Bethel Lutheran of Biloxi Katrina Volunteers

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2012-01-30T12:00:00.001-08:00

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Current Needs

2007-01-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea on how to donate to the church ministry needs online: Go to this Wish List at Wal-Mart and print out this page. Keep it with you and next time you go to a WalMart and you see something Bethel Lutheran could use, take it to checkout. They'll scan it and send it to Bethel in Biloxi automatically. Pretty cool, eh? You might see "Kent Thompson" as the name of the recipient but the send to address is Bethel Lutheran. Rest assured, and my wife can back me up on this, I wouldn't know a crock pot from a carburetor.

Current Ministry Needs: (the following links go to an Amazon Wish List)

Dust Buster
2 Big Boiling Pots (Heavy- Good Quality)
1 Large Pancake Grills
1 Big Electric Roaster
1 Big Crock Pot
1 Heavy Duty Mixer
1 Electric Fry Pan

Note: For convenience, you can order the above items online by clicking the links that go to a Wish List I created for Bethel Lutheran through Amazon.com. The items I chose are representative of the size needed to feed and care for a lot of volunteers but if you know of a better brand or model we welcome it. If ordering online, make sure the shipping address is Bethel Lutheran, 2521 Pass Road Biloxi, MS 39531 (228)267-0008.

3 Large Forks (Heavy Duty Carving)
Volunteers! Long-term, short-term, skilled, semi-skilled, those able to serve in the medical clinic (physicians & nurses), in the kitchen, on work crews, case advocates, clerical support, etc. – any with the willingness to serve.
Prayer Shawls
Licensed craftsmen – a plumber, electrician, HVAC installer, etc. to join your team

Current Clinic Needs:

Quick Strep Tests
Advair 250/50
Valtrex 500 mg
Mavik
Rid-X (scabies, lice treatment)
Skin Creams & Antibiotics
Carbamazine
Tegretal (generic)
Elbow splints, braces, wraps
Ziplock bags (sandwich, pint, quart & gallon)
Volunteer Physicians
Volunteer Nurses
Volunteers to perform data entry who have knowledge of Excel and medical terminology
Volunteers to register patients and complete paperwork
Wal-Mart, Walgreen, or Debit cards which we use to purchase medications and supplies for patients

Items per Bethel website

New Bethel Lutheran Hurrican Ministry Website

2007-01-30T02:17:00.000-08:00

Bethel has a new website devoted (and how!) to the Hurricane Katrina Ministry. Be sure and bookmark it and check for updates.

Great work Donna!

Bethel Update 27

2007-01-30T02:10:00.000-08:00

With apologies, I forgot to post this excellent end-of-year report from Bethel.

Latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

"Good Works" DVD finished

2006-12-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

The follow-up to "8 Days in Biloxi" is done. The DVD "Good Works: Ministry on the Gulf Coast One Year After Katrina" will be available for any donation. Bethel will have a shipment shortly.

Per a request, I'm including the chapter "Frank (Revisited)" edited from a brief visit with him last summer. Gave him an "8 Days" DVD and toured his house in the middle of remodeling. Passing on a howdy and a big thank you from him to some lovely volunteers who brought him a place to sit and hope for the future. He had lots of good news to share and slowly life is getting back to a form of normal. But its all one day at a time like for so many.

Sidenote: last fall I heard a story that some volunteers were working about a block over and were visited by a large man who asked for some help moving a chair from his FEMA trailer into his house. They did. They looked at the chair and looked at the gentleman and said "Hey, you're Frank!" He didn't understand. So he still hasn't watched the video. He's certainly busy putting a roof over his head but he needs to find a new agent.

Here is the original chapter "Frank" from "8 Days in Biloxi"

- Kent

Judys Travels

2006-12-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is a tentative schedule. We will update her itinerary as events are confirmed.

January 21st 8:30 AM Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Salem, Oregon
11:00 AM Worship at Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Salem, Oregon Pastor John Maas
Lunch with High School and Young Adults
Evening Cluster gathering of local churches Faith Lutheran
Church, 930 SW Queen Avenue, Albany, Oregon
Contact: 541 928-7660

January 23rd Evening Trinity Lutheran Church, Vancouver, Oregon

January 24th Late Morning Salem Pastor’s Study Group
7:00 PM Worship Our Saviour’s, Salem, Oregon

January 25th 7:00 PM Creator Lutheran Church, Sumner, Washington

January 26th 6:30 PM Cross and Crown Lutheran Church
Renton, Washington
Dinner and Worship at 8:00 PM
Pastor Glen Aaburg Contact: 425 255-5910

January 27th Noon Calvary Lutheran Church
Federal Way, Washington

January 28th 8:30 AM Bethlehem Lutheran Church
10:00 AM Marysville, Washington
11:15 AM

January 29th 1:00 PM Northwest WA Synod Office
Visit with Bishop Chris Boerger
7:00 PM Morningstar Lutheran Church
Monroe, Washington

January 31st 10:10 AM California Lutheran University Chapel

February 4th PM California Lutheran University Chapel

April 21st Buffalo, New York

Bethel Update 26

2006-12-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

A Legendary “Rebel” Returns to the South...Free Clinic or Free Medical Center?... Christian Rock Artist to Perform... A Time to Rejoice... and more...

Read the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

Note from Bethel

2006-12-05T22:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

It is unusual for us to send a plea via our updates, but Christmas is coming and the needs of the families we serve are great at this time of year. I am new as a long-term volunteer to this ministry. A recent graduate fo Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, my heart led me back to the Mississippi Coast and to Bethel's Hurricane Katrina Minsitry, as many of you have been led. I believe this to be God's call for me at this time. I will continue to serve here as laong as there is a need for my pastoral services. I was shocked to find that recovery, though on-going is so slow. As families move back into refurbished homes, many are without furniture and household necessities as all of their resources have been used up in the rebuilding process. People are sleeping on floors as there is no budget for beds or bedding. Something as simple as a dining table can change the way a family lives together in their new home. We are still being asked for food and continue to serve 30 to 50 clients every day in our medical clinic.

People have been so generous in contributing money and supplies to support our ministry here, but it is hard for those who are far away to appreciate how the needs continue. We are planning a Santa Shop in which parents can come to choose toys for their children, and a separate shop in which children can shop for their parents. As we receive applications for families who are already our clients for rebuilding and support, we begin to understand the needs which extend beyond the immediate need for shelter. So many people were coping with immediate physical needs last Christmas there was hardly an opportunity to celebrate. For many this will really be their first Christmas since Katrina. The stories we hear are heartbreaking. As families have lost everything, so the children in those families have lost toys, books, other items of comfort and meaning. The opportunity is great to begin a relationship with families who strive to recreate a home for themselves and their children.

There are several means of creating those relationships. We have families to adopt for Christmas and through the year as they continue to rebuild home. We would be delighted to provide contact information if you or your congregation would like to sponsor a family for Christmas or longer. Several congregations in South Carolina delivered toys for our Santa Shop, but as applications come in, the need is greater than our supply. $100 Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears and Visa gift cards always touch the hearts of parents struggling to meet their family's expectations and allow families to meet their specific needs.

You have always been so generous in the past, we know you will want to partiacipate with us in supporting these families. Please call or e-mail us soon for information, and feel free to pass on this e-mail to anyone who might be interested in adopting a family or supporting our Santa Shop.

Blessings,

Barbara Punch
Pastoral Assistant

Bethel Update 25

2006-11-28T05:34:00.000-08:00

Building has begun on Mary Parker's new home!

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

Judy's Travels

2006-11-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

This is a tentative schedule. We will update it as events are confirmed.

November 19 AM Mont Clare United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois

November 19 PM Christ the King Lutheran Church, South Bend, Indiana

November 20th Indiana University, South Bend, Indiana

December 3rd Grand Forks, North Dakota

December 4th - 6th North Dakota Regional Camp Director’s Conference

January 21st 8:30 AM Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Salem, Oregon

January 21st 11:00 AM Worship at Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Salem, Oregon Pastor John Maas
Evening Cluster gathering of local churches Faith Lutheran
Church, 930 SW Queen Avenue, Albany, Oregon
Contact: 541 928-7660

January 24th Evening Pot Luck and Presentation Tentative

January 28th Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, Renton, Washington
Pastor Glen Aaburg Contact: 425 255-5910

January 31st 10:10 AM California Lutheran University Chapel

February 4th AM Not yet confirmed

February 4th PM California Lutheran University Chapel

Need help for a Santa Gift Shop at Bethel

2006-11-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

Bethel Lutheran is going to have a Santa's Gift Shop the week before Christmas. Any help you or your church can provide would be greatly appreciated.

- Canned hams
- light weight jackets
- hooded sweatshirts
- barbies
- electronic games
- hot wheels or matchbox cars
- other small toys
- gift cards to Wal-Mart, K-Mart

Bethel Lutheran Church
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, Mississippi 39531
(228)267-0008/9
bethelkat@gmail.com

Bethel Update October (2)

2006-10-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Finally we have a start date to begin building Mary Parker’s house – November 7th. Hallelujah! We have the building permit, we have most of the money, and we have the volunteers to work! Yes, we always have work for more – come down and help! This is a miracle in the making. We hope to have it “dried-in” by November 17th and ready to begin work on the interior. We’ll keep you posted with pictures of the progress. We continue to be grateful to each of you and your congregations who have and who continue to make this dream a reality for Mary through your generous support.

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

Bethel Update October

2006-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

News:

New Assistant Site Manager Heather Wescott
Judy's travel schedule
Eyes of Hope CD available
Is there still a need?

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

September 7th Update from Bethel

2006-09-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

News:

Mary Parker's New Home
A grant from Direct Relief International
Ed and Eunice Burch have gone back to West Virginia
Matt and Tricia return
... and we salute Cassie!

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

Judy’s Travels ... Mid-West Itinerary

2006-08-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

The following portions of the Bultmans’ visits are open to any who would be
interested in attending!

Sep 7 Arrive Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 8 – 10 Pastor Keith Gunderson, Cando, North Dakota
Sep 10 9:00 AM Preach at Cando; 11:00 Preach at Devil’s Lake
Sep 11-13 Leadership Conference, Pelican Lake
Sep 14-16 Family Visits
Sep 17 9:00 AM SCS , Preach 10:00 AM at St. John’s, Dimock, SD
Sep 17 5:30 PM Akron, Iowa

Future Travels

Nov 19 MontClare United Church of Christ, 5th Anniversary
Possible availability Nov 18 evening or Nov 19 evening, if interested call Judy.
End of Jan Washington and Oregon, if interested call Judy .

