Hurricane
Relief
*
Scroll down the page for background,
trip reflections, and
links
Ongoing
Activities, Winter 2005-2006
Fundraising
An
all parish mailing in early December will ask people
to consider making end-of-the-year donations to
be directed to acute, ongoing food and medical needs
through Camp Coast Care and to support rebuilding
Christ Church. The sale of greeting cards bearing
images of Christ Church and area destruction will
also support this fund. In addition, the Mississippi
team will seek support for an effort to collect
antibiotic ointment for the medical tent at the
Lutheran Episcopal Relief Center
Church
School
The
church school will be involved in a project of making
“beads for needs” Mardi Gras style necklaces and
bracelets to sell in support of Christ Church.
Missions
& VolunteeringAdults
are encouraged to gather into groups to volunteer
in Mississippi at any time over the next few months.
Round trip airfare is approximately $250, and “Camp
Coast Care” provides food and lodging (see image
below) for free. Camp Coast Care then assigns volunteers
to tasks ranging from greeting visitors to the relief
center to cleaning mold from homes, to clearing
debris to stocking groceries. Anyone is welcome,
and everyone is encouraged to go! Make arrangements
to do so at any time through Camp Coast Care at
www.campcoastcare.com,
or contact stakatrinarelief@gmail.com
for more information.
In addition, the possibilities are being investigated
for a large group mission trip in the spring.
The
youth group annual mission trip will be to Bay St
Louis and will address needs as they evolve, coordinating
through Christ Church and the Diocese of Mississippi.
The Camp Coast Care Volunteer Center, Long Beach,
MS
November
2005 Mission Overview & Reflections
November
5-11, 2005, seven St Andrew’s parishioners traveled
to Bay St Louis, Mississippi to participate in ongoing
support work for Hurricane Katrina victims in the
Bay St Louis area. We participated in cleanup work
both for our partner parish, Christ Episcopal Church
in Bay St Louis, and for members of the larger community,
through the Lutheran Episcopal Relief Center.
Of
the seven volunteers, four drove a van filled with
food, toiletries, and cleaning supplies from Boston
to Mississippi and three flew. While in Mississippi,
we stayed at the Lutheran/Episcopal Relief Center,
run by the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi and
informally known as “Camp Coast Care.” The center,
which is a staging ground for volunteers from Biloxi
to the Louisiana border, is run out of the gymnasium
at the Episcopal School in Long Beach, MS. We slept
on cots inside the gym with about 130 other volunteers
from around the United States, which was very comfortable
and included three free meals a day, wireless Internet,
hot showers, and a brief prayer service each day
before dinner.
We
coordinated our volunteer work both through Christ
Church and through Camp Coast Care, which offers
free groceries, household supplies and medical care,
as well as volunteer work crew home assistance,
to people of all faiths on the Gulf Coast. After
assessing the acuity of the need addressed at Camp
Coast Care, we donated our food and cleaning supply
donations to this center. In addition, we presented
a check to the warden of Christ Church, to support
initial reorganization efforts of the church’s choosing.
With
Christ Church, our work included clearing the sanctuary
slab at the church site to allow for a temporary
metal building to be erected there at the end of
November; searching through the rubble to recover
pieces of stained glass, brass plaques, wine, sections
of the altar rail and the crucifix that at one time
was suspended over the altar, as well as other things
of value for the church; erecting two metal storage
buildings in which to place the church’s belongings;
helping a parishioner tear bricks off her house
frame and dispose of them; clearing another parishioner’s
yard of debris, and tearing drywall out of the inside
of a third parishioner’s house.
Four
other partner churches, from Port Charlotte, FL;
Kissimee, FL; Hanover, VA; and Birmingham, AL were
present for the week we were in Bay St Louis and
also participated in clearing the church slab and
gutting and cleaning parishioners’ homes. In total,
we worked at about 20 parishioners’ homes.
Through
Camp Coast Care, we helped staff the relief and
distribution center, particularly the grocery area
and the pharmacy, which serve over 2000 people each
day. We also participated on work teams through
Camp Coast Care, on which we helped various people
clear rubble away from their houses and clean and
gut the rotten and unusable parts of those homes.
We expect Camp Coast Care to be in operation in
its present form for the next few months and in
some form for the next year.
In
all, we participated in work assignments in Gulfport,
Kiln, Bay St Louis, Waveland and Long Beach, giving
us a wide-ranging perspective of the devastation.
