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RED CROSS EMERGENCY SHELTER
The Family Life Center was transformed into home for the homeless twice in 2008. Hurricane Gustav brought 131 people here by bus. Hurricane Ike brought another 97 in their own vehicles. They all shared one thing in common - they were required to evacuate their homes in the Beaumont - Port Arthur area and were homeless for brief period of time.
That’s where the loving people from Mt. Vernon stepped in to bring love, caring, hope, shelter and food to a stunned and frightened group of people. The Rosemary Jennings Memorial Hall and two classrooms were transformed into dormitories. One classroom became a clinic and another a dining hall. Our youth directors office became command central for the Red Cross Emergency Shelter.
More than 100 dedicated volunteers from our church and the community came forward to help in the shelter. Some cooked, others cleaned, managed record keeping, provided health services, provided activities, child care and friendship. Many volunteers worked at least 8 hours a day every day the shelter was in operation - many worked more than that. The youth and their parents even provided a birthday party for a four year old boy who had to leave his home before his family could celebrate his birthday.
Many ethnic groups were represented. Many were children. Hurricane Ike brought 48 children to our doors.
The last family left the shelter on Thursday, September 18, 2008. Javier Rico and his family and his cousin touched the hearts of many of our volunteers. They are a loving, caring family who always shared a smile with everyone. The youngest child, Brianna, stole the hearts of everyone in her midst.
Andrea Rico said this is the third time in her lifetime that her family has had to evacuate from Beaumont. The first time was just two years ago with Hurricane Rita. Beaumont is home to all their family members and all have scattered to different areas of Texas.
The Rico family was fortunate. They had friends who have assured them that they still have a home to come back to. They all had jobs waiting for them when they returned home as well. The private school the children attend was not damaged.
The Rico family is very involved in their church and in mission work. They are parishioners of St. Anthony Cathedral. They are also active in the ministries and missions of Christo Rey Catholic Church. While in Mt. Vernon, the hispanic community reached out to this special family as well. They became friends with members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church while there were here as well.
Andrea said, “everyone here has been so wonderful. We have been so blessed and we would really like to come back another time just to visit. Right now we are hurricane weary and hope to get back home soon.”
Operating the shelter has provided a wonderful opportunity for people in our congregation to share Christ’s love in a very special way.
Several of our volunteers shared their reflections on this experience.
This was a life-changing and eye-opening experience….LaVerne Roy
This was a dream come true for many of us. We have looked forward to the day when the Family Life Center would be used for this purpose. This gave us an extra-ordinary opportunity to really reach out to people. It taught us to love everyone – even the people who were hard to love….Susan Sample
This changed our lives forever. The people who were here gave us blessings back ten-fold. It was like being home – people wanted to talk to you and the food was wonderful. It was wonderful to have our guests come to church, to have the children attend Wednesday morning worship and to have visitors for the Wednesday morning Bible study. It was just awesome….Judy Kirby
Many of the evacuees have been to other shelters in the past couple of years. Some told us they voted ours as the #1 shelter they have been to……Pat Hudson.
If you are interested in the special ministry, please send an email to the church office at: office@fumcmv.org
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