Bethel Lutheran Church
Lutheran Disaster Response
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, Mississippi 39531
(228)267-0008/9
bethelkat@gmail.com

Biloxi Update

2006-08-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

Lots of news to celebrate:

A Word from Volunteer Bart Tucker: Why is it important that volunteers participate in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast?
Judy’s Travels ... Mid-West Itinerary
Peter Salemme . . . Long Term Volunteer
We Say Goodbye to Alison Rollison
Don’t forget! Boomerang Bonnie Pinnow (Illinois) is capturing stories of the times volunteers have spent here along the Gulf Coast in the recovery process.

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi

Lutheran Volunteers Continue to Make a Difference One Year After Hurricanes

2006-08-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 23, 2006

Lutheran Volunteers Continue to Make a Difference One Year After Hurricanes 06-128-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma struck the U.S. Gulf Coast nearly one year ago 15,000 volunteers have logged 600,000 hours of service, worth an estimated $10.5 million of rebuilding work. These volunteers worked on behalf of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) to rebuild homes and communities in hurricane-devastated areas. LDR is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod.

The 2005 hurricane season included 26 named storms, 13 of which were hurricanes that caused an insured loss of more than $47 billion, according to LDR. The most powerful of these storms were Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which caused widespread damage throughout Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

More...

Bethel Update 20 - An Anniversary Party Invite

2006-07-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

"We want to proclaim August 29th as Volunteer Recognition Day. We want August 29th to truly reflect the good that Hurricane Katrina has given us. The darkness of the horror gave way to light – the light from each of you. We have been walking in His light, through YOU ever since and that, my friends, is reason to celebrate."

Read more in the latest update from Bethel in Biloxi (PDF)

VBS Donation

2006-07-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church and St. Andrew’s in-the-Pines Episcopal Church, both in Peachtree City, partnered for a “Gospel Express” Vacation Bible School this year and hosted 196 children along with 80 youth and adult volunteers. The children donated more than $1,000 to the Lutheran Disaster Relief, earmarked to buy medical supplies for the free clinic at Bethel Lutheran Church, Biloxi, Miss. The local THRIVENT chapter agreed to match the contributions up to $400. Stories, singing, crafts, recreation and fun were had by all who attended. Photo

ELCA Offers Davey and Goliath Disaster PSAs

2006-06-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2006

ELCA Offers Davey and Goliath Disaster PSAs 06-081-KH*

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At the start of the 2006 hurricane season, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is offering children a message about trusting God and helping others in the face of disasters. Broadcast public service announcements (PSA) for ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, called "Working Together," features the popular characters Davey and Goliathr. The PSAs were designed to educate and reassure children that have been affected by disaster.

More...

Bethel Update 18

2006-05-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

Church of the Pines in Waveland to host open house in July... We say goodbye to Kelli and hello to Ron and Eunice.

Download PDF here

Religious groups give hand to Gulf Coast

2006-05-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

How quickly we forget.

Last summer, the country was stunned by the devastation on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People held fund-raisers and sent clothing and supplies. They opened their homes to those displaced by the flooding. They donated millions to the American Red Cross.

But not even a year later, who's helping now? The religious community, mostly.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mountain View Lutheran Church in Ahwatukee Foothills, Mission del Sol Presbyterian Church in south Tempe, Red Mountain Community Church in east Mesa and Grace United Methodist Church in Mesa are only a few houses of worship among hundreds nationwide leading much of the rebuilding in the area, clergy members and volunteers say.

More...

Judy on Tour!

2006-05-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Judy has accepted invitations to speak at several churches. So many volunteers
have asked us to send out her schedule so you or those you love can attend.
Here’s where she will be:

Date Time Church Location

5/7/06 morning service St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Lexington, SC
5/14/06 9:15 am, 10:30 am & 6:30 pm, St. Timothy Lutheran Church Charleston, WV
5/21/06 8:00 am & 11:00 am Lord of Life Lutheran Church Columbus, Ohio
5/22/06 10:00 am Trinity Lutheran Seminary Columbus, Ohio
5/28/06 9:15 am & 10:30 Advent Lutheran Church LaGrange, GA

Bethel Update 17

2006-05-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

You Have Touched Us
This week has been an emotional one. We have seen the journey through your
eyes and it has been poignant. The students from Carlton College sent us a
video they made of their trip back in December to help. The students from
Wartburg Seminary send us the video that captured their experience in January
here … and again we were moved. Today we received written entries from the
journals of students who came for Spring Break from the Lutheran Campus
Ministry at University Lutheran Church of the Epiphany.

Download PDF here

Blessed Easter Greetings from Judy

2006-05-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful and blessed Easter at Bethel Lutheran Church, Biloxi, Mississippi. In the midst of all this heartache, heartbreak and sadness comes EASTER! ... THE RESURRECTION! NEW LIFE! AND HOPE!
But let me start from the beginning...(Download PDF)

10 Days in Biloxi

2006-04-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

The follow-up to 8 Days is now in production and I should have a release date soon. Hopefully by end of April. If the coffee holds out. Email here with your postal address to add your name to the list.

With a cast of several and tentatively titled "10 Days in Biloxi - 180 Days After Katrina" (Email me if you can think of something better and no, not "Lutherans Gone Mild"), this DVD will include interviews with the churches and volunteers involved in the rebuilding effort in and around the Mississippi Gulf coast area. Highlights include How to Drywall, The Secrets of Yard Cleanup, and Roofing vs. Gravity: A Comparative Study. You'll see Lutherans shouting "Amen!" and "You are correct!" at possibly the first Baptist/Lutheran Mashup Lenten service. You'll bear witness to a talent show by students from St. Olaf and learn the power of FF (and REW!) on your remote. We also follow-up on Frank and see if he got his FEMA trailer.

This is a ministry of inclusion. If you have anything to submit - video, pictures, audio clips - edit down to your best stuff and mail to:
Kent Thompson
20 North Street Suite B
Dublin, Ohio 43017

Do this right away. Non-returnable copies on CD or DVD only (alternate format: DV tape). Please include your name so I can add you to the credits. If you were to, say, include a gift card from Starbucks, you might get your name higher up (alternate format: French Roast - Whole Bean).

8 Days in Biloxi

2006-04-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

Will be duping DVDs of "8 Days in Biloxi" in the next week or so. Email me with your postal address and I'll mail you one once they're off the burner.

Check out Ron Salber's Biloxi Blog

2006-04-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ron has a blog about his tour of duty in Biloxi. Some great pics too.
http://campbiloximission06.blogspot.com/

Yahoo Group for Bethel Volunteers

2006-04-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

A new Yahoo group has been set up for people who have volunteered for LDR at Bethel Lutheran/Good Shephard Lutheran in Biloxi, MS to connect/reconnect with each other. This group will allow members to share their experiences, continue to "flush" their emotions, and make plans for that Biloxi Boomerang!

Click HERE for more information!

Judy on CNN

2006-02-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

We would like for you to all be aware that CNN was here today interviewing Judy (our site director) and members of Bethel. We are told that it will be broadcast on Monday night (between 9 PM and 11 PM - but we are unsure if that's Central or Eastern time).

Just thought you might want to watch the interview. Have a good evening,

Donna

Bethel Update February 21, 2006

2006-02-21T03:01:00.000-08:00

From the PDF:
Late fall Pastor Keith Gunderson of Cando Lutheran Church of Cando, North Dakota asked his church council for a six week leave of absence so that he could help out in hurricane recovery. His church council approved his request. As he announced his plans the following Sunday, there was a visitor in the congregation. She and her husband had previously been stationed at Keesler Air Force Base here in Biloxi. She told Pastor Keith that he had to come to Biloxi to do his work. She explained that she still had many friends in Biloxi and that “these people are devastated by Hurricane Katrina”. She urged him persuading, they are “good people down there”.

Download the Bethel update (PDF) here.

Bethel Update February

2006-02-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

From the PDF:
Without each of you, rebuilding would be only a dream for most of us as 70,000 homes in Mississippi are either uninhabitable or were completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. It is your compassion that makes rebuilding a reality! During a recent, “Where did you see the face of God” talks after dinner, one of the “locals” tried to convey what the residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast have come to realize. When disaster strikes (such as with the magnitude of Katrina) it’s not the government, it’s not the insurance companies that you’ve invested-in for years, it’s our fellow citizens from near and far whom we can depend upon to help us rebuild our homes … our lives. You have come to join us and in many instances to work for us in rebuilding our beloved communities. Your hands and your hearts are the one constant in our lives since August. And for that, dear friends in Christ, we shall be eternally grateful. The Mississippi Gulf Coast will forever be known as the community rebuilt by love.

Download the Bethel update (PDF) here.

By the Thousands, Faithful Toil to Resurrect Gulf Cities

2006-02-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Sojourners in the South Leave Behind Jobs, Schools, Lives

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 5, 2006; Page A01

BILOXI, Miss. With drywall, two-by-fours and a patient faith in a sometimes-exasperating God, Burke resident Bart Tucker is trying to raise a small neighborhood from the dead.

But in this Gulf Coast city of 50,000, a slender thumb of land smashed by the winds and waters of Hurricane Katrina, nothing comes easy -- least of all miracles.

More (Registration Required)...

(and thanks for the heads-up on this, jim, kate, andy, and jack!)

Volunteers helping rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina

2006-02-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Excellent site from the neighbors that share the shadow of the Biloxi water tower (though at different times of the day) at Bay Vista Baptist Church of Biloxi, Mississippi. John Ailor created a SQLServer database to help organize the work in progress and the work yet to be done. Hats off to his group from Pennsylvania and their volunteer efforts.

New Phone Number

2006-01-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

LEDR/Bethel Lutheran phone number has been changed to:
(228) 267-0008 and (228) 267-0009

Be the 15th caller and win a vacation in beautiful Biloxi Mississippi. Be sure and pack sunscreen and bring a hammer.

Bethel Update 12-16

2005-12-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Download PDF doc here.

What a joy to be in this holy place at this holiest time of the year. I walked into our beautifully decorated Fellowship Hall today while still talking on the phone to my daughter. People were all around me. Patients were in the clinic. People needing assistance were completing forms. Volunteers were darting here and there trying to help. Our members were still sorting clothes in the Clothing Room. Our medical staff were rushing about getting ready to go out with toys, blankets and jackets, Wal-Mart cards in their pockets, and medications in their packs playing "Santa Doc". I said to my daughter on the phone, "Now this is Christmas. I wish you could be here. This is the real joy that the Lord has brought to us in these hard times. This is the true spirit of giving. It's about giving of ourselves just as our Lord did two thousand years ago."

