Orleans last
September. We are especially grateful to the Missions and Outreach Commission
for funding our travel expenses and for the many parishioners who supported us
in prayer and filled in behind us during our absence.
As many of you know, I spent a week there in March as part of the "Deacons in
the Dust" project. My experiences cemented my resolve to return and led Mary to
come as well.
MARY: September was a time of transition for the efforts being led by the
Diocese of Louisiana. With the start of school, volunteers from out of town were
very scarce, and funding for the mobile respite van (more on that later) was due
to run out at the end of the month. This situation presented challenges and
opportunities for us as volunteers. Instead of rotating groups of volunteers,
the van's organizers were left with us and occasional locals they could round up
to help. On the plus side, we quickly learned the ins and outs and were able to
use some of our evening time to do the prep work for each day and/or free up the
diocesan staff for hands-on ministry with individuals and families.
JOHN: The mobile respite van alternated between two areas-the Lower Ninth Ward,
where we camped in the parking lot of an abandoned pharmacy, and Meraux, a
community several miles to the east in St. Bernard Parish, where we operated in
a large, now-empty shopping center. It's important to understand that these
neighborhoods, as well as the one we stayed in, were very different. The Lower
Ninth, as the media reported again and again, is poor and mostly
African-American. Meraux is also very poor, more country than city, and mostly
white. The neighborhood where we stayed, Lakeview, had been very prosperous, but
people there were struggling as well.
We were warmly welcomed in all of these and other places. The role of the faith
communities is well understood by the victims of Katrina. We saw many people on
visit after visit. Our favorite was Maggie, a Lower Ninth neighborhood activist
and grandmother who joined us almost every time.
While we were there the House of Bishops held its meeting in New Orleans. One
day we learned that we would head for the Lower Ninth after our scheduled stop
in Meraux. We had a surprise visitor-the Archbishop of Canterbury! In addition
to greeting local residents-he's a pro with little kids-he blessed the shell of
a Walgreens that the diocese is planning to use as a church and community
center. It will replace All Souls Church, which had closed earlier. On Saturday
of that week, the bishops and their spouses divided their time between New
Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast for "Servant Day." Several came with our
van to Meraux and then the Lower Ninth, where the day ended with a street party
organized by the diocese. Others worked hard on a new community garden for
Lakeview.
MARY: We stayed in Lakeview, a neighborhood that reminded us very much of this
area, if you can imagine it in hurricane-recovery mode. "Home" was the Beacon of
Hope Resource Center, as depicted on John's shirt. Volunteers lived upstairs,
while a staff of community helpers, social workers, and the like served people
looking for information and help. We were right behind St. Paul's Church and
adjacent to a trailer housing a free washateria for anyone who needed to use it,
including us. Our accommodations were dorm-like but comfortable, and above all,
air-conditioned! Mercifully, the "love bugs"-a late-summer plague in the South
that we had somehow missed before-did not follow us inside.
There was a lot of demolition and construction going on in Lakewood, but it
wasn't new developments or McMansions. There was no post office, mailbox, or
supermarket to be found, as was the case in many other neighborhoods as well. We
did find a Starbucks (the only place you can find an edible bagel in town) and a
Rite-Aid across the street. The Starbucks had an impressive Katrina waterline
painted on the outside. An open-air market with excellent music and food comes
once a month, and we also enjoyed a community festival. Churches and non-profits
kept very busy there.
JOHN: We were off on Fridays and Sundays. We used the time to reacquaint
ourselves with jazz and beignets in the French Quarter and to sample
restaurants. It is still almost impossible to find a bad meal in New Orleans. We
spent one day exploring Algiers across the river on foot after a ferry ride, and
saw an excellent IMAX film at the aquarium called "Hurricane on the Bayou." The
streetcars are not fully operational yet, but we quickly figured out that it's
easy to park in midtown and take the streetcar to the hot spots. We had a good
time exploring the uptown neighborhood where our daughter, Sarah, lived while
she was attending Tulane Law School.
MARY: We had wonderful worship experiences in New Orleans. St. Paul's in
Lakeview is a thriving congregation with its own school, and the rector is an
excellent preacher. St. Paul's also supported the respite van by allowing us to
use their copying facilities. Christ Cathedral is beautiful and welcoming. A
combination of circumstances brought us to Grace Church so often we almost
expected to be greeted with a pledge card. Their rector is the Diocesan Jubilee
Officer, so he and John had much to talk about. They hosted a striking
photography exhibit called "Waterline." A professor of photography at LSU had
taken dozens of photographs after Katrina. She matted and framed them and hung
them in the chapel so that the waterline of each house, building, tree, or
whatever was as the same height. They also hosted a major event during the House
of Bishops meeting in the form of a Creole Evensong with readings, prayers, and
singing in English, French, and Spanish. The jazz band that played offered
individual riffs between verses of the processional and recessional hymns in
true New Orleans fashion, and we all followed them out as a "second line" at the
end.
The churches know how to be hospitable, as well. St. George's hosts a weekly
meal for homeless persons and volunteers. St. Anna's has a similar weekly dinner
that is free to musicians, who are invited to play. They also sponsor the
medical van that often partnered with our mobile respite van (and is now using
the respite van for private counseling space.) And after the Creole Evensong we
enjoyed a jammin' Zydeco party with glorious food.
JOHN: We know we'll go back, although we don't know when or how. Perhaps we'll
help with a Jubilee Center, or work with the revitalized and expanded All Souls
community in the Lower Ninth. Maybe we'll organize a parish work trip like
Christ Church, Kensington. Did you know they sent more than a hundred people?
Would you like to go?
We'll be happy to answer questions if we can.