Coronado sent a construction mission team to Waveland, MS to help with Hurricane Katrina rebuilding.
A construction mission team from Coronado Community United Methodist Church has recently returned from a week’s work in Waveland, MS. Waveland, a quaint historic town of 10,000 along the Gulf, was at ground zero during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was almost completely destroyed by the surge from the storm. Many groups from all over the country are engaged in repairs and rebuilding.
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has a long term commitment to the work in Mississippi. Using the grounds of the Gulfcoast Assembly, a United Methodist assembly ground which was destroyed during the hurricane, UMCOR provides lodging and supplies for teams in a temporary building. The Coronado team was the 146th to use the facility. UMCOR also provides case managers who work with victims of the storm from the initial interviewing process through turning over the keys of the rebuilt house. UMCOR expects to be in Waveland for about five years.
During their week in Mississippi, the team worked on several houses. Each team picks up where the previous week’s work was finished. One of the houses, in the neighboring town of Pearlington, belonged to a woman named Lillie. The team worked on dry wall inside her new home. Lillie’s story was typical of many storm victims. Lillie’s home was completely destroyed leaving her with the slab on which her house had stood. For three weeks after Katrina, she lived in a shelter consisting of a tarpaulin, jury-rigged with a central post and anchored by ropes to various pieces of rubble. At the end of those three weeks, she somehow acquired a real tent and that was home for the next three months before she finally received a FEMA trailer where she currently lives.
The team was impressed with the kindness and gestures of appreciation from the people of the area. A woman said that, immediately after the disaster, it was the churches who were the first to respond with help. She said it was still very important for people in the “outside world” to know that, even though it has been two years, the rebuilding work is nowhere near complete.
The Coronado team was led by Bill and Jeremy Grau. Team members were: John Atkins; Ruth Baker; David Farmer; Brittany, Geoffrey and Nancy Grau; Bill and Vicki Hammond; Phil Johnson; Roy Kepler; David Luther; Sandra Murphy; Mary Perry; and Clyde Walker.