Thank you, God, for allowing us to be here,

Judy Bultman
Director, Lutheran Disaster Response

Katrina Victims, Insurance Companies in Wind Vs. Water Dispute

2005-12-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

It's the multibillion-dollar debate raging across the Gulf Coast: Was it Katrina's wind or water that caused the devastation?

Said Biloxi homeowner Marvin Hendrix: "I was completely destroyed mentally for a few days, but I said, 'You know what? We should not worry. We have hurricane insurance. Why should we worry?'" Little did he know.

More...

Burnsville couple spends eight weeks giving aid in hurricane-ravaged Biloxi, Miss.

2005-12-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

They knew they wanted to help.

That they didn’t have a set destination didn’t matter much.

Tom and Mary Eichen began the trek south to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts before they even knew to which city they were headed.

On Sept. 12, two weeks after Katrina hit, the Burnsville couple packed up their truck with tools, food, water and other supplies and set off for Mississippi.

Calling around to Southern churches via cell phone on the drive down, the couple got in contact with the pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Biloxi, Miss.

The pastor’s message was clear: Help was desperately needed. So the Eichens headed to Biloxi, where a grim scene awaited them.

Furious winds and 30-foot waves had rocked the Gulf Coast city. Homes that hadn’t been swept away suffered as much as 12 feet of flooding.

Trash, trees and other debris lined the sides of every street. Bridges were out, fallen trees blocked access to many streets, and much of the residential property had been closed owing largely to the rapid proliferation of black mold.

More...

MISSISSIPPI'S INVISIBLE COAST

2005-12-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

As Aug. 29 recedes into the conscious time of many Americans, the great storm that devastated 70 miles of Mississippi's Coast, destroying the homes and lives of hundreds of thousands, fades into a black hole of media obscurity.

Never mind that, if taken alone, the destruction in Mississippi would represent the single greatest natural disaster in 229 years of American history. The telling of Katrina by national media has created the illusion of the hurricane's impact on our Coast as something of a footnote.

The awful tragedy that befell New Orleans as a consequence of levee failures at the time of Katrina, likewise, taken by itself, also represents a monumental natural disaster. But, of course, the devastation there, and here, were not separate events, but one, wrought by the Aug. 29 storm.

There is no question that the New Orleans story, like ours, is a compelling, ongoing saga as its brave people seek to reclaim those parts of the city lost to the floods.

But it becomes more and more obvious that to national media, New Orleans is THE story - to the extent that if the Mississippi Coast is mentioned at all it is often in an add-on paragraph that mentions "and the Gulf Coast" or "and Mississippi and Alabama."

More...

Casinos ending post-storm help

2005-12-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

THOUSANDS OF IDLED WORKERS LOSING PAY, BENEFITS

By Holbrook Mohr
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON, Miss. - Thousands of casino employees on the Gulf Coast are losing insurance benefits and salaries as the companies end post-Katrina assistance to concentrate on rebuilding gambling houses.

Two New Orleans casinos remain closed, as do 12 casinos that once dotted Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Nearly all the companies agreed to continue paying workers on a temporary basis, but that is ending or has already stopped.

Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said Wednesday that nearly 14,000 casino employees remain out of gambling-related jobs. Mississippi coast casinos employed 16,000 before Katrina.

More...

Laura Bush urges families in Katrina areas: 'Try not to be sad'

2005-12-13T06:52:00.000-08:00

(I usually steer clear of editorializing. But 'Try not too be sad' ? That pretty much sums up the federal response to this disaster. How about 'Just say no to saddness', okay? "Buck up. Suck it in. Walk it off. There ya go." -Ed.)

GULFPORT, Miss. - First lady Laura Bush on Monday urged parents here to cling to normal holiday practices even as families face dual hardships - recovering from Hurricane Katrina and coping while family members are stationed overseas for military service.

"There are still a lot of people not spending Christmas in their homes, but I encourage families to have all the same traditions," Bush said to children and parents at a Naval Construction Battalion Center.

Bush, accompanied by Santa during stops in New Orleans and Mississippi, said in Gulfport: "Try not to be sad. It's very important for your children."

More... (but, please, there's better reading down-thread than this)

News from Bethel December 13

2005-12-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

Ministry Update (PDF)

Newspaper article featuring Judy (PDF)

Yo! Shout-out from Alison to all her peeps!

2005-12-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

(Okay, so that headline was actually written by me. Below is a note from Alison at Bethel. Drop her an email and wish her Merry Christmas. - Ed.)

"Will you please tell the former volunteers I say hello, and I miss them sooooo much!! Especially the ones who were already at Bethel, and adopted me when I first arrived."

Christmas donations for Biloxi

2005-12-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

We are going to be opening up a Christmas 'store' the week of Christmas for people who do not have enough money or a lot of time to spend Christmas shopping because of the hurricane.

We would like to see a lot of Christmas donations come in for the store and the season-the more we have, the more people we will be able to serve. However, Christmas is only about 2 weeks away. The store will be open on the 20th, 21th, and 22nd. We can receive donations up to the 22nd.

Any kind of Christmas decorations will also be very useful donations-both for decorating the place, and also to give to families for their holiday. We also are looking for Christmas candy to put in the reception area.

All donations are greatly appreciated. However, because we don't have enough volunteers to sort through them, we are asking that only new or hand-made donations be sent.

Some ideas for Christmas donations (since some families are living in small FEMA trailers) are:
- Toys and Games
- Smaller, education toys
- Character pillows-Disney, etc.
- Gifts for teenagers (they are sometimes forgotten in Christmas donations)
- Wrapping paper, tape, scissors, ribbon (one of the stations in the 'store' will be pre-made boxes of gift wrapping items to take home-some of those items may be more difficult to mail

Please let everyone know if they have any questions about Christmas donations, or the store, they can contact me: 479.462.1285 (c) AlisonKR@aol.com

Mail gifts to:
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
2004 Pass Road
Biloxi, MS 39531

360 Panoramas from the sky of Gulf Coast

2005-12-08T06:21:00.000-08:00

Incredible aerial photography (360 VR) of Gulf coast and casino district.

- Kent

Health problems abound months after Katrina roared ashore

2005-12-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

BILOXI, Miss. - Three months after Hurricane Katrina raked the Gulf Coast, a major health crisis is emerging as residents struggle with the fouled air, moldy houses and the numbing stress the killer storm left behind.

Across Mississippi and Louisiana, people are afflicted with coughs, infections, rashes and broken limbs and they are jittery, tired, depressed and prone to bizarre outbursts, health professionals said.

Burning storm debris, increased diesel exhaust, runaway mold and fumes from glue and plywood in new trailers are irritating people's lungs and nasal passages. Weary residents trying to clean up and repair their homes are falling off roofs and cutting themselves with chainsaws. And stress is fracturing the psyches of countless storm victims.

"It's a cumulative effect here," said Claire Gilbert, a New Orleans surgical technician who works in a Louisiana occupational medical practice and volunteered at the New Waveland Clinic, a tent shelter complex that just closed in Mississippi. "You get a little cough. You get a nose that runs. You get eye irritation. Then you get falls. And you've got the stress. It's not just little things. It's how they all add up."

More...

Katrina's ground zero: 3 months later

2005-12-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

WAVELAND, Miss. - She already had scoured the stand of twisted and broken pine trees near her house many times, so to stumble on a new treasure lit Peggy Parker's face with pure joy.

"Babe, look what I found!" she called to her fiance. Clutched to her chest was a mud-encrusted figurine of three festive owls she bought 25 years ago - a worthless piece of kitsch, but beyond value to Parker. "I feel like I won a million dollars."

Every day the hunt for pieces of her splintered life motivates Parker to climb out of bed in the cramped FEMA travel trailer in Biloxi she now calls home and make another foray into her beloved city of Waveland, ground zero for Hurricane Katrina as it savaged the Gulf Coast three months ago.

At 54, this divorced mother of one, grandmother of two, is among the hundreds of Waveland's residents returning home to scavenge for the fragments of their past in hopes of laying the foundations for their future.

In just 12 hours, Katrina washed away Parker's two-bedroom house, her job, her way of life. Almost everyone she loves is uprooted, cast to the winds of uncertainty. Her mother, her son, her brother, her uncle, her cousin all lost their homes, too.

It's no wonder her good nature fades to anger when, after weeks of trying to reach her insurance company, she finally hears a sympathetic voice at the other end of her cell phone.

"I know how you feel," the woman tells her.

Parker explodes.

More...

Bethel Update December 2

2005-12-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

News and pictures from the front courtesy of Bethel Lutheran. Download in PDF format. Thanks, Donna (and thanks to all the volunteers).

In coastal Mississippi, recovery is stagnant in post-Katrina towns

2005-11-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. -- Three months ago, Katrina all but scoured this old beach town of 8,000 off the face of the Earth. To walk its streets today is to see acres of wreckage almost as untouched as the day the hurricane passed.

No new houses are framed out. No lots cleared. There is just devastation and a lingering stench and a tent city in which hundreds of residents huddle against the first chill of winter and wonder where they'll find the money to rebuild their lives.

Billy McDonald, the white-haired mayor whose house was reduced to a concrete slab by 55-foot-high waves, works out of a trailer. He doesn't expect the word "recovery" to roll off his lips for many months.

"Lots of folks don't have flood insurance; lots of folks don't have jobs; lots of folks don't have hope," McDonald said. "We're a hurting place."

ADVERTISEMENT

This is the other land laid low by Katrina's fury. Like New Orleans to the west, hundreds of square miles of Mississippi coastland look little better than they did in early September, and many people here harbor anger that the federal government has fallen short and that the nation's attention has turned away. At least 200,000 Mississippians remain displaced, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is short at least 13,000 trailers to house them.

More...

Three months since Katrina, devastation on Gulf Coast

2005-11-29T10:02:00.000-08:00

WAVELAND, Miss. -- Hugh Lemoine, a Mandeville, La., construction supplier, returned two Sundays ago to the ruins of his beach house here on eerily named Waveland Avenue. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina's waves, in fact, his roof now sits just north of where it recently balanced atop his home.

Its foundation has been swept completely clean, save for two commodes that hung on for dear life as the bathroom around each one dissolved.

"The wave went in seven miles," Lemoine says, still in awe. "Right here, it was 33 feet high."

A small collection of videotape cassettes rests in the dirt beside his shoes. Are they his?

"These are someone else's," he shrugs.

When Katrina demolished it on Aug. 29, the retirement home Lemoine built with his wife was just five weeks old.

