We decided that we would throw on our Somebody Cares car magnets, load up more of the donations that were sitting in our garage and head down there firs thing in the morning. I woke this morning doing lots of research, I had no idea where to begin in regards to helping. I wanted to work with the city to help them implement some of what I learned from Alabama. I found a couple of places to start.
We decided that we would head to the Armory and go right to the people who had lost their homes. We walked in, even though it said not to. We saw there was a meeting going on and we just walked right in, no badges, no contact. My husband nudged me - well, pushed me to talk to some guy who looked important. He was busy so I went to the other important looking guy, He ended up being the big wig in charge of city housing and directed me to the guy in charge. Well, Mr. Bundt was too busy for me and told me to just give them my info and if they "needed" me, they would contact me. Then another guy who is in charge of, well, honestly I have no idea what his job was - he told me to bring my donations to the Salvation Army. Really? You have a gymnasium full of people who just lost everything and I should drive around and find a Salvation Army? UGH! We decided to use the restroom - thats what you do when you need a break right and want to scream right? So, hubby went his way, I went mine. I ended up running in to a woman names Sherrie and her children. Single Mom of 5 who was no homeless. She told me her story and cried. I told her that I would keep in touch with her to see how she is doing and if there was any way that I could help, I would. She cried some more. I didnt hug her, I dont know why - maybe I just needed out of the stinky restroom.
I am not sure how we got split up but Mike, ended up chatting with a couple of families in the gymnasium. I went in and he told me their stories, two families. Any and his wife Rosetta and Nakima with her daughter. They were telling us that, they had no electricity otherwise they could go home. That the police would not allow them to go home. They also said "we came here late after trying to get in to our homes and missed the serving of food" I looked at Mike and said "we need to go to McDonalds and get these families some food" He stood up and off we went. We told the manager that we will be buying food for a few families from the tornado disaster, would he be interested in helping with something for some of the other families"? He came back with 15 free meal cards. What a blessing.
We go back with the food and as I begin to walk into the gym, I am stopped by the Minneapolis Police - no badge no entry. I said "I have been here all morning with out a badge. I bought some families food and I just want to grab the guy and his family" He looked at me and said "no badge, no entry" I said "are you seriously not going to let me feed these people"? He said "fine go ahead" UGH!!!! RED TAPE As this is going on you can hear the people singing outside - singing old gospel hymn praising Jesus. It was awesome. Then they all joined hands, formed a circle and started praying. AMAZING
We sat with the families, I prayed over them before they ate and Andy reached over the table and hugged me. He then hugged my amazing husband. It was beautiful. You find in these situations there are no racial, denomination or financial lines. We are all a family.
As we were getting to leave, I heard "do you have any towels"? I turn around to see the woman that I met in the bathroom, Sherrie. She was asking a Red Cross worker. She said "no" and kept moving. I looked at Sherrie and said "I have brand new towels in my van" I ran to the van, handed her brand new towels and body wash. She said "I cant believe you had these, they do not even have soap here for us" I said you are welcome and left.
We then went to Urban Houseworks were the command center was set up for volunteers. We walked in and said " we just came from Alabama, we said such fluidity and we want to help" A woman responded "You got here just in time" We are starting our meeting. I told her, "before I go up make sure you log all volunteer hours and FEMA will present a bill to the State/City and you will get the bill knocked down with all hours logged" She said "get the volunteer coordinator on the phone, get the hours documented" YAY I just saved the State, I do not know how many dollars" To the meeting we went.
The meeting didn't go as well as I would have liked cause all they wanted was what they know - The Red Cross. Red Cross is great but, we need to get to the people slipping through the cracks, like those at the shelter today. People whose babies weren't being fed. It was clear at the time, there was just way too much confusion. We decided to leave and just go and help the people.
There were road blocks everywhere but, we got in. We met people at their homes, shook hands and offered help. Thats what people need, to know that someone cares, the human touch. The people in the shelter knew nothing from the people "helping" them today when we were there but, they were loved on and they smiled. For a moment, they felt human, they felt loved. Thats what matters in a crisis. Loving on our sisters and brothers in need.
No comments:
Post a Comment