Massive effort yields results in Gulfport

By Tony W. Cartledge

BR Editor

GULFPORT, Miss. - The long lines of cars that snaked through the parking lot in search of cold ice and hot food are gone now, and the stack of more than 2,400 requests for immediate relief has been whittled down to 120, but N.C. Baptist volunteers are just getting warmed up in Gulfport: they've committed to rebuilding 600 houses that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

N.C. Baptist Men (NCBM) expects to have a strong presence in Gulfport for at least two more years, according to director Richard Brunson.

The effort is massive, but so is the need. Thousands of families were left homeless in Gulfport, Biloxi, and the surrounding area. Many of them have left the area, some never to return.

Others remain, living in campers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) program, often parked in the yard beside their ruined homes.

N.C. Baptist Men arrived within days of the storm, initially feeding thousands of residents per day and sending relief crews to remove downed trees, cover roofs with plastic, and tear out the walls and floors of flooded homes.

Operating from the parking lot and church facilities of Pass Road Baptist Church, hundreds of N.C. volunteers shuttled in and out, making the 10 - 15 hour drive from various points in North Carolina.

Many volunteers returned multiple times.

Eventually, three veteran volunteer couples felt that God was calling them to give their full-time efforts to the task. They left jobs or closed their businesses, kissed their children and grandchildren goodbye, and moved to Gulfport.

Eddie Williams of Spruce Pine is the lead coordinator for the project, with administrative support from his wife, Martha. He lives with a cell phone pressed to one ear, and another on his belt. Williams attends to a myriad of logistical details, meets with local officials, builds relationships, arranges building permits, does public relations as needed, and coordinates the shipment of supplies.

For a start.

Gary Holland of Franklin is in charge of making sure the hundreds of relief and rebuild requests are honored.

He makes job assignments for volunteers and sees that they have materials and tools needed for the job. He keeps up with progress reports for each job, and manages the workflow from one job to the next.

Edith Holland runs the job office, assists with the paperwork, contacts homeowners to arrange work appointments, and prints maps to assist team members in finding their work sites.

Elmer and Barbara Farlow of High Point run the "hotel" side of the operation. They check volunteers in, assign sleeping quarters, provide orientation, and oversee volunteers who have come to clean, do laundry, and maintain the mobile shower units.

Barbara Farlow, a nurse, also does first aid and gives immunizations to volunteers who need them. NCBM recommends that volunteers have updated shots for tetanus and hepatitis. With vaccines donated by the state of Mississippi's health department, Farlow can give the shots on site, at no charge.

The three coordinator couples make their homes in trailer campers set up in the parking lot. On a typical day, they are up and about by 6:00 a.m., and it's not unusual for them to still be going strong well past 9:00 p.m.

On a recent day, Eddie Williams had a meeting with Gulfport mayor Brent Warr and First Baptist Church pastor Chuck Register. Williams was looking for help in getting sewer and water upgrades in place for an old armory the city has made available for NCBM's use.

Volunteers are working feverishly to upgrade the armory as a more efficient base of operations.

An old mess hall has received a new roof and will become a permanent kitchen. An administrative building, also re-roofed, is being upfitted for office space and sleeping quarters. A large existing building will provide room for a chapel and additional sleeping areas.

Outside, a new metal building will be constructed to supplement a smaller warehouse already on site: when Sheetrock, roofing materials and other building supplies arrive on a convoy of tractor-trailers, adequate storage is a must.

Once sewer and water connections have been completed, NCBM will set up rows of mobile bunkhouses and shower units, enough to accommodate 400 people at one time.

Even that space won't be enough.

More than 450 volunteers are expected to be on hand for the week after Christmas. The number of volunteers on site may be less during the winter months, but Williams expects it to increase rapidly in the spring and summer.

With the addition of 300-400 youth coming on teams coordinated by MissionsConnect and Serve-365, coordinators could be faced with the task of housing, feeding, and providing work for 700-800 volunteers at the time during the summer months.

Those who can't fit into the armory space will lodge in schools and churches.

Despite the immensity of the ministry that is being done, Edith Holland said the hardest part is turning down other applicants who remain unserved.

When NCBM made a commitment to rebuild 500 homes and quietly opened an application process, more than 600 applications were received so quickly that coordinators had to stop accepting any more.

Now, when people come to the office seeking help, coordinators try to help them find other sources of aid.

For each home being rebuilt, NCBM asks homeowners to contribute funds they have received from insurance or FEMA. Disaster relief and recovery funds donated by N.C. Baptists are used to supply additional materials for each project.

Coordinators work closely with local officials and church contacts to determine who is most in need of assistance, and to avoid investing resources in those who want to get free services while keeping their insurance money.

Fourteen weeks after Katrina, the streets are mostly passable, though piles of debris and wrecked cars often remain where they have been bulldozed to the side. Most roofs remain covered with blue tarps rather than shingles, but signs of progress are abundant.

The people of Gulfport are emerging from the dizzying winds of the hurricane, and for many residents, N.C. Baptists are the reason why.

To volunteer for service with Baptist Men in 2006, go to ncmissions and download application forms, or call Betty Wynn in the NCBM office at (919) 467-5100 (or toll free (800) 395-5102), ext. 339.

Additional volunteers are especially needed for the winter and spring months.