Update from Louisiana: Hurricane Ida Relief Efforts
Stephen Haynsworth (of Servants Heart Disaster Relief and the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina) traveled to Lafayette with supplies for the Trinity Anglican team.
“It’s just all a big network of [people] helping each other!”
– Pat Dittrich, Peace Lutheran Church, Rosenberg, TX
New Orleans, LA
On Sunday August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida slammed into the coast of Louisiana with sustained winds of a category five hurricane. A million people lost power and weeks later, the smaller parishes around New Orleans are still a sea of blue tarps. People need food, pet food, cleaning supplies, baby products, and manual labor to repair their homes, and their lives.
ARDF is partnering with a number of churches who are already on the ground bringing help and hope. We know that recovery will take a long time. But we believe that one of the most important times to show up as the hands and feet of Christ is after a disaster.
The Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast already had a team in place to coordinate relief efforts. Now, a partnership has solidified between the diocese disaster response team and St. Timothy’s (Spring, TX), Good Shepherd Church (Metairie, LA), Trinity Anglican (Lafayette, LA), FaithPoint Family Fellowship (Covington, LA) and Servants Heart Disaster Relief (Charleston, SC).
Meanwhile, the North American Lutheran Church has been a vital partner! They have offered literally tons of supplies stored in their Texas warehouses while St. Timothy’s used their trailer to distribute these to the Louisiana churches. Flood buckets, hygiene kits, shovels – all of these they graciously gave to the churches in Louisiana. From their warehouse in Ohio, the NALC sent trailers of supplies for families, including diapers, wipes, and baby food to the Louisiana churches. The Lutherans have also sent their four stall shower truck to the region. We are beyond grateful for this partnership.
Tommy Lamb (ARDF disaster response rep) interviews members of the NALC Disaster Response Team about their partnership. (10 min)
Churches are handing out flood buckets. What’s a flood bucket? (4 min)
Meanwhile, the churches on the ground are handing out these supplies as fast as they can receive them! Good Shepherd partnered with Operation BBQ Relief, a group that delivers the healing power of BBQ in times of need. In the weeks after the storm hit, Good Shepherd handed out up to 600 meals a day!
A team from Trinity Anglican traveled to the coastal parish of Bayou Gauche to distribute food and supplies. Bayou Gauche is located off of route 9, southwest of New Orleans. Fishing and shellfish are the main industries of this place, “a little town not on the main road that just gets ignored,” according to Susan Bell, one of the volunteers coordinating the efforts out of Trinity Anglican. And yet, their team found everyone “so resilient.” These residents, some of whom had lost everything - many of them no longer have the walls of their house standing – offered to pray for the Trinity Anglican team!
Volunteers also traveled to Houma, a town that also saw serious damage, to hand out supplies. Penn, another volunteer, told us that serving them was a true blessing.
We got to pray [with those we served] and I know we made a difference!”
Finally, a team from FaithPoint has been reaching out to those affected along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. They are currently exploring needs along the I-55 corridor to see where they can help next.
All of this has been done with the dedicated work of church volunteers and the donations from nearly 50 ARDF donors. We are so grateful.
However, with a storm of this size, the needs last long beyond the headlines and the team in Louisiana expects to be busy through the end of 2021. Would you like to be part of a volunteer team helping to hand out supplies, food, or clean out houses, repair fences etc? The churches in Louisiana can use you! If you have a group from your church willing to come and volunteer, let us know and we will put you in touch with folks on the ground. Volunteers will be hosted by Good Shepherd and housed in the St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center, a government facility that is a key partner in determining the needs of the community. And located right where some of the worst devastation occurred.
We are grateful for all of the partnerships growing out of this disaster, and for your continued support as the churches reach out to those in need with tangible acts of compassion.
Thank you!
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