Three months since America's most destructive natural disaster lashed this region, this randomly selected street still resembles hell on earth. After the fourth, fifth, and sixth months since Katrina have come and gone, and fresh crises once again demand the nation's attention, Waveland Avenue's property owners and their neighbors throughout much of the central time zone's coast still will need empathy and support. Among the roughly 7,000 who called Waveland home, the Biloxi Sun-Herald reckons 6,000 still are exiled. The storm pulverized some 60 percent of buildings.

In this part of town, just east of the Lemoines, there is little evidence that a home ever rose at the southeast corner of Waveland Avenue and Fell Street. Uprooted and twisted trees encircle the lot, but nothing remains of a house that stood nearby until that dismal Monday morning. A few champagne glasses lie on the dried muck. A walker is knocked over on its side. A lonely metal cane with small rubber feet stands at attention, as if dutifully awaiting its owner's return. A wheelchair is splattered with mud, yet festooned with washed-up but still-colorful Mardi Gras beads.

More...

Katrina's aftermath brings frontier town atmosphere to Gulfport, Miss.

2005-11-21T03:13:00.000-08:00

By Tim Whitmire
ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:42 a.m. November 20, 2005

GULFPORT, Miss. – Bonnie McNamara laughs when she talks about the two guys who separately offered to pump gas for her during a recent visit to a self-serve station in this hurricane-ravaged city.

"We may be devastated, but we're not desperate," the 31-year-old said of the surplus of single men who have crammed into this city to help rebuild the Mississippi coast.

Gulfport and its neighboring towns – from Waveland in the west to Pascagoula in the east – were epicenters of destruction when Katrina came ashore Aug. 29. But more than two months later, with the reconstruction in full swing, Gulfport has the feel of a latter-day frontier boomtown.

Traffic clogs the streets around the clock. A visit to the Wal-Mart at the intersection of U.S. Highway 49 and Interstate 10 can feel like the final hours before a hurricane, with aisles jammed by shopping carts and 45-minute "express" checkout lines.

More...

DVD Available

2005-11-21T02:44:00.000-08:00

8 Days in Biloxi 8 Weeks After Katrina

DVD is now available. Email me with your mailing address. If you already sent it, feel free to send it again just in case.

Previews of several chapters are available here (click on the "8 Days..." series of links). You'll need Quicktime.

BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Rev Gerald & Judy Bultman
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, MS 39531-2727

Volunteer Scheduling: (228) 267-0008

Make checks to: Bethel Lutheran Church
On the Memo line indicate: Good Samaritan Fund (for hurricane victim's direct needs), or
Current Expenses (for volunteer costs)

- Kent

New Orleans Today: It's Worse Than You Think

2005-11-21T01:06:00.000-08:00

Neighborhoods are still dark, garbage piles up on the street, and bodies are still being found. The city's pain is a nation's shame
By CATHY BOOTH THOMAS NEW ORLEANS

On Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, the neon lights are flashing, the booze is flowing, and the demon demolition men of Hurricane Katrina are ogling a showgirl performing in a thong. The Bourbon House is shucking local oysters again, Daiquiri's is churning out its signature alcoholic slushies, and Mardi Gras masks are once again on sale. But drive north toward the hurricane-ravaged housing subdivisions off Lake Pontchartrain and the masks you see aren't made for Carnival. They are industrial-strength respirators, stark and white, the only things capable of stopping a stench that turns the stomach and dredges up bad memories of a night nearly three months ago. Most disasters come and go in a neat arc of calamity, followed by anger at the slow response, then cleanup. But Katrina cut a historic deadly swath across the South, and rebuilding can't start until the cleanup is done. In much of New Orleans, the leafy coverage of live oaks is gone. Lingering in the sky instead is a fine grit that tastes metallic to the tongue. Everyone's life story is out on the curb, soaked and stinky—furniture and clothing, dishes and rotting drywall, even formerly fabulous antiques. Dump trucks come periodically to remove the piles, taking some to a former city park, now a heap of rubbish several football fields long, towering above the head. The smell is sweet, horrific.

More...

5 area men witness devastation in Biloxi

2005-11-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

By Lori Hansen - Daily News correspondent

As the Gulf Coast’s cleanup from Hurricane Katrina continues, five men from a Greenville church were able to assist and deliver much needed goods from here to a church in Biloxi, Miss.

The quintet — Scott Anderson, Chris and Steve Krogman, Dennis Richards and Jim Tiesinga, all members of the Faith Baptist Church in Greenville — left Oct. 13 to deliver a trailer full of items, mostly collected from other church members, to their sister church, the Lighthouse Baptist Church, in Biloxi.
“We left at midnight,” said Anderson. “We drove a truck with a camper on it pulling a 14- by six(-foot) trailer packed full. We had two refrigerators, one an industrial one donated by Northland Corp., two washers and a dryer, food items, hygiene items, wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes.”

Eighteen hours later, the men unloaded everything at Lighthouse Baptist, which sustained only minor damage when Katrina struck Aug. 29. Pastor Randy and Terre Farwell have converted the church and parsonage into a relief station, providing needs not only for residents looking for help but also for arriving volunteer workers.

“Terre just cried when she saw everything, especially the refrigerator,” said Richards, who went to church with the Farwells as children and has kept in contact with them.

More...

Giving a hand [and their vacation]

2005-11-20T02:52:00.000-08:00

By Laura Bly, USA TODAY
BILOXI, Miss. — At the Vegas-style, beachfront Beau Rivage hotel and casino, flashing neon helps disguise the ravaged interior of what had symbolized the Mississippi Gulf Coast's tourism boom until Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on Aug. 29.
Shouldering the load: Volunteers head out with the U.S. Army National Guard to clean up Canal Street in New Orleans. Shouldering the load: Volunteers head out with the U.S. Army National Guard to clean up Canal Street in New Orleans.
Robert F. Bukaty, AP

But in impoverished east Biloxi, a poker chip's throw from the shuttered high-rise, the lingering impact of Katrina's 30-foot storm surge and 155-mph winds is laid bare.

Here, unlit streets are lined with mounds of splintered siding and waterlogged armchairs. Families burrow under blankets in backyard tents, still waiting for FEMA trailers they'd applied for in early September. Chain saws buzz through toppled, century-old live oaks, raw sewage gurgles in abandoned toilets, and toddlers come down with "Katrina coughs," a respiratory ailment linked to the dust and mold percolating after the storm.

More...

Update from Bethel Lutheran

2005-11-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

News and pictures from the front courtesy of Bethel Lutheran. Download in PDF format. Thanks, Donna (and thanks to all the volunteers).

Donna will be writing these weekly as time allows.

News

2005-11-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Many happy returns
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
BILOXI - Seven-year-old Delanie Bromar might not understand all the effects of Hurricane Katrina, but she learned at least one thing when she and her parents ...
See all stories on this topic

Katrina's back as a nasty cough
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... it Katrina Crud, but whatever you call it - Katrina Cough, Katrina Crud - the ... an ear, nose and throat specialist with practices in Gulfport and Biloxi, and he ...

Abandoned Vehicles Tagged For Removal In Biloxi
WLOX - Biloxi,MS,USA
Starting next week, Biloxi will remove flooded or destroyed cars that have littered city streets since Katrina hit. City officials ...

Birth of a rent hike
SunHerald.com - Biloxi,MS,USA
BILOXI - Some tenants of the Gulf Coast Business Technology Center, a business ... Hasbrouck of the Real Estate Training Institute, referring to Hurricane Katrina. ...

RELIGION BRIEFS
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... Nursery available for the first time since Katrina. ... Christ the King, 10601 Daisy Vestry, Latimer, and 11 am Sunday at Vietnamese Martyrs, Oak Street, Biloxi. ...

Positive vision sought for NO
2theadvocate.com - Baton Rouge,LA,USA
... In pre-Katrina New Orleans, public housing projects became virtual prisons for generations of ... firm with operations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Biloxi, Miss ...

Here to stay
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... She had just completed remodeling her six-bedroom home from Hurricane Georges' damage when Hurricane Katrina wiped it out. But she said she is here to stay. ...
See all stories on this topic

Appeal for help nets $15,000 in storm aid
Providence Journal (subscription) - Providence,RI,USA
... Donations can be sent to Hurricane Katrina Relief, Diocese of Biloxi, 1790 Popps Ferry Rd., Biloxi, MS 39532. To benefit St. Peter, address checks to St. ...

Military men on the beach again
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... "And today is no different.". Waveland's Veterans Memorial, built by American Legion Post 77, was severely battered by Hurricane Katrina. ...
See all stories on this topic

Goggle News - biloxi katrina

2005-11-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

AROUND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... The details on each: Biloxi Natatorium, which sustained minor roof damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina, will reopen Monday. ...
See all stories on this topic

Financial uncertainty ahead for Coast symphony
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
... The venue is gone for the Pops concerts always held at the Biloxi Grand in ... the Sprabery home where it is held was "virtually unscathed" by Katrina, Robohm said ...

Budget Deception
Magic City Morning Star - Millinocket,ME,USA
... coast - begs the question: if we are offsetting the cost to rebuild Biloxi, why aren ... the poor do anything for the people who have been hurt by Katrina, who will ...
See all stories on this topic

COVER- First responders: Chapel sent its Calvary
The Hook - Charlottesville,VA,USA
After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, it took FEMA ... His congregation recently donated $25,000 to help a Biloxi group purchase construction ...

Devastated Gulf slow to heal
Lawrence Journal World - Lawrence,KS,USA
... Douglas County dispatchers Amy Hays and Jimmy Ramsey spent two weeks in Biloxi, Miss. Before Katrina, Hancock County had three 911 dispatch centers when the ...

FEMA MAPS ARE COMING
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
It will also show Katrina's surge. By ANITA LEE. GULFPORT - Beginning Nov. ... Maps also will show Katrina's tidal surge, which was even higher. ...
See all stories on this topic

Bethel Update from Judy

2005-11-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Judy Bultman just sent me this update via email. It was a Word document but here I've saved it as a downloadable PDF (~212k).

If case you received the Word version as an email attachment, this is the one with the tree picture on the front.

Excerpt:
"We want to thank each of you for your part in this ministry. We plan to e-mail weekly (or so) updates to keep you posted on your good work. Believe me we have tried to get to this point for several weeks so that we can make you aware of how truly grateful we are to you and to your brothers and sisters who have given so much to the ministry. But honestly the needs here are so great and have been so immediate that we have just had to give all of our energy to meet them. Please feel free to forward this update to members of your congregation. "

She'll keep us posted. But if she has a choice between typing an update to us or getting an hour or two nap in, we'd hope she'd opt for the former. Best wishes to you and your efforts.

Residents object to trailer parks

2005-11-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

GULFPORT - Harrison County is trying to find property for temporary mobile home parks, but neighbors objected Monday to several locations, even though federal law mandates the parks be dismantled in two years.