We also toured the area, including an evening visit
to New Orleans, with Ed Hand’s brother, in order
to get a local contractor’s perspective on destruction
and rebuilding. Our most lasting impression was
that the need remains acute and the disaster is
not over. People still lack places to stay, food
to eat, and access to basic supplies.
Due
to the uncertain nature of Christ Church’s plans
and those of most parishioners, as well as indecision
on the part of insurance companies, FEMA and town
zoning boards, very few people have made decisions
about whether and how to rebuild yet. People in
the most affected areas are still struggling to
get FEMA trailers to live in, because they do not
have water or sewage service. The Church is also
waiting for parishioners to return to the area over
the next year and many other factors before making
rebuilding decisions.
To
report on our findings to the parish, the team of
Mississippi volunteers held a forum on Sunday November
20th after the service. About 40-50 people attended
the forum, and the group described images from its
experience and answered questions from the audience.
The form seemed to be very well received. The audience
expressed a particular interest in what the continuing
pressing needs are and how we can help with those
needs (especially in a seeming absence of the government).
This interest affirmed our own desire to focus our
current efforts on raising funds to support the
relief center’s work to address exigent issues.
An
article about the trip to Mississippi can be found
in the December/January edition of The Call. Look
for photos on parish bulletin boards.
Background
In October 2005, in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina
disaster, St. Andrew’s began a partnership with
Christ Episcopal Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
St. Andrew’s has offered to provide relief funds
and labor to the extent possible and according to
the needs of that parish. Our partnership will provide
immediate support and long-term assistance over
approximately two years for the communities devastated
along the coast. We hope to both provide for the
parishioners of Christ Church and to help them reestablish
their outreach work as a base of Christian support
for the surrounding communities.
We
will coordinate our efforts with twelve other churches
nationwide who have been assigned to support Christ
Church. This will allow us to divide the tasks related
to aiding the hurricane victims and provide comprehensive
support for their reconstruction efforts.
For
the first three months of this endeavor (until January
2006), Abigail Andrews will work part time as Hurricane
Relief Coordinator to ensure a strategic approach
to St Andrew’s hurricane relief efforts and ground
our support work for Christ Church. Abigail will
be responsible for collaborating with members of
our sister parish in Mississippi, representatives
of other supporting churches, the Diocese of Mississippi
and the St. Andrew’s congregation to elaborate an
effective, long-term plan of partnership. After
that time, a volunteer and the outreach committee
will take responsibility for St. Andrew’s hurricane
relief.
An aerial view of the slab where Christ Church stood.
About
Christ Church
Christ Church Bay St. Louis once stood on the Mississippi
coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. Located 55 miles
from New Orleans, Christ Church was one of six Episcopal
parishes in the diocese of Mississippi to have all
buildings and resources destroyed during Hurricane
Katrina. In the area of Christ Church, Katrina’s
storm surge reached 35 feet, approximately the height
of the church steeple. Of all seven buildings on
the property, including the church, parish hall
and rectory, only a portion of the old bell tower
was left standing. This is the second time that
the church has been destroyed; in 1969, Hurricane
Camille also demolished the church grounds.
Christ
Church represents the Anglican presence in the largely
Baptist Hancock County, which includes the communities
of Bay St Louis, Waveland, Diamondhead and Pearlington.
The congregation includes about 300 parishioners,
of whom 100 regularly attend Sunday services. While
about 50 parishioners have gathered to worship on
the slab where Christ Church once stood, much of
the congregation remains out of town, many homeless.
Parishioners have only slowly begun to return, clear
rubble, and consider rebuilding.
Kimberly
King, a vestry member and the clerk of Christ Church,
maintains an excellent website with many photographs
that she updates regularly at http://members.tripod.com/4christe/4christe
Christ Church before Hurricane Katrina. The bell
tower is in the back.
About
Bay St. Louis & Waveland, MS
Hurricane Katrina also destroyed the communities
of Bay St. Louis and neighboring Waveland, where
most of the parishioners resided. In a news report,
state officials said the neighboring town of Waveland
took a harder hit from the wind and water than any
other town along the coast and that the town was
obliterated. Of 128 parishioners’ homes, only three
are currently classified as intact. The death toll
from Hurricane Katrina in Waveland and Bay St Louis
is not yet known.
Before
Hurricane Katrina, Bay St. Louis was a coastal community
of about 8,000 people, with 7,000 people inhabiting
the neighboring town of Waveland. The town is situated
about 55 miles West of New Orleans on the Bay of
St. Louis, which empties into the Mississippi Sound.
