Driving along what is left of the beachfront boulevard in Bay St. Louis, one sees a lot of green. Nature has reinvented itself; flora and fauna are prolific along the Mississippi coastline. A few people dot the beaches in between ruined piers. Houses, however, are missing. Miles of vacant lots dotted with concrete pipe sections and new septic tanks bear silent witness to the ever-present loss.
Heading east from New Orleans, across the water's edge to Mobile, the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi has coped with its own losses and has struggled to mitigate the spiritual, emotional and physical deficits of the coast area clergy and residents pummeled by Katrina.
‘Residents are still numb from the catastrophic forces which turned their world upside down on August 29, 2005,’ said the Revd Canon David Johnson, Canon to the Ordinary in Mississippi. ‘The work to recover will be at least a decade in being accomplished. For many, the magnitude and long-term impact is just now setting in.’
Many coast area clergy sustained major or total damage to their homes. Six of 11 coast churches on their beachfront properties were destroyed by the storm. Trinity Church, Pass Christian; St. Mark's and St. Peter's, Gulfport, have made long term plans and are building or rebuilding. Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi; Christ Church, Bay St. Louis; and St. Patrick's, Long Beach - among the hardest hit congregations - are continuing with their planning processes.
St. Thomas', Diamondhead; St. John's, Ocean Springs; St. John's, Pascagoula; St. Pierre's, Gautier; and St. Paul's, Picayune, have all participated in recovery and rebuilding projects of their own, having sustained comparably minor damage to their own structures.
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) grants facilitated the funding of projects through St. Peter's, Gulfport; St. John's, Pascagoula; and Coast Episcopal School, Long Beach, aimed at helping the wider community. ERD, as a major partner with Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi (LESM), has allowed Camp Coast Care and Mission On The Bay to function as volunteer work camps. Later this year, LESM will take over as the directing body for other established work camps with ties to Lutheran Disaster Response. LESM and ERD funds have permitted five-to-eight year plans to be put in place for these volunteer facilities.
ERD funds, in partnership with the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/Hope Community Credit Union and the Unity Homes Project, have created the ‘Hallelujah Housing’ initiative to facilitate construction of affordable housing in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.
LESM programs in 2006 assisted churches and clergy with emergency funds and hardship grants. LESM case management has assisted thousands in navigating the state, federal and municipal labyrinths to secure basic needs for their families. Two of LESM's existing programs - ENRICH and Camp Noah - have been able to resume and reach out to many young Mississippians at risk and in need of compassionate care.
However, with many aid programs' funding expiring at year's end, several affected congregations are faced with significant shortfalls in operating and rebuilding funds for 2008. The coming year will undoubtedly write the most challenging chapter of recovery yet.
‘Through the generous support from Episcopalians from every diocese, we were able to continue to provide compensation and medical insurance for the clergy in the coast convocation in 2007," said Kathryn McCormick, Canon for Administration and Finance in Mississippi. "Through action of the Board of Trustees of the Church Pension Group, the pensions of the coast clergy were waived through 2007. A financial assessment is being conducted to see what 2008 and beyond will look like; yet, we already know that the financial demands are tremendous.’
Funds are needed to support the clergy, which have not been covered by any other granting institution, and to fill in gaps left by rebuilding for the coast area churches.
In addition to a marked decrease in funds, the number of volunteers coming to the coast has fallen off sharply.
‘Camp Coast Care has aggressive plans to get people back in their homes,’ said the Rev. Luther Ott, site director at Camp Coast Care. ‘There are 65 homeowners who have cleared case management and who are waiting in line to have their homes repaired. If we can recruit 40 skilled volunteers a day, the Camp could get all 65 families back in their homes by Christmas.’
‘The fact that the people of the coast, in large measure, keep on ‘keeping on,' is a remarkable testament to the human spirit and the Holy Spirit which infuses it,’ said Mississippi Bishop Duncan M. Gray, III. ‘The coast residents have been held together by the thousands of volunteers who have come to us and the sustaining financial support from around this country. Now, two years after the storm we are so afraid of being forgotten.’
Along Interstate 10 and some inland parts of Highway 90, you see a good deal of activity which looks like any small or medium sized town. Yet, just beyond the highway, there is still debris in the trees, washed out buildings with an ‘X’ on the front and tens-of-thousands of families still living in 12'x24' FEMA trailers. East or west, no matter where on the coast you tour, in simple terms: the closer you get to the water, the more there is waiting to be accomplished.
Article from: Episcopal News Service - by Lauren Auttonberry (Coordinator of Communications for the Diocese of Mississippi)