One Family’s Story in Port Arthur

Thursday, March 22, A.D. 2007

Wanda Mitchell lived in her small family home in Port Arthur, TX, all her life - until Hurricane Rita struck. Wanda is 47 years old and has 3 children, ages 21, 16 and 14. She has been fighting cancer for four years. There have been periods of remission, but the cancer has returned.

Wanda and her children were forced from their home after Rita badly damaged her roof, and the house was flooded with hurricane-driven rain. The roof, ceiling, walls, hardwood floors, carpet, furniture, clothes, and all of the family's belongings were wet, moldy, and trashed. The house - her family home - was in ruins. Then came the churches - Disciples, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and others. After several months, the house now has a new roof and a new interior, but Wanda still can’t come home. With her health concerns and without a job, and having to pay rent where she and her family are now staying, she doesn’t have the money to get the gas, electricity, water, and telephone hooked up so they can move back into their home. She has a caseworker who is trying to get the money for them to move back in, and I pray it will be soon.

Wanda is only one of thousands who have lost their homes and have not been able to return. There are many blue FEMA tarps still on top of damaged roofs, and they have shredded, as it has been well over a year since the hurricane. The houses get wet inside every time it rains. There are volunteers from North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee down here this week. For some, this is their third trip to work on the Gulf Coast and we are getting to be old friends. These are the best of the best, giving weeks of their lives to come down and do hard work to help people they have never seen before. This is “loving your neighbor as yourself.” I thank everyone who has come and encourage anyone who has not to please start planning a mission trip now, as there are thousands of stories like Wanda’s. If you can’t come and work, please pray for us, for the work we are doing, and for the people still homeless on the gulf coast.

This is a good thing we are doing - come join us.

- Mike Lee, Mission Station Manager, Port Arthur, TX

Week of Compassion Habitat Build in Nashville

This month is also the Week of Compassion Habitat for Humanity Build in Nashville. We are building a home for Arthur and JoAnn Foley. For the past eighteen months they have had to rely on the kindness of strangers more than they ever could have imagined. Like many others, the Foleys lost everything due to the flooding that occurred at their New Orleans home following Hurricane Katrina. The Foleys were at home preparing to evacuate New Orleans as the storm approached. Arthur, who worked at the New Orleans Transit Authority, was called into work. JoAnn and her family left with a few things and headed north. On the third day after Hurricane Katrina hit, Arthur was ordered to evacuate in a boat. For six days, Arthur and JoAnn were unable to communicate with each other and ended up in two different cities.

They were finally reunited in Texas, where they met Frank Davis, a stranger, who helped them get settled into an apartment and even purchased some essential furnishings for them with no obligation to pay him back. A few weeks later Arthur returned to New Orleans to finish his 30th year with New Orleans Transit Authority and retire. During this time JoAnn remained in Texas because their home in New Orleans was in total disrepair. Arthur lived in a very small FEMA trailer. JoAnn would come and visit on the weekends to “keep him from losing faith.”

Arthur and JoAnn moved to Nashville after hearing that FEMA housing was available. They now live in a house in Antioch and are permitted to remain there until the end of April. Shortly after their move to Nashville, they began attending church, where they began making friends. One of those new friends referred them to Woodbine Community Agency, who, in turn, referred them to Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity.

The Foleys are so grateful for the opportunity to begin building their lives again “after eighteen months on the go,” says JoAnn. She gets teary-eyed when she thinks about all of the people who have helped them along their journey. Arthur is giving back by volunteering at the New Haven Homeless Shelter. JoAnn is baby sitting her two grandchildren as her daughter also starts over in Nashville. Both Mr. and Mrs. Foley look forward to spending quiet time together and finally just relaxing.

-Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity

WOC Map/Poster

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