Gulfport, Mississippi, a city of about 71,000, sits
about 20 miles to its East. “The Bay,” as it is
called, began as a French colony, but after Mississippi
gained statehood in 1817 it was converted into a
resort town for gentry, amidst numerous surrounding
towns dedicated to milling pine.
Within
Mississippi, the town was known for its altitude,
as the highest point on the entire Gulf of Mexico
coastline (about 12 feet), its pristine beaches,
and its reputation as a picturesque vacation spot.
The Old Town District, also shredded by the storm,
was a historic beach side niche full of antique
shops, art galleries and specialty shops. Top attractions
in Bay St Louis included casinos, Bayou tours, and
seafood specialties.
Bay
St. Louis and Waveland’s populations were largely
white and middle class. Hancock County, of which
Bay St. Louis is the county seat, is 90% White,
7% Black and 2% Latino. Nearby Gulfport, by comparison,
is 61% White, 34% Black, and 3% Hispanic. The population
of Bay St. Louis was also older and had typically
lived in their houses longer than most people in
Mississippi. Like in the rest of the state, most
of the population is Baptist, Methodist or Catholic,
with only a few Episcopalians; in fact, Episcopalians
represent about 1% of Christians in Mississippi.
The
vast majority of industry and employment in Bay
St. Louis was in amusement, gambling and recreation,
with the majority of the population employed in
a few casinos, hotel-casinos, similar establishments,
retail jobs, and other peripheral industries. As
of 2000, the median resident age was 39, the median
household income $34,106 and the median house value
$92,500. Compared to other towns in Mississippi,
Bay St. Louis had a median house value below average.
About 15% of people living in the area were below
the poverty line, with the per capita income registered
in 2000 at about $16,500. 82% of the population
had completed high school and 22% had a bachelor’s
degree or higher.
It
remains to be seen how these demographics will shift
as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Partnership
Activities
Winter 2005-2006: Fundraising to Support
Christ Church
The
fundraising for Christ Church will focus on supporting
continuing, acute food and medical needs of people
in the Bay St Louis area. Once Christ Church makes
plans to rebuild, St Andrew’s will also support
the reconstruction of the church. Fundraising will
happen primarily through a letter campaign and through
the sale of greeting cards.
Winter
2005-2006: Church School Project
The
church school will be involved in a program through
which they can show their support for the people
of Christ Church and the surrounding area.
(potential)
February 18-25, 2006: Intergenerational Rebuilding
Trip
St.
Andrew’s is hoping to organize an intergenerational
rebuilding trip early in the spring during which
a group of people of mixed ages can travel to Mississippi
to help with ongoing rebuilding efforts. The specific
target of this trip might be rebuilding the homes
of certain parishioners, but the exact plan will
be determined through our ongoing communication
with the leaders of Christ Church.
June
2006: Youth Group Mission Trip
The
youth group will take their annual mission trip
to Bay St. Louis this year and will likely work
on rebuilding efforts and the outreach program with
the surrounding communities. Their fundraising this
year will be directed to that trip.
Get Involved!
Our efforts to build a relationship with the devastated
parish of Christ Church rely on the support and
energy of the people of St. Andrews. Everyone is
welcome and encouraged to participate in this ministry.
We invite you to learn more about Christ Church
and our brothers and sisters in Mississippi by speaking
with any member of the Mississippi trip team (Abigail
Andrews, Steve Taylor, Peter Lull, Donna Kell, Ed
Hand, Ian Dwyer or Frank Rowbotham).Financial
support for Christ Church is desperately needed
and can often be more effectively used than material
donations. Please show your support for our sister
parish by contributing money to the St. Andrew’s
Mississippi Fund. You can do so by making a check
out to St. Andrew’s with “Mississippi” written in
the memo line.
Donations
of supplies are also needed at certain times of
the year to bring down to Mississippi with the volunteer
groups. Please check with the St. Andrew’s staff
for specific donation needs and times donations
are being solicited or not.
If
you are interested in participating in a mission
trip or offering any other volunteer support, please
contact Abigail Andrews at stakatrinarelief@gmail.com
or 781-235-7310.
Links
Christ
Church Bay St. Louis, Includes photos of Christ
Church, the damage, parishioners’ homes, and continually
updated information about the church
Diocese
of Mississippi Website, Includes list of current
supply needs and updated information on churches
along the coast.
Camp
Coast Care, the Lutheran Episcopal Relief Center
in Long Beach MS that hosts volunteer groups, distributes
food and medical care, and assigns volunteers to
work orders along the coast.