"It creates an environment people don't want to live around," Gulfport developer Don Hall told the Harrison County Board of Supervisors on Monday. "When this 18- to 24-month period ends, it's very hard to ask people to leave."

Supervisors considered seven private parcels but after a public hearing approved only three: up to 150 mobile homes on property off Lamey Bridge Road in D'Iberville, up to 200 mobile homes south of Interstate 10 and west of Vidalia Road, and up to 70 campers off Canal Road south of I-10.

"We're way behind on this and we're jumping through a lot of hoops," said Mike Andrews, director of Harrison County's temporary housing effort.

The parks approved Monday are not expected to open until early 2006. Bechtel is setting up the parks under a contract with FEMA. Construction takes six to 10 weeks once site approval is secured from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a lease agreement with the property owner is reached.

At the public hearing, Andrews said Hurricane Katrina displaced more than 7,000 renters, mostly from damaged or destroyed apartment complexes. Established mobile home and RV parks are filled up, he said.

Ten weeks after Katrina, only one park has opened in Long Beach but Andrews said 32 temporary sites have been identified.

Link

Barbour unhappy with Bush's Katrina plan

2005-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

JACKSON - Gov. Haley Barbour said he's focusing his efforts in Washington on "the single biggest issue facing Mississippi citizens": financial help for Hurricane Katrina victims who didn't have federal flood insurance.

"I am disappointed in the president's recommendation (to Congress) because that wasn't recommended," Barbour said Monday. "I'm not just a little disappointed. It's undeniable that the federal government played a major role in thousands of Mississippi residents relying to their detriment on the federal government's advice that they were outside the flood plain and didn't need it."

Barbour said Mississippi's congressional delegation is pushing for measures to help these homeowners, "and we continue to make our case to the administration." He said he hopes Congress adopts Katrina relief spending plans soon, possibly by the end of next week. Barbour said he is traveling to Washington late today to meet with President Bush's newly appointed Katrina recovery ombudsman.

Barbour said the temporary housing program continues to move too slowly. He said that 15,686 FEMA trailers are now occupied but that a total of 35,000 are needed.

The governor said he doubts whether the FEMA trailer program can be speeded beyond its current pace, which, he said, is beyond the scope of any previous disaster in the nation's history. He said the solution may be more "alternatives" like the cruise ship currently being used.

"There's a game called whack-a-mole," Barbour said, "That's what the temporary housing situation has been like. Every time you solve one problem, another one pops up."

Link

Katrina Homeless Waiting For Trailers

2005-11-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Many Hurricane Katrina evacuees are still waiting for the 125,000 trailers or mobile homes the federal government has promised are on the way.

Only about 19,000 of the trailers and mobile homes have been delivered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the 10 weeks since the hurricane left hundreds of thousands homeless, the Chicago Tribune reports.

It's only one part of the housing plans, which include rental assistance, which 488,000 people have gotten so far.

For people like Vanessa Posey, FEMA moves too slow and doesn't follow through.

After living in a tent with her seven children in her mother's front yard in East Biloxi, Miss., FEMA finally came through with two trailers -- nine weeks after it promised her a mobile home.

Neither have electricity and she can't get through to FEMA about it.

FEMA officials say they are trying to get the trailers and mobile homes out, but are running into problems out of their control.

Some are still being built, local governments aren't allowing trailer villages and the Katrina ravaged sewer and electrical lines need to be reconnected before anything can be set up.

Link

Address for donations

2005-11-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

Material things needed right now (11/5/05):
- Tents (full family size or individual, preferably family size)
- Warm clothes
- Blankets

- Wal-Mart gift cards
- Visa debit cards
These cards are really good to send, because Bethel uses them to buy any specific needs that come directly from hurricane victims. They are also really good to have, because they provide more business for the economy. Bethel does not hand out any gift cards in order to help reduce any chance of abusing them, but instead uses them to buy the item requested.

Items that the volunteers should bring for themselves:
Tools to work with (Hammer, crow-bar, Heavy-duty masks to block mold, etc.)
Personal items, and, it's not a requirement right now, but maybe a little extra money to help Bethel with food expenses.

Sending money or mailing gift cards:
Bethel Lutheran Church
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, MS 39531-2727
Rev. Gerald & Judy Bultman

Make checks payable to Bethel Lutheran Church,
Memo:
- Good Samaritan Fund (for hurricane victim's direct needs)
or
- Current Expenses (for volunteer costs)

(Thanks to Alison de la one L for this info from the front lines)

- Kent

Katrina gulf relief funds said held up

2005-11-05T22:43:00.000-08:00

GULFPORT, Miss., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Two months after allocations of billions of dollars in Katrina relief aid began Mississippi Gulf Coast subcontractors say they are not being paid.

As a result, they told The Washington Post, they cannot pay their workers, mostly immigrant laborers employed in painting homes, removing debris and other salvage chores.

The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance has prepared complaints for more than 150 immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, and submitted them to the Labor Department.

The complaints are asking Labor to compel at least five subcontractors in Gulfport, Biloxi and other gulf areas to compensate the workers for as much as $100,000 in unpaid work.

The allegations came to light during a forum on Katrina-related immigrant abuse organized by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington last week.

How To Present the video 8 Days in Biloxi 8 Weeks After Katrina

2005-11-05T02:49:00.000-08:00

It is done. And it is what it is. For those who were there at this particular time, I'd like to thank you for allowing me to include you on tape, for your hard work as volunteers and as witness to these events. A special shout-out to my homey, Michael, your chef-extraordinaire who recognizes culinary talent when he sees it in his kitchen and thus encouraged me to leave and go out with my camera often. This mission was his doing and on our return he helped finance the production of the video.

There is much left out due to technical problems with bad audio including Pastor Megan's reading and Pastor Rich's song "Feed My Sheep. " There is way too little footage of Judy showing her tireless efforts and inspriational talks. I have about ten minutes worth of snippets of Pastor Jerry and Judy whipping by the camera and out doors on their way to take care of varying crises.

I lost a whole segment to a mangled tape. It is completely unsalvageable and would have been the cornerstone of what needed to be shown. You might remember Evelyn, a long-time member of Bethel Lutheran. Her husband takes care of the grounds. She's about knee-high to a grasshopper and usually carrying something or on the phone or listening to someone's problems. She allowed me to interview her with Pastor Jerry and she spoke of her son and daughter-in-law, newlyweds drowned in Katrina. And of another son who lost his battle to cancer a week later. I am deeply saddened by her loss and thank her for sharing how faith has led her through her grief. While others will not know it because the tape is destroyed, I know it. The video was edited in exhausting 16 hour sessions and rushed to FedEx just in time for All Saints Day Sunday for some volunteers who needed footage and scheduled a report to their church. Whenever I was too tired to continue, I'd just think of Evelyn and press on.

Okay, so we have a visual record from a small snippet of time in the aftermath of Katrina. What do we do with it? The TV crew have packed their equipment, the Red Cross is about to pull out, FEMA is still trying to lace its boots yet the situation remain dire and the church is running out of supplies, food and money.

Remember that sending a teddy bear may comfort a small child and make the giver feel good about themselves. But a freshly kilt bear will feed and clothe a small family. Ask my wife. She still hates to talk about that camping trip. A Christmas card would be spiritually uplifting but practically only provides .1 btu for 2 seconds. They need more. And fast. Be creative. Think outside the cardboard refrigerator box these people may be sleeping in soon.

You've been there as volunteers and you've all expressed a desire to go back. Good for you. As Pastor Glenn (sp.?) said, you wanted to be a part of "an armload at a time" lifting the people out of the rubble. You can do this from where you are right now.

Show this tape. Make copies. Empty one of your services and split up to different churches in your area and show it to each. This video does zero good sitting on a shelf. It needs to be presented to audiences quickly. The need is urgent. Find a way. Any way.

Here's some points to get you started talking through it. It is divided into chapters in an order like a newspaper article of descending import. Strong images of the aftermath of Katrina are near the front, details about what work crews do and future equipment needs are towards the end.

Think of it as a "moan", a style of wordless singing found in southern churches (fascinating background and will explain how I was called by a song from a Beaumon church in another post). This is meant to be seen close-up and personal, quietly with the volume low. Its suitable for larger audiences with the sound off in many parts. I didn't have time to do a lot of narration and where I did manage to mumble something over the video, it is evidence that English must be my second language. Walk them through it like a slide show. Give it a shot.

Note: I didn't video any of the public using the church commissary. We're not here to exploit anyone. But that's why I concentrated on the physical destruction instead and hope the viewers can connect the dots and realize people are living amongst the ruins shown.

So far, the reaction my gentle preview audiences had was : "I had no idea it was that bad." People want to help. They want to be a part of this. We need them. Now.

Title & Info
includes Bethel Lutheran address and website URL. Instruct your audience to have a pen ready.

Quick Overview
A general report to my church (Lord of Life Lutheran in Columbus, Ohio) regarding our mission to Biloxi. This serves little public interest beyond my congregation and the people forced to suffer my humor on a daily basis. This is my homage to Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

The Gulf Coast
Tour of I-90 and casinos. This is quite dark in tone, despite the bright sunny day. If presenting this, I'd turn off the sound and just let it play in silence. Some text overlay imagery detailing after-effects of the storm. If you're talking through it, I'll provide some key points shortly about what casino barge came from which dock way in the background. Most of these are mansions and casinos. Why should we care? Well, along, with the fishing industry, thats the tax base. Mostly gone. Plus the physics involved in carving out the first floor of a 6,500 sq. ft. mansion is impressive to imagine.

LDR
Interview with Hal Shope of Lutheran Disaster Relief. Not only is he the oldest disaster relief executive on site in the state of Mississippi, he's a voice of calm reason amongst a brash cacaphony of political posturing.

Commissary
Goods and supplies dispensed through the church. I set down a shaving kit on a table my first day. Big mistake. It was put on the shelf and went out the door with someone.

Medical Clinic
Short interview with Michael Funk from Florida who ran the medical clinic for part of October. He was impressed with the church and we were impressed with him: when a long trailer truck arrived at the front door, he was first inside shoveling out palettes of goods for the shelves.

A Neighborhood
Surveying houses near the gulf.

Frank
Sharon worked in the Medical clinic from September 2nd to October 16. She met and remembered so many local people and we were lucky to go "on rounds" with her through the community. Frank was walking up a side street and Sharon recognized him and offered him a ride to the Salvation Army relief area ("Yankee Stadium"). Along the way he told his story. It was sad and all too typical of the frustration these citizens have been going through. Some kind volunteers followed up the next day with a gift to help him get through the ordeal.

