Help ing in hurricane’s aftermath Just when things seemed hopeless, people showed up By Wendy Healy
REBEKAH WEDGE N
o sooner had Sandy flooded coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecti- cut in October than a deluge of support flowed in for affected churches.
St. Barnabas Lutheran in the Howard Beach section of Queens, New York City, was one recipient of relief, and among five churches in the Metropolitan New York Synod severely damaged. Taking water in the basement and first floor, St. Barn- abas lost its parish hall and historical records. “I told the congregation, which is always there for oth- ers, to think of themselves now as the people who have to be on the receiving end,” said William Baum, pastor, who was doubly affected by the storm. A resident of lower Manhattan, where the power was out for more than a week, he found it difficult to check on members from a blackened apartment and a church he couldn’t enter: “It’s hard to call members when your phone is out.” Everyone in the congregation of about 100 families was eventually accounted for, but Baum found them exhausted, distraught and reeling from 14 days without power and heat. After Thanksgiving weekend the church was still without heat. People are still coming to terms with the fact that some houses were so severely damaged they may never be inhabitable, he said. In nearby Breezy Point, where several St. Barnabas members live, 100 homes were destroyed by fire and people weren’t being allowed back in the neighborhood. Just when things seemed hopeless, Baum said people showed up. The St. Barnabas Restoration Project was formed with St. Peter Lutheran Church in Manhattan, whose members offered their expertise to coordinate a team of engineers, electricians and contractors. This
group, in partnership with St. Barnabas members, helped the church get electricity back on and determine restoration costs. Through it all, Baum had a sense that the “light of St. Barn- abas must not go out” at the 90-year-old church.
Volunteers help unload a semi full of relief supplies from Tree of Life Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa.
Baum also began collect- ing donated $100 Home Depot gift cards, distributing them to St. Barnabas homeowners to help buy appliances and make repairs. People from outside the
city also brought in gasoline since a shortage made it dif- ficult to run home generators. In Brooklyn, Craig A. Miller, pastor of Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church, coordinated the arrival of a truckload of food, cleaning supplies, water, cold weather items and generator from Tree of Life Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa.
“So many people were calling and offering help,” said
Kathleen Koran, assistant to the bishop of the Metropoli- tan New York Synod. Miller, who organized volunteers to unload the truck
at The Church of the Holy Redeemer in Brooklyn, said, “At this point, our prime response is to assess the need and to just show up.” St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church in Hoboken, N.J., was also an outreach center for the city, where 90 percent of the homes lost electricity and the area was flooded. The church never lost power and was able to be a shelter, in addition to expanding its midday meal pro- gram and inviting people to charge up cellphones. Mary Forell, pastor, was reminded of a famous Mar- tin Luther quote: “We are all beggars. This is true.” “The storm was a great equalizer,” she said. “It drew people together.”
Healy is a freelance writer and member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Brewster, N.Y.
One hundred percent of gifts for Sandy are directed to the response efforts. Send checks to ELCA Disaster Response (write “Hurricane Sandy” on the memo line), 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300; give by credit card at 800-638-3522 or
www.elca.org/disaster. For updates about needs, visit
www.ldr.org.
14 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52