Katrina--what a lovely name for such a disasterous storm. When the call went out for help, I couldn't say "No." I arrived at Kelly USA just after the first busload of evacuees. It was a gut-wrenching experience.

"I'm not lost. I'm just homeless," said one young woman
cheerily as she was finding her way to the showers. That's
the kind of resilience that brought these weary, sometimes
dazed, people so far from what used to be home in New
Orleans, LA. I had to fight back tears when I said,
"Welcome to San Antonio." Most people seemed grateful to
have a clean, dry, air-conditioned place to be. I heard
several acknowledgments of thanks to the Good Lord and saw
no anger. The people were polite and orderly for the most
part, though the long line for clean clothes sometimes got
rowdy.

Young military troops took down thousands of square feet of
office space and dividers so that cots could be put up for
the evacuees before their arrival. There were many families
and some children without parents. The Red Cross had a very
orderly process--Intake Center, medical screening, and
immunizations. The evacuees wore arm bands similar to
hospital "bracelets" with their bed numbers on them. In the
sea of beds, it was relatively easy to find someone if you
knew their bed number and they were in the vicinity of that
bed. It was obvious that at Kelly USA there had been time
to put systems in place that other centers were unable to
do.

Once the displaced persons had showers and were given clean
clothes, which there was not enough of (some were wearing
plastic 'scrubbies' until they could get clothes), the main
concern for most was connecting with relatives and friends.
SBC provided two rooms of phones so people could make calls,
but incoming phone calls to individuals were impossible
except by personal cell phones. Another need of the
evacuees was to find out where they were so they could tell
relatives and friends where they could be picked up. One
woman asked me to give directions to a relative on her cell
phone. I ended up offering my own phone number in case they
got lost. When the phone rang at 3:00 AM the next morning,
it didn't occur to me that it was one of those lost
relatives! In the end, two sets of relatives came to the
rescue from different cities. I put them in touch with each
other and at last was assured that the woman was safely on
her way. The disaster relief center is just the beginning
of a long road to recovery.

On Tuesday, with donations in hand, I headed back to the
Kelly USA Disaster Relief Center. The Red Cross is well
organized--volunteer sign in lists--sign out lists--
locations to be staffed and with how many volunteers posted
on a white board. They offered me the children's room or
linens. I'm a coward; I took linens. I couldn't even talk
with the adults without tearing up; I'd never be able to
handle the children. Perhaps that was the wrong decision.
A toddler of about three approached me in the hallway and
said that she could not find her grandmother. As
frightening as it must be to everyone who was uprooted and
placed in a new and different environment, imagine a small
child lost again. Since I was the lone volunteer in the
linen room, I enrolled the help of an evacuee to find the
grandmother. Many volunteers had returned to their jobs
after the Labor Day weekend and we were stretched thin.

The Center had about a third more people than it had when I
left on Friday. People seemed to have settled in as much as
possible with cots, sheets, pillows, and blankets. I was
surprised the linen room was so busy. There were never
enough blankets for all who wanted them. Pillows ran out
before everyone had one. Most people were orderly and
grateful, though a few were greedy or in search of matched
sets. One man who came in alone, was stooped over and
walking with a cane. The cap he was wearing indicated that
he was a veteran: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. I
quickly spoke with him, confirmed the information, and
thanked him for his service to our country. He smiled and
nodded. He was looking for the housing office, which was
farther down the hall. He should have been given an escort!

Volunteers will be needed for a long time. Find out how you
can help. God bless America.