It is not my intent to make FEMA look bad here (he still hasn't gotten his trailer). In fact, Sharon told us later how he got a bill from the hospital for his hurricane related injuries and the hospital mentioned that FEMA might pay part of it. He walked across town to FEMA and his case worker looked at the bill, tore it in two and said "There. All taken care of."

Frank has become sort of a poster child for the church; a gentle face to the suffering of many. I'll keep you updated on his progress as I get reports from those still on the scene.

St. Michaels
We stopped at a Catholic church near the casinos. A group, probably the congregation, swept up the insides and placed various statues on the altar. Note how the stained glass survived.

Morning Crew
Interview with Terry, Tom and Peter on dispatching crews, future equipment needs, etc. This is more detail oriented for the groups that have decided to go on mission. It is important to contact the church to schedule when you're coming down, and to get a list of immediate needs as these change from week to week.

Mucking A House
Though "mucking" will soon end and reconstruction will begin, this is an interesting segment showing the hard work our volunteers did to help save the basic structure of homes. We visit a site and learn what the volunteers do. Afterwards, the owner of this house thanks the volunteers. There is much more to her story. But it is very personal and her sharing it with the volunteers in attendance was witness enough.

Did Anybody See God Today?
After dinner and just before Devotions. What the volunteers saw and did that affected their lives and strengthened their faith. If you were in this segment during the week I was there, it was an honor to have worked with you. I have enough footage for a second DVD.

Credits
I could have put a list of needs but since everything changes so fast and as different tasks move to different churches, I'm planning on just posting current news and information on the web site (here).

More soon.

- Kent

DVD Video available

2005-11-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

8 Days in Biloxi 8 Weeks After Katrina

DVD is now available. Email me with your mailing address. If you already sent it, feel free to send it again just in case.

For now, some Quicktime previews of several chapters are available here (click on the 8 Days series of links): http://homepage.mac.com/k3nt/

You'll need to have Quicktime installed, which you will find here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/

BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Rev Gerald & Judy Bultman
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, MS 39531-2727

Volunteer Scheduling: (228) 239-8882

Make checks to: Bethel Lutheran Church
On the Memo line indicate: Good Samaritan Fund (for hurricane victim's direct needs), or
Current Expenses (for volunteer costs)

- Kent

After Katrina

2005-11-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

Here at Cruising World--tucked away in Rhode Island, far from New Orleans--the first inkling that all hell was breaking loose in the aftermath of last August's devastating Hurricane Katrina was an e-mail to friends some 36 hours after the storm made landfall from author and contributor Jim Carrier ("Ranger's Refit--and the Real Rewards," June 2003; "Lingering on the Algarve," June 2005), who'd moved into a new home in the Lakeview section of the city just a month before.

Jim knows a thing or two about solid reporting and also about hurricanes. For years he rambled the rugged high country of Colorado as the Rocky Mountain Ranger columnist for The Denver Post. Later, he wrote a riveting book, The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome, about the violent 1998 tempest that cut a deadly swath through Central America and brought down the 282-foot schooner Fantome and her 31 crewmembers, none of whom was ever seen again.

As the world now knows, New Orleans was more or less intact well after the eye of Katrina had passed, and for a good day or more it was believed the city had dodged a major bullet. But then a string of levees cracked, and the city began to flood; Jim had evacuated days earlier, but he learned from afar that Lakeview was under water from a photograph on a local newspaper's website.

More...

Please accept my apology

2005-11-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

GULFPORT, Miss. - Dear Katrina survivors:

I'm sorry. So sorry. Please accept my apology.

I simply didn't know how brutally your world was gut punched by Hurricane Katrina. Of course, from afar I was watching on TV like everyone else, perhaps subconsciously hoping that maybe - just maybe - a flying telephone pole might impale a TV weather stud or two, live and in color. That's must-see reality TV.

And, yes, I knew there would be significant property damage; there always is. It's what hurricanes do. And I truly felt sympathy for those who suffered losses.

But you know, deep inside I probably was also thinking that blowing away some of those garish aluminum signs and tacky shops might not be such a bad thing - nature's way of urban renewal.

I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.

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Katrina victims on Miss. Gulf Coast inspired by volunteers

2005-11-01T00:43:00.000-08:00

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (BP)--Southern Baptists along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast say the response of Christians from around the nation has inspired them in their struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina damage.

The Jackson County Baptist Association in southeastern Mississippi, for example, processed more than 3,000 volunteers in the two months following Hurricane Katrina. The volunteers have removed mud and debris from 600 homes in Pascagoula and elsewhere in the area.

“It gives us a great deal of encouragement and emotional energy to go on,” said Tom Miller, associate missions director for the Jackson County association. “The fact people care and come and assist in demolition and repair work gives you a boost.”

More...

Dispatch from Karen and Tom

2005-10-31T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hello from Biloxi,

Today we celebrated Reformation Sunday at Bethel Lutheran and also the first day of Sunday School for the year. Rally Day never happened because the Hurricaine Katrina came the week before. It was a wonderful day for the congregation. About 65% of the members are back to church again. Many are not in thier homes and living with family or friends, but they are back to church. They had a luncheon to celebrate the day and honor the volunteers at the same time. Good to see some parts of their lives getting back to some normalcy.

We were blessed to have Jan, Tom's sister here at Bethel for the week. It is a week that she will never forget. She is back home telling her story and encouraging others to come.

One of my first e-mails I told you about a man who lost his wife after she was taken to a hospital from a shelter they were in. He came back this week to see us, have a little lunch and talk a bit. I learned the whole story and the right story. He is 82, his wife is 79. They decided to ride out the storm in thier home because they made it through Camille ok and nothing was ever supposed to be as bad as Camille. When the water started rising and flooding their house, Mr. Brown decided he needed to swim out and get some help. He latched onto a door that was floating by and held on to that for a while but then realized that he would probably end up in the gulf if he stayed with at. He grabbed onto a tree and climbed up as high as he could but there was a cat in that tree also who kept scratching the top of his head every time he tried to get higher. He and the cat stayed in that tree for 8 hours until the water subsided. He made it back to his home, not knowing what he would find. Miraculously his wife and nephew were alive. Somehow they had kicked a hole in the ceiling and climbed into the attic. and survived the storm. However it all was to much for Mr. Brown's wife. She was in shock and he got her to the hospital which thankfully was only a few blocks away. The next day he went to the hospital but she was no longer there. They said she had been discharged to a shelter somewhere. He did locate the shelter but she was not their. Apparently she was taken by the paramedics and transported out of the city or the state, he does not know. No one has been able to find her yet. He does not know if she is alive or dead. All this time he has been living in his moldy house and others who will take him in. He doesn't want to go far or relocate because he says he wants to be at home if his wife comes back. He uses Bethel Lutheral to get messages. Yesterday we found out from FEMA that they were ready to place a trailer in the driveway of his rented house. His landlord had given permission. So thankfully he will have a clean, dry place to live now as he continues to hope and pray for his wifes return.

Small groups have started going out into communities and finding folks living in small tent cities. Many shelters are closing and people are finding whatever means they can to get through each day. We have been taking bedding, warm clothes, food to them if they need it. There is a shortage of tents in the area so arrangments were made to have a large supply shipped in along with sleeping bags.

The work crews continue to gut houses, pressure wash and treat the wood so the mold will not grow back. It is a nasty job but one step closer to putting a house back together. It brings hope that someday their life may be back to normal again. There is so much to do, it is overwhelming, 8 to 10 years before recovery is complete, if it ever can be. That is a long time. This week a bit of reconstruction was begun, which was wonderful. Electricity was replaced in 2 houses and some sheet rock hung.

Bethel Lutheran has partnered with Lutheran Church of the Good Shephard about a mile away. Services have been consolidated. They are now doing all the food and supply distribution and Bethel is distributing clothing, bedding and house hold supplies. House volunteers is also shared. Case managment has started to meet the long term needs as well as the short term needs of the people we come in contact with.

Yesterday a crew drove to Waveland which is west of Biloxi on the coast about 30 miles. We went to help a small church that was flooded duing the storm. The church is about a mile from the gulf and was flooded with 8 feet of water. Most of the gutting was done. The crew helped move sheet rock debri to the curb and other things. Being flooded with 8 feet of water 1 mile away gives you some idea of the magnitude of this storm. Before we left for home we drive done to the beach where there were once beautiful beach front homes. All that remains for 1/2 mile in is just cement slabs. Everything is gone. It is just an unbelivable sight. Seeing it on TV is awful, but in person is unbelievable. That force of wind and water is hard to grasp. No one has even begun to clean and clear the area except that the streets are clear so you can drive the streets that once were neighborhoods.

On a lighter note, there was a Dr. and his brother who was a Resident volunteering in the clinic this week from the U. P. of Michigan. They were wonderful guys and worked hard caring for everyone in the clinic. The Dr's name was Ted. His brother's name was Ed. Their brother Jed, a police officer was here volunteering and their other brother Ned was back home. So a family with 4 brothers, Ted, Ed, Jed and Ned!! They have 5 sisters. We didn't ask them what their sister's names were!!!

Tiny baby steps are being made with many people working hard. The work will and needs to go on for months and years to come. The faith community is and will continue to play a huge role in the recovery and rebuilding process. Each pair of hands and feet make a difference. God is Active and at Work.

The weather was cool last week but back into the 70s again and beautiful, wonderful for doing the work that needs to get done. Volunteer #s were low this weekend but groups coming in the end of the week and by next week there will be 80 here with 57 more coming in for the weekend of Nov 11-13, wonderful!!

Thank you for your e-mails and your prayers. We appreciate them so much. Love and God Bless, Mary and Tom

Gulf area ripe for fraud

2005-10-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

The dead are applying for disaster relief aid in South Mississippi, or so it appears from plot lists obtained by officials working with the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force.

"They've certainly gotten creative," said Luci Willoughby, administrator of finance at the American Red Cross headquarters in South Mississippi. "We've got some people using a (Biloxi) graveyard as their pre-disaster address. Some of them are for people who are on the (cemetery's) plot list."

It's the same type of scenario that played out in Florida after Hurricane Andrew hit, though officials here say it's too soon to tell if each of the 40 suspected cases from one Biloxi cemetery are fraudulent. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

That's just one example of the many types of suspected fraud that local, state and federal investigators with the Hurricane Katrina Task Force are interested in tackling.

More...

Witness to disaster: Gulf Coast scenes; Visions of Katrina captured

2005-10-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

DOVER - There's an image Ron Gough just can't shake.

