Stories From A Shelter Part 1
The next couple of days I’ll be writing about the stories of some people I met while working in the Katrina Evacuee shelter in McKinney, TX. While my words will fail to be even close to descriptive enough and I have no pictures to share, my hope is you will pray for these people.
As I was working at the sign in/out desk of the shelter I noticed a middle aged lady named Maggie who had signed out earlier, was still there waiting patiently. I walked over and sat down asking her if she needed us to arrange for a ride for her somewhere. She said no. She was waiting for a friend to come pick her up. Maggie then proceeded to tell me how she was just so thankful and appreciative to everyone for helping her there. Truely overwhelmed by the outpouring of care from so many different people, all strangers. She told me of losing her home in New Orleans and not knowng if she will ever return there. She was very sad to not be there, but was thankful she was alive and the opportunity to start a new life somewhere else. She said she was trusting the Lord for everything. She had found all of her loved ones that were missing in the following 2 week. Despite the uncertainty of her future she was looking forward to better things and a fresh start. As she departed the shelter, I thought to myself would I have the same positive outlook after experiencing what was she has in the past few weeks?
A man I talked to at the shelter was a karate instructor and was there with his family and his brother’s family. His brother was a New Orleans Police Officer who had returned to the city to his job now that his family was in the safe care of his brother. The man talked of losing their home, but their family was safe and that was all that counted to him. He spoke of how bad the situation was that his brother went back to in New Orleans. When he returned it was still chaotic there and the large number of people were still stranded at the Convention Center. One of the police officers providing security at the shelter mentioned as we were talking that she was interested the martial arts and wanted to take lessons from him. Another volunteer had a friend who was former military that taught martial arts and gave the guy their phone number to possibly connect him with a job. In the span of 5 minutes the man had income possibilities from 2 complete strangers.
I talked with a young guy with dred locks in his 20’s a few times there, the first time we talked he had serious look about him as he was looking for a job and not sure what to do next. The next day when I ran into him, he was watching the New Orleans Saints football game versus the Carolina Panthers. He had a big smile on his face in that he was able to watch his beloved Saints for the first time in a long time. Even better they won in the last second! It was a great, brief escape for him. A time to laugh, cheer, be excited and happy. Moments that are few and far between. The Saints provided that for thousands of people that day. The following morning it was all business with him. Signing up for federal assistance and searching for lost family members. Highs and lows come quickly and frequently for him as they do for most affected.
