Hurricane Evacuees Surrounded By A Circle of Love
Release Date: June 9, 2006
Release Number: 1605-214
» More Information on Alabama Hurricane Katrina
SELMA, Ala. -- Framed by age-old oaks and well-kept grounds, the towering Greek revival entry is careworn yet inviting. This 1874 building in downtown Selma, Alabama is an historical landmark with a long tradition of caring for people in need. It was Selma's first hospital and later served as a nursing home. Now as The Circle of Love Center, these walls once again offer hope and comfort by sheltering hurricane evacuees.
The Circle of Love is the mission of Reverend Gary Crum and his congregation at Selma's Ellwood Community Church. "It was our Congregation that really made this happen," says Reverend Crum. "Our original plan was to operate as an assisted living facility for the sick and low income, but Hurricane Katrina interrupted those plans."
Immediately after the disaster, Reverend Crum and Ellwood Community Church members got busy. Volunteers drove two vans loaded with food from the church pantry to Moss Point, Mississippi. After witnessing the devastation first hand, they returned with a charter bus, picked up Katrina survivors in several Gulf Coast communities and drove them back to Selma, where they were given free housing and meals. The church also provided child care while shelter residents applied for disaster aid or job-hunted.
But it didn't stop there. The congregation concluded that they should create and maintain a permanent shelter. The old hospital building the church purchased in 2004 to renovate for an assisted living facility would instead make a perfect setting. It even had a working generator and other amenities to house as many as 92 evacuees.
Church members rolled up their sleeves and managed to get the Circle of Love shelter up and operating. "There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into this place," says Reverend Crum as he walks through the wide hallway, where the old hospital handrails are still in place. "Everything has been cleaned and given a fresh coat of paint. Our volunteers put a tremendous amount of work into getting the shelter ready. The beds and mattresses are all new and purchased with money the church raised," he added. The new atmosphere can best be described as "homelike."
Annette Jones has called the Circle of Love home since February. She rode out Hurricane Katrina in the spare bedroom of a friends house in Mobile. "I stayed there temporarily, but I had to go. She had too much damage to her house and her parents came to help her get it fixed up." Annette moved into a Red Cross shelter in Mobile and was there when Hurricane Rita hit a month later. Surviving Hurricane Katrina was something Annette will never forget.
"I am a grown woman, but I tell you what, I was really scared. It scared me to pieces." Annette's daughter and granddaughter live in Mobile and her plan is to return. "I am trying to get myself relocated to the public housing in Mobile. It will work out. Hurricanes cant keep me away from Mobile. If they do, it's only for a limited amount of time." Until then, Annette says she is safe and comfortable at The Circle of Love.
Eric Wilson was staying with friends in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore. "We had to get rescued. I kept going further north to Meridian, Mississippi and then to the Red Cross shelter in Livingston, Alabama." He arrived at the Circle of Love in February.
"This place is somewhere to lay my head at night," says Eric. "I hope to get an apartment here in Selma and get some kind of job and get some help for my disability." Eric had a stroke some years ago that left him with partial loss of the use of his left side. He uses crutches to get around and when hes not working on planning his future, Eric enjoys playing video games in the recreation room.
"Getting back on their feet is a real process for our shelter residents," remarks Circle of Love manager Teresa Dowdell. "It takes a while, but we do our best to put them in touch with services that can help them."
"Many of the people who came through here had lost everything," recalls Rev. Crum. "We had clothes, tons of clothes which came in handy. For the large part I feel that people who have lost their homes to hurricanes are remarkably hopeful and appreciative of the shelter, food and services we offer them. There are two things that Reverend Crum said he needed much more than clothes and blankets: "Food and money," he says without hesitation. "Or maybe it should be money, and then food."
The Circle of Love volunteers discovered that feeding a large number of people can be a daunting task, especially when the cupboards are bare. "Sometimes Theresa would call and say, 'Reverend Crum, we have nothing for supper,' and I'd say well, I have 50 or 100 dollars here in my pocket, so you better run by the grocery store."
"We even hosted a few college students in March," remembers Rev. Crum. By "a few" he means close to 700 students from various colleges and universities all over the U.S., who gave up their spring break to work cleanup duty along the Gulf Coast. "The halls were filled with sleeping bags. They were well behaved and were absolutely no problem to us. In fact, they livened up the community. You'd see them walking on the sidewalks with their iPods in the evening, which is something out of the ordinary for the usually quiet Selma." The students stayed free of charge and even ate for free. The $5,000 cost of feeding the hungry students was taken care of by the church.
"We are extremely fortunate to have organizations out there such as the Circle of Love and the Ellwood Community Church," says April Jones, volunteer agency liaison for the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "They are the key to a successful long term recovery after the initial disaster response has passed."
During a disaster, many volunteer agencies such as the Circle of Love organize theirservices by joining either a long term recovery committee (LTRC) or a long term recovery organization (LTRO). These groups work with FEMA to better serve disaster survivors in need of assistance.
Reverend Crum and his volunteers are preparing for this hurricane season. "We are entering into this hurricane season with a lot of prayer. There is nothing like prayer," he says. "But we are prepared. We will take people even in advance of a storm, if they need somewhere to stay until the storm passes."
The Circle of Life Center is one of three shelters in Alabama able to take evacuees who are ineligible for FEMA assistance. FEMA's Volunteer Agency Liaisons have provided support by linking evacuees to area resources and providing case management training, and help with securing funding to the state. For more information on the Circle of Love Center call: 334-877-4228.
Last Modified: Friday, 09-Jun-2006 13:37:16