Though Hurricane Katrina left the area of Pass Christian, Miss. more than four months ago, the devastation inflicted on that community by the catastrophe remains to this day.
It was in response to those damaged houses, lives and dreams that 14 people from the Goodrich United Methodist Church, 8071 M-15, decided to make the journey south.
And while they left on in the early morning hours of Dec. 30 hoping to help a community experience change, they never guessed how much they would be changed by the experience.
‘The 14 of us that ( went to Pass Christian) from Goodrich will never be the same,? said Carmen Zeigler, wife of Goodrich United Methodist Church Pastor, Karl Zeigler. ‘Once you have seen a home and a community destroyed, yours never looks the same.?
‘It’s the kind of thing that you have to be there to have the whole impact,? said volunteer Vicky Relitz or Goodrich who went to Mississippi with her husband, Duane. ‘You can’t even imagine the destruction.?
The storm took it’s toll in ways many never consider when thinking of damage done by the hurricane. Pastor Terry Hilliard of the Pass Christian First United Methodist Church, 526 East Second St., saw her congregation scattered as families were forced to flee the area.
‘It’s drastically changed things,” Hilliard said. She saw her church go from approximately 45 to 20 members. ‘It’s effected the congregation’s giving power and activities that go on.?
‘I miss the folks who aren’t there on Sunday morning. I miss the people,? Hilliard said.
And while there is still much that is sad and broken to be seen in Pass Christian, progress is being made. Hilliard said she is touched by and grateful for the efforts of volunteers like those from Goodrich.? There’s just no way our community could come back without all of these volunteers,? Hilliard said.
‘I saw a lot of destruction and I saw a lot of willing people pulling together and helping,? said volunteer Andy Zarycky of Goodrich.
?(Volunteering) exhausting but it’s very rewarding. You just don’t talk to anyone that doesn’t say ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,? Zeigler said.
Zeigler said she organized the trip after speaking to her sister about the need for help in the area.
‘My sister is (in Pass Christian) from Seattle and she called me and asked me to come down,? she explained. After deciding to go, she mentioned she would like some others from the church to accompany her if they could.
‘Within a week we had 14 people. They all had to make arrangements,? said Zeigler.
The volunteers have been helping with clean up and working at a place called ‘God’s Katrina Kitchen.? There, according to Zeigler, they feed 1,000 people a day. For many, this is one of the only ways to get food.
‘There’s companies like Panera Bread and Campbell’s Soup that are sending supplies. The food does keep coming in,? Zeigler said. ‘I don’t know how or why, but the prayers keep getting answered.?
Without such contributions, she explained, people would be in trouble.
‘There are no restaurants and no grocery stores,? Zeigler said. ‘It looks like the area has been bombed.?
?(We’ve been) cleaning yards… you’re going through people lives. (Federal Emergency Management Agency) contractors come through with a big truck with a/ shovel and take things away,? Zeigler said.
Often, Zeigler said, the volunteers find things with no way of knowing to whom it belonged.
‘It’s exhausting ’cause you can’t help but think about ‘Where are these people and what happened to them?” Zeigler said.
Sadder still, she said, is the damage done deeper than that which can be cleaned with rakes and shovels. Much of what needs to be repaired is in the spirit of this community, a sort of reconstruction done only through reaching out to and talking with other human beings.
‘Everybody we help wants to tell us their story,? Zeigler said. One woman she spoke with had survived by clinging to a telephone pole. Another, an elderly woman, used her cane to cling to a tree branch during the flooding.
‘It’s very important that we take the time to listen to these people.?
‘A lot people tell you about their pets,? Zeigler said. She recalled a story of a family who had left their dog in what they hoped was a safe place and told it to ‘stay.? They were amazed to find the dog, alive and well, where they had left it when they came back.
One of the volunteers brought a puppy back. The dog will be named, appropriately, ‘Spirit.?
‘We’re really not here to clean houses and give food. We’re here to lend a heart. We need to let them know that they’re not forgotten,? Zeigler said.
With the still lingering shadows of tragedy around them, Zeigler said volunteers and survivors alike still find joy all around them.
‘People need you to smile and laugh,? she said.
Zeigler said most of the volunteers in Pass Christian are from other churches, of all denominations. And while she is proud of the difference she and her fellow volunteers have made there is still much work to be done.
‘It took FEMA a long time to show up in Pass Christian. The majority (of the work) has been done by organizations,? Hilliard said.
?(The Goodrich volunteers met) every night to just share our experiences of the day.( Before long we were) already thinking about how difficult it will be to leave,? Zeigler said.
‘Some of us will definitely come back (to Pass Christian),? said Zeigler. ‘I will come back.?
‘You have to look for signs of hope and if you don’t look for signs of hope then probably the description (of life in Pass Christian today) would be pretty depressing,? Hilliard said.
‘So you can dwell on all of that… you can look at the harbor and see all the boats that aren’t there or you can look at the harbor and see all of the shrimp boats that did survive.?
Hilliard recalled seeing a flock of birds flying over head and realizing that life in Pass Christian will go on. Perhaps not exactly as it was before Katrina, but it will go on nonetheless.
‘Sometimes you have to look real hard to find the positive,? said Hilliard, ‘and sometimes it just shows right up in front of you.?