He remembers two sisters sorting through a mountain of donated clothes, looking for something that fit, looking for something that matched.

It was so hot and it had just rained, sending shots of steam from the pile of clothes the sisters diligently poked through in a mall parking lot.

One of the women had her two young children with her, a boy and a girl, ages 5 and 3.

She pulled from the pile the sandal that matched the other -a pair for the 5-year-old - and was, Mr. Gough said, so happy.

"To know that this woman had lost everything - her job and her home, and yet she was so upbeat when she saw a pair of sandals donated by someone with a generous heart ..." he said.

More...

Holy Trinity answers call from Katrina victims

2005-10-30T02:05:00.000-08:00

On a recent Monday afternoon, North Augustan Paulette Parker made a phone call to Bethel Lutheran Church in Biloxi, Miss.

The person who answered the call, named Judy, listened for a moment and then said, "Your phone call is a blessing from God." Judy went on to tell Parker of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina in the Biloxi area.

"You cannot believe it unless you see it," Judy went on to say.

The service committee at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church had already discussed having a drive for blankets, underwear, and socks for Katrina victims, as a pre-Thanksgiving project.

Now the committee wants to step-up this project, with plans to deliver needed items to Bethel Lutheran Church no later than Nov. 15.

The entire North Augusta community is invited to contribute to this project. Items may be delivered to Holy Trinity Lutheran (1002 Carolina Ave.) between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays. Call the church if you cannot deliver items during these hours, and other arrangements will be made.

The list of what is needed includes:

New blankets — all sizes

Socks and underwear, all sizes — men's, women's, and children's — in packages

Diapers, all sizes, including adult

Parker commented that "new" and "packaged" are important because most people need to be able to use donated items immediately when received.

Rising From The Ruin

2005-10-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

MSNBC Special Section on the impact of Katrina:

http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/the_towns/

CNN Hurricane Katrina Page

2005-10-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Worth a look. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/

Lawmakers stunned by South Miss. damage

2005-10-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

BILOXI - Words temporarily eluded state Rep. Scott Bounds, D-Philadelphia, as he tried to verbalize his reaction to Katrina's devastation during his first post-storm trip to the Coast.

"Words just... I just... I've never seen anything like it," Bounds said.

About 30 "upland" lawmakers toured South Mississippi by bus from Pearlington to Jackson County on Wednesday with many stops in between. For many, such as Bounds, it was their first trip down since the storm. While many legislative leaders and powerful committee chairs have been here, many of the rank-and-file had not. The trip was arranged by Rep. Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville; Sen. Tommy Gollott, D-Biloxi; others in the South Mississippi delegation and the Department of Marine Resources.

"We just thought it was a good idea to get as many people down here to see firsthand," Frierson said, "because you can't really describe it. Maybe Faulkner or Hemingway could do it justice, but you really have to see it."

More...

Keesler Medical Center could be open in January

2005-10-27T23:39:00.000-07:00

BILOXI, Miss. Hurricane Katrina-damaged Keesler Medical Center in Biloxi, Mississippi, could open its doors to outpatients in January.
Brigadier General William Lord says the facility could resume surgeries and in-patient care in March.

The medical center, which is used by about 56-thousand military retirees and active duty personnel, was flooded during Katrina.

Lord, speaking yesterday to a Biloxi Chamber of Commerce meeting, said in-patient care would return once repairs are made to surgical sections of the hospital.

The Air Force already has sent 20 (M) million dollars to begin repairs.

Lord says the Air Force also will resume its graduate medical education program, which trains about 100 doctors and nurses per year, once the patients return.

Those medical students transferred to Wilford Hall at Lackland Air Force Base at San Antonio for training, until they can return to Keesler.

Via

Tent City for the Forgotten

2005-10-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

BILOXI, Miss. — In the afternoon, when it is warm, Valentina and Gary Stilwell can almost forget there are no walls around them. Valentina has hung one of her paintings on a tree, and there is a bowl of hard candies on the coffee table. The concrete slab beneath them is as spotless as linoleum.

But Sunday night a cold wind shuddered through east Biloxi, shaking their tent so badly that Gary had to get up several times to drive the stakes back into the ground. Gary and Valentina slept in half-hour lulls between the gusts of wind, and in the morning the weight of what they had been through bore down hard.

ADVERTISEMENT
"There's nobody that can do anything for us," said Gary, a 62-year-old Vietnam veteran. Valentina, 44, put it more bluntly.

"I said to the FEMA guy, if you can't bring me my trailer, just bring me a .38 and a bullet," she said.

More...

Volunteers Caught On Video

2005-10-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

View some Volunteers from mid-October at Bethel Lutheran

About a minute of video (requires Quicktime)

Mississippi Tax Revenue Sinking

2005-10-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

MISSISSIPPI -- Mississippi's tax coffers suffered the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina as the state's tax revenue from gaming fell almost $10 million during September.

With 13 casinos from the Gulf Coast communities of Biloxi, Bay St. Louis and Gulfport knocked out of commission by the hurricane on Aug. 29, the state collected gaming tax revenue from only the Mississippi River communities of Greenville, Natchez, Lula, Tunica and Vicksburg.

In August, when all of the state's 29 casinos were operating, Mississippi collected $17.3 million in gaming taxes. The figure dropped to $7.6 million in September, with casinos operated by such companies as MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and Pinnacle Entertainment closed.

A year ago, Mississippi casinos contributed almost $12.4 million to the state's general fund and $168.5 million for all of fiscal 2005. That amount is expected to decline as long as the Gulf Coast casinos are not operating. The state's gaming commission estimated Mississippi is losing $500,000 a day in state and local taxes with the casinos not operating.

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Hurricane relief sets record

2005-10-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

By RUSTY DENNEN and JESSICA ALLEN

The faithful at Massaponax Baptist Church in Spotsylvania County raised money and gathered donations to send to the Gulf Coast states struck by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

But pastor Dave Hockney and associate pastor Cecil McKinney wanted to do more.

So they contacted the mission board of the Baptist General Association of Virginia in Richmond. A group of 19 members from the church leave today with a truckload of supplies for McHenry, Miss., where they will be replacing roofs, fixing porches and clearing debris.

"This is an opportunity to make a difference; to do something more than give money," Hockney said. "We are being an active participant in helping them get back on their feet."

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Biloxi families still wait for aid

2005-10-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Residents live in the rubble of their homes, hoping for the trailers FEMA promised them
By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press

HURRICANE KATRINA
NOAA
Hurricane Katrina swirls toward the Gulf Coast.

• Complete Chronicle coverage
Katrina news via RSS
HOUSTON RELIEF:
• Volunteer Houston's updates
• Joint Command
• Houston Red Cross
• FEMA news releases
BLOGS:
• Voices of Katrina
• DomeBlog
• In Exile: An evacuee's blog
• Eric Berger's SciGuy
Audio AUDIO:
Katrina evacuee Janice Armstrong talks about starting over 9/13

Businessman Robert Lewis shares his evacuation experiences 9/2

Video VIDEO:
• Bush hails spirit of rebuilding 10/11
• New Orleans almost dry 10/4
• Reopening of New Orleans halted 9/19
• Americans react to Bush speech 9/16
• Bush: City to rise again 9/15 / Speech text
• U.S. to pay most costs 9/15
• Nagin: Quarter to open 9/15
• Floodwaters dangerous 9/15
• New Orleans port open 9/14
• Nursing home photos 9/14
• Progress is slow 9/14
• FEMA explains recovery 9/14
• Flu shots for evacuees 9/14
More videos »
PHOTO GALLERIES:
Associated Press:
• Latest images

Houston Chronicle:
• Reliant Park scenes 9/15
• New Orleans cleans up 9/13
• Houston stories 9/13
More galleries »
INTERACTIVE:
• New Orleans flood map
• Katrina aftermath
• Victims of Katrina
• New Orleans devastation
IN NEW ORLEANS:
• Nola.com's breaking news blog and Hurricane Center
GRAPHICS:
• NO gradually opening 9/15
• Impact on natural gas 9/15
• Chemical plant damage 9/15
• Shelter numbers: 9/14
• Seafood losses: 914
• Ecological damage: 9/14
• NO water tested: 9/13
More graphics »
SPECIAL REPORT:
• The Big One: Are we ready?
Video, graphics courtesy Associated Press and KHOU; free Real Player, Flash plug-in and Acrobat Reader may be required.)

BILOXI, MISS. - In the poorest of neighborhoods here, people sleep outside with no running water or power.

They live among starving cats, rotting heaps of garbage and constant, buzzing flies. The bathroom is anywhere and everywhere. The filth is inescapable.

Weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes and jobs, many people in east Biloxi are living amid the rubble of their own houses, waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deliver the trailers they have applied for — or for other federal assistance.

"We just wait and pray," said Kenneth Albus, 45, who has spent weeks in the wreckage of his rented house, taking care of friend Margaret Nevels, a 65-year-old woman with swollen ankles and a heart condition.

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'We're in this together'

2005-10-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Instead of the usual choir, Mass started with a loud whistle blow about 15 minutes behind schedule, while locals swapped stories of survival and loss.

"Forgive me if I get choked up, but I want to thank you," Rev. Dennis Carver told the congregation. "We're in this together; we pray together and we love together."

Many of the churchgoers carried their own chairs. The wooden church pews and brick walls are gone, likely mixed into the rubble pile from the parish elementary school behind the church.

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Katrina Still Causing Harm

2005-10-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

It’s been nearly eight weeks since Hurricane Katrina struck, and fresh disasters have replaced it as the lead story on the evening news.

But Katrina is still very much the dominating news for people in the Gulf states.

We all knew at the outset that it would take months, even years, for stricken areas to recover. We told ourselves we would not forget misery of the people there, that we would continue to pour out assistance.

Although we might not have forgotten, the impulse to help might have lost its urgency.

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Miss. jobless rate rises to 9.6 percent in September

2005-10-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi's unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in September, fueled by a loss of jobs form Hurricane Katrina, state officials said.

The state's jobless rate in August was 6.9 percent.

There were 59,700 jobs lost in Mississippi because of Hurricane Katrina, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Numbers tallied through Friday show 34,489 Mississippians were collecting unemployment insurance benefits.

Another 41,955 people were receiving Disaster Unemployment Assistance, and 34,620 claims were pending, said Diane Bell, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

A total of 111,064 have applied for benefits, Bell said.

More...

Hope After Katrina

2005-10-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

By Sarah Horner

It looked like a war zone. Military helicopters loomed in the air. Troops trudged through the streets. Homes were obliterated. Residential streets were disguised as land fills and piled high with mattresses, freezers, road signs and appliances. Billboards that had snapped in two covered the highways. Entire cities had curfews.

