by the Very Rev. Dr. Roman Roldan, Flood Relief Coordinator
Originally published in the Grace Church of West Feliciana Parish September 2016 First Newsletter
The “500 Year Flood” in Louisiana has been described as the largest natural disaster to strike our country since Hurricane Sandy. According to estimates from the Times Picayune, 60,646 houses were affected, with many of them now considered uninhabitable, 30,000 people had to be rescued, 109,398 people have applied for housing help, only about 19% of all homes destroyed had flood insurance, 188,729 people have been affected either directly or indirectly, and the expected cost of the storm may be higher than 30 billion dollars. The storm placed an already over-taxed social services infrastructure on the verge of collapse. Without churches and other volunteer groups there would be no safety net for Louisiana.
The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana has parishes and ecclesiastical units located throughout most of the affected areas, which means that thousands of the affected victims are our parishioners and tens of thousands are our neighbors and friends. The most affected areas are in South Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, and Clinton. Some of the most vulnerable populations are undocumented immigrants, unemployed or underemployed minorities, elderly living in “Section-8” housing, the homeless, and the mentally ill. Many of the affected victims are single-income households with children, awaiting Federal and State assistance.
Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana’s Response: The response of the Diocese of Louisiana has been remarkable in many ways. The following are some of our efforts in providing immediate relief:
St. Augustine’s, Metairie, has been coordinating with Episcopal High School and Together Baton Rouge to staff the emergency response phones at Together Baton Rouge. They have helped muck-up houses for parishioners and for Episcopal High School Families.
Saint Martin’s, Metairie had a day of work in Denham Springs on Saturday, August 27 and is planning weekend trips to the same area for the next few months.
Annunciation, St. Paul’s, St. George’s, and St. Anna’s in New Orleans are now planning monthly weekend trips to Denham Springs. They have already assisted the Diocese financially and with coordination services.
Trinity, New Orleans has served thousands of meals in Denham Springs through their mobile kitchen. They are also bringing large work crews to help in the mucking of homes in Denham Springs. St. Anna’s, New Orleans has taken a leadership role since the very start of the floods. They have coordinated with us to educate local leaders in St. Francisville, have provided valuable resources of tools and supplies, and have helped us schedule outside volunteer groups already coming to us.
Episcopal High School, Baton Rouge, in spite of approximately $3,000,000 worth of uninsured damages, and 30 of their teachers and administrators being directly affected by the flood, they have helped many of their neighbors gut and clean their homes and have set up a clearinghouse where affected neighbors can sign up to get help cleaning their homes.
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, Baton Rouge is located two blocks from the headquarters of the East Baton Rouge Police Department. The first ministry of the parish was to help EBPD personnel muck-out their homes. They held a drive to benefit them, which included a truck full of supplies from Rome, GA that helped those families with emergency assistance. They have also helped many of their own parishioners clean their homes.
Trinity, Baton Rouge has about 20 families of the congregation who were affected by the floods, In addition to helping these families with mucking and clean-up, they have also helped LSU students at College Town, Monticello to muck-out their homes.
Saint James, Baton Rouge spent the immediate days after the floods helping 9 parishioners and several teachers of their school muck-out and clean their homes. They took over one day of feeding of 500 homeless people, who are usually served by Saint Vincent de Paul. They have collected supplies for those in need.
Parishioners of Holy Family, Plaquemine, Mother Karen and John Gay deployed 23 laborers to Denham Springs were they spent 922 hours taking out carpet, flooring, sheet rock, furniture and belongings as needed for St. Francis Episcopal Church (3 church buildings + 2 Sunday School buildings.) They also completely gutted out nine residences while Mother Karen provided pastoral care to many victims. They have also provided residential assistance to several families.
Saint Paul’s/Holy Trinity, New Roads has been assisting at the local Pointe Coupee shelter and has been providing pastoral care to many of the affected victims of the flood. They coordinated with us at Grace to muck-out several flooded homes.
St. Margaret’s, Baton Rouge has been provided pastoral care and referral services to their neighbors. They have a large concentration of undocumented workers who live near the church.
Our own church here at Grace has taken a very active role in helping affected victims at the shelters in Baton Rouge and setting up a supply distribution center in West Feliciana Parish. The church has coordinated with other churches in town, in a truly ecumenical partnership, to gut large sections of homes in the neighborhood of Solitude. We have set-up a program which includes dozens of parishioners to welcome, house, feed, and train volunteer groups from Louisiana and out of state to help us in West Feliciana Parish and, soon, in Clinton and Baton Rouge/Denham Springs. Much of the Diocesan initiative started here at Grace, and the Bishop has named Fr. Roldan the Diocesan Flood Relief Coordinator. None of the work we have done would have been possible without the help and love shown by all of you, our parishioners and friends. Fr. Peter, Kelly Ward, the Mission and Outreach Committee and many of you have been crucial to these flood relief efforts. Your love so freely shared with those in desperate need has made all the difference. I am very proud of you.
We are in this for the long run, please continue to keep us in your prayers and continue to partner with our Diocese by donating to Episcopal Relief and Development or to our “Bishop’s Fund.”