 With Katrina in the Gulf, we evacuated to Houston, then made our way to our son in Minneapolis, and finally lived in Springfield, MA, where our daughter and her family live, until we could return home just before Thanksgiving. The UU Community has been part of my personal recovery from the very beginning. Feeling like a plant torn up by its roots, not knowing the whereabouts of people I loved or the condition of our home, I logged on to my e-mail on my son’s computer – and there was the CCUU e-mail group, already up and connecting us with each other. Through the long weeks of exile, we kept in touch and even received sermons from Rev. VanderWeele.
In Springfield, the UU Society provided everything we needed – apartment, furniture, clothing, and warm emotional support. Coming home, we were warmly welcomed by other UUs in our joint worship services with 1st Church. The UUA was paying our ministers and later, in 2007-08, supported a wonderful intern minister to strengthen our ministry here. As a former CCUU president, I was glad to be part of the Post Katrina Planning Committee and was blessed by the opportunity to become the CCUU liaison with our partner churches – they have been an unfailing and generous source of financial, moral, and emotional support at every step of the way. Now I am part of the GNOUU leadership, on the GNOUU partner church team, and I coordinate with the UUSC volunteer center and groups of volunteers who stay at the CCUU annex while they help us rebuild our homes and our city. The opportunity to have all these different connections with UUs has been a wonderful new experience for me.
As I look ahead, I know that GNOUU will continue to strengthen our inter-church ties, find new ways to be mutually supportive, and build an ever more effective ministry to our own congregations and to our wonderful but profoundly troubled New Orleans region.
President, Community Church UU
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