“There was no way I could have imagined what it looked like,” said Captain Mike Parker from the Salvation Army in Fergus Falls about coastal Mississippi after he returned from a two-week trip working as a hurricane-relief volunteer there. “I'm still in disbelief.”

Trying to piece back together the lives of people who had lost everything they owned was a daunting task, Parker said. And he recalled he often felt like his minor contribution was inadequate in the face of such total despair.

“I remember telling a particular gentleman that I didn't feel like I was doing much in terms of his loss,” Parker said. “And he told me, ‘It's about hope. You give us one thread of hope, and then someone else does, and eventually we have a cord to hang onto.'”

It was the graciousness of people like that man that Parker said reminded him why his presence, though seemingly insignificant, was necessary.

More: http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/articles/2005/10/24/news/news03.txt

Katrina Assistance

2005-10-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

American Red Cross locations

Financial Assistance Centers are closed. Workers will go to applicants' homes to confirm damage and provide assistance. The American Red Cross requests that all disaster clients who received a check on or before Oct. 7 deposit those funds before Nov. 6. After that date, those checks will no longer be valid. For general information and to leave a contact number so caseworkers can return calls: (866) GET-INFO.

Salvation Army distribution centers

Distribution centers provide disaster distribution of household goods, foods and cleaning supplies, and social services. To receive materials, bring a photo ID and Social Security cards for each family member, proof of residency and FEMA registration numbers.

More...

After Katrina: Volunteers get job done without red tape

2005-10-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Per the Sewickley Herald

Lending a Hand Part 2
After Katrina: Volunteers get job done without red tape

God Sent Bananas

2005-10-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

As my husband and I were finalizing vacation plans, Hurricane Katrina struck, wreaking havoc for thousands of people. Suddenly, our plans seemed irrelevant, and we felt called to help. We volunteered with Lutheran Disaster Response through the ELCA website link and were deployed to Bethel Lutheran Church in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Within minutes of arrival, we were working on relief efforts. A 53’ truck came from Virginia, and we helped unload it. But, that delivery, which seemed so large, lasted only a day, and we were praying for another truck. We urged our clients to pray for trucks, and when one arrived, everyone shouted with joy, “God sent another truck! Amen!”

One afternoon, the shelves were especially bare--only pork’n beans remained. One of the volunteers walked an elderly client home with her supplies, and a trucker stopped to ask if they would like some bananas. The volunteer explained that he was with LDR and yes, we would take bananas. The load had been dumped over and could not be sold as premium fruit, so the trucker was donating them. Soon, twenty cases of bananas were being distributed to the fruit-starved people of Biloxi, and they began cheering, “God sent bananas! Amen! God sent bananas! Thank you, Lord.” The next day, God sent bagels.

Miracles and grace reign in Mississippi. Go in peace; serve the Lord.

- Kim Toskey

Weeks after Katrina, Biloxi's poor feel forgotten

2005-10-25T02:04:00.000-07:00

Mississippi city's poor live in squalor while awaiting hurricane aid

The Associated Press
Updated: 5:39 p.m. ET Oct. 18, 2005

BILOXI, Miss. - In the poorest of neighborhoods here, people sleep outside with no running water or power. They live among starving cats, rotting heaps of garbage and constant, buzzing flies. The bathroom is anywhere and everywhere. The filth is inescapable.

Weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes and jobs, many people in east Biloxi are living amid the rubble of their own houses, waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deliver the trailers they have applied for — or for other federal assistance.

“We just wait and pray,” said Kenneth Albus, 45, who has spent weeks in the wreckage of his rented house, taking care of friend Margaret Nevels, a 65-year-old woman with swollen ankles and a heart condition.

People subsisting in similar, squalid conditions can be found all over east Biloxi, this city’s version of the lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans and only blocks behind the wealthy casinos that line the coast.

Those interviewed — black, white and Vietnamese — feel that FEMA has forgotten them. Nobody cares about the poor, they say. Never have, never did. Katrina didn’t kill them, but they fear the coming weeks might.

“We alive now, and we want to stay that way,” 81-year-old Bessie Tanksley said.

Federal agency acknowledges difficulties
FEMA says it hasn’t abandoned Biloxi’s destitute and has already provided $465 million in housing assistance in Mississippi.

Jess Seigal, a FEMA spokesman in Biloxi, acknowledged that it’s difficult to find temporary housing on the coast and that many people are reluctant to leave what remains of their homes.

But “the folks sitting in their front yards don’t have to stay there,” he said.

FEMA is trying to get trailers to everyone and knows people are frustrated. Seigal said 3,915 units have already been delivered to the six southern counties in Mississippi, including Harrison where Biloxi sits.

He estimates the state will need a total of 30,000 units. He didn’t know how many would be required in Biloxi. FEMA was trying to distribute 500 a day.

“We’re not there yet,” he said.

'We just want shelter'
After Katrina hit Biloxi, Tanksley emerged from her attic with 10 other people. Weeks later, she sits on the porch of her ruined brick house along with other family members taking refuge there.

Typhaney Neely, 29, came here with her four children including 3-month-old Christian, who was napping on a cot inside the moldy, dank and clearly uninhabitable house.

“We don’t want handouts,” Neely pleaded. “We just want shelter. I’m just frustrated about her and my children getting a trailer. It’s going to get cold.”

Neely, who’s not related to Tanksley but considers her like a grandmother, said they tried to find a hotel room, but none was available. Many hotels are booked for weeks, if not until the end of the year, in Biloxi and Gulfport. Snagging an apartment has been impossible. Tents are the more likely scenario. Many of the displaced are too proud — or too scared — to go to shelters.

“Try to find me a place to rent,” Albus said. “Show me one that don’t cost an arm and leg and two fingers.”

New poor join original poor
Down the street, a group of men sat together in a rank corner of the block, sipping whiskey and trying to ignore the putrid smell wafting from an adjacent house. The booze, said one 52-year-old man nicknamed Raghead, “eases my mind.”

This stretch of Biloxi, a city of about 50,000, is a sanctuary for the original homeless, the people who had nothing before Katrina swept over this place, wiping out the casinos that supplanted the fishing industry as the main economic driver years ago.

“We don’t have a roof,” Raghead said. “We got a tarp.”

He would love a trailer, but he has more immediate problems.

“They giving out a lot of stuff but nothing for the diarrhea,” he said. “People don’t have toilets around here. We need some port-a-potties.”

Porches to nowhere are now serving as living and bedrooms. Plastic coolers are refrigerators. Broken trees are used to hang laundry. Kitchens are comprised of random cutlery and a camping stove.

The luckiest ones, like 37-year-old Tuan Nguyen, have secured tents and scrounged gas grills. Nguyen, his wife, Ngan, and two children, ages 7 and 8, are squatting on the tiled porch of a friend’s home that was flooded.

His wife keeps the porch spotless. It’s where they eat and sleep in a tent. Shoes are forbidden. For three weeks, the Nguyens have been living on this porch. Churches have supplied most of their current possessions like pots and pans, food and water.

Food deliveries from Red Cross
“That’s all we have,” Tuan Nguyen says, pointing to a few boxes. “I got no money. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I lost everything.”

As his sad words trail off, a Red Cross van appears, letting people know through a loudspeaker that food has arrived. Nguyen goes to the truck and is handed a plastic foam box containing chicken dumplings, peas and apple sauce.

One of the Red Cross workers, 44-year-old John Capecci from Baltimore, has been volunteering for three weeks. He knows the streets, driving them day after day searching for the needy.

“There is an endless supply of them,” says Capecci. “It goes on for mile after mile.”

Those are the ones struggling on land. Others remain stranded on shrimp boats docked at the sound, huddled in cramped conditions that can be unbearable because of the Mississippi heat.

The boat people — those who fled Vietnam after the communists took over — are boat people once again.

Frustration over delays
Tam Tran, 44, is back on his shrimp boat named “Vanna Lavie” with his 5-year-old daughter and wife who’s four months pregnant.

“If the weather is real hot I go to the tent; if it’s OK I sleep here,” he said. The family sleeps in one tiny cabin on the same bed together. The pier where the boat is docked has no power.

Weeks ago, Tran went to FEMA for a trailer. He’s not heard back since. He tried calling FEMA recently but the number wasn’t working.

“This made me mad,” Tran said, raising his voice. “I made application for a long time, and I still don’t have it. How do I survive?”

FEMA’s Seigal understands the frustration.

“There are folks working their butts off to make this happen, but the volume is incredible,” he said. “It’s taking time.”

Seigal said after people register with FEMA, an inspector from the agency will visit the home sometime between 10 days and two weeks later. Within four to six days the trailer is supposed to arrive if conditions are right.

“We’re not going to place a trailer in a yard without sewage or water or electrical lines,” Seigal explained.

From porch to tent
After Hurricane Katrina ravaged their little white house of 20 years, Mike Hardy and his wife lived outside on their broken, warped porch — next to piles of stinking debris and the massive tree that fell.

Their living quarters were next to a dirty commode strapped underneath a metal walker. “That’s our bathroom,” said Hardy.

About a week ago, Hardy and his wife, Donna, decided to move a few feet away and joined some other friends and family who had set up tents. Their porch had become intolerable.

“Who can sleep there?” Hardy asked. “There ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifre rats, snakes.”

Hardy, a carpenter, is worried about the water moccasins — “They don’t play” — and is building a floor for the tent out of lumber.

Before he can get more permanent shelter, somebody is going to have to help out. “We’re trying to put in for that FEMA trailer but we can’t get that damn tree out of the way,” he said.

Hardy then looks down at the ground and puffs in his cigarette.

“I’ve seen better days.”

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9743596/page/2/

Welcome to a blog site for Bethel Lutheran Katrina Volunteers

2005-10-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome. Michael and I made it home to Columbus, Ohio early Wednesday. I'm busy digitizing a ton of video, attempting to splice together a DVD for Judy by Reformation Sunday. Will keep you posted here as to the progress and offer up some streaming video clips as I go. Bookmark this page and keep checking in.

Here are some still pics from my camera. I'll post the ones from the CD Sharon burned on 10/12 shortly.

If you'd like a copy of the finished video DVD, email me your postal address at k3nt@mac.com. Just promise me you'll make additional copies and send those on to other churches. It will save time, materials and postage.

All in all, quite an experience, eh? Go ahead and freely post on this site by clicking on the pencil icon. I look forward to reading them.

Note the links on the right. Some are blogs from other groups who also spent their vacation in the area. I'll add more as I find them.

A pleasure and an honor to have worked with you all.

- Kent