Dear Friends and Family,

We're back from our first disaster deployment by the Red Cross. We started our volunteer careers with the biggest disaster to hit the American continent: Hurricane Katrina, followed immediately by Hurricane Rita. After flying into Houston on September 5, 2005, we drove to San Antonio on the 6th and worked there in the various shelters for 24 more days. We were prepared to live in the heat of Louisiana, with alligators, snakes, fire ants, etc.. Instead, we lived in the Holiday Inn in San Antonio--but never had time to use the swimming pool, watch tv, or do anything else that was "fun". When we arrived in San Antonio, the shelters held approximately 5000 evacuees from Louisana. That number bounced up and down by 500-1000 day by day as some shelters were closed, others were opened. About 85% of evacuees were African-American, 10% Hispanic, and 5% White, Asian or other. Many were wounded and/or sick. Initially, a high percentage of babies in the day care centers in the shelters had diarhhea and vomiting--for awhile, we thought the whole place might be quarantined, but fortunately the problem subsided. Many evacuees were separated from their families and loved ones. The hall to the cafeteria was posted from top to bottom with hundreds of notes to and from evacuees looking for children, parents, friends, family. In each sleeping zone--there were 3 to 5 sleeping zones in each shelter--we could look across a sea of cots hosting 1000 evacuees of all ages. When Hurricane Rita hit, 1000 new cots popped up overnight in Building 171--and we feed and housed these newcomers in addition to the thousands of evacuees remaining in the shelters from Hurricane Katrina. We began referring to the double-whammy hurricanes as "Hurricane Katrita," since we had no break between the disasters.

John and I worked 16-18 hour days. We started out working in KellyUSA Building 171 (the largest shelter), then eventually served in all the shelters: 4 from Katrina, 10 smaller ones from Rita. John initally worked as a zone worker, assisting sick and disabled people to get food, go to the bathroom, get medicine, etc.. He then became the coordinator of transportation for all the disaster workers in all the shelters for all the different shifts--like herding cats! He did such a good job that he was promoted to Logistics, where he got to drive a forklift, supervise the unloading of huge diesel tractor trailers filled with diapers, chairs, bedding, school supplies, toilet paper (it takes a LOT of toilet paper to run a shelter!) and other goods, procure goods, recover shelter supplies when a shelter closed, etc.

I initially worked in the cafeteria, then became an information specialist, a night operations manager, and finally the supervisor of mental health services for all the shelters. I made it my business to know who could provide what service, where. When were vouchers being issued? How could you register for FEMA or Red Cross services? How would you find a missing child in Alabama? I could tell you. And then I was asked to become mental health supervisor. I got to recruit, supervise, and work with the most wonderful, dedicated social workers, psychologists, LPC's and others who stepped in to comfort the evacuees, help them get their survival needs met, coordinate with medical staff and local mental health agencies to make sure the evacuees could get long-term services if needed, and serve around the clock to help others. What a privilege! Kudos to the entire gang who worked in the shelters at great personal sacrifice, both as mental health professionals, medical staff, cafeteria workers, distribution staff, zone workers, logistics volunteers, data processors, shelter managers, and in every other area. There was a lot of chaos and confusion, but despite all the problems, we managed to keep thousands of people fed, clothed, sheltered, and we moved them forward toward a new life one day at a time.

Some special memories:

* On my first day at the shelter, I asked some of the evacuees in the cafeteria how they liked the food. "It's okay," they said, "but we miss having grits and red beans and rice." I took that message to the cafeteria manager. Several days later, guess what was served for breakfast? Grits. The whole cafeteria cheered. Later on, red beans and rice made it into the menu. I don't know if my message to the cafeteria manager contributed to that change, but I like to think that it did.

*Pat Tran, a Vietnamese volunteer with Red Cross, served in New Orleans and helped check houses to be sure there were no people living in them. He found several dead bodies in attics, has nightmares from it. He and his family were in Houston and had to evacuate when Hurricane Rita hit. I met him when he came to the Holiday Inn at 2:00am, asking hotel manager Doug if he could rent a room. I was in the lobby, doing paperwork. Doug had been turning people away for 2 hours--there were no rooms available. It broke Doug's heart, and mine, to turn so many people away. Something about Pat touched my heart: I had to intervene in his behalf. Privately, I asked Doug if he would allow Pat and his family of 4 to stay in John's and my room with us for one night--after all, they were "family" as part of the Red Cross. Doug came up with an alternative: Pat and his family could stay in one of the unmade-up (uncleaned) rooms free, if they wanted, for one night. Pat was delighted--and immediately volunteered to help San Antonio Red Cross in translating for Vietnamese refugees! What a guy! Several other families benefitted from Pat's good luck--Doug offered ALL of his unmade-up rooms to the next evacuees for free--about 15 rooms!

* John was well-known for his leadership ability in Logisitics. He was being groomed to become a manager--and I'm sure he'll eventually become a specialist in that area in future disasters. He shows the scars of hard work: big blisters on several toes, a big cut on his hand where he pinched his hand in the rolling door of a box truck, a bump on his head from a can than ricocheted off a dumpster. He has a special souvenir from the San Antonio shelters: a white can of Anheuser-Busch WATER, not beer. Thanks, Anheuser-Busch, for providing water.

* Everywhere we went, every 15-30 minutes around the clock in the shelters, we had to wash our hands with Purell. Touch your head? Wash with Purell. Shake hands with anyone? Wash your hands. Make a phone call? Purell. Go to the cafeteria for coffee? Purell. Not an option: WASH WITH PURELL!!!!

* Several large women in the shelters had no underwear--panties and bras. Donations of underwear were common, but for smaller-sized women, not large women. This was especially a problem for the older, modest women--they were embarrassed and self-conscious. Lane Bryant stores came to the rescue when the need became known--hooray for Lane Bryant!

* Building 171 was 11 acres in size--we walked it and the other huge shelters many times a day. Whatever service you needed was always at the opposite end of the building--guaranteed! I am now 3 inches shorter than when we arrived in San Antonio.

* We learned a lot from this experience. We are both much better, more much effective leaders now. Can't wait to do this again--and do it better next time!

Thanks for your prayers and support of our efforts. We knew you were cheering for us and standing behind us. You served along with us as we passed out bottles of water, hugged a crying child, opened up new shelters, answered emergency calls for counseling, directed pallets of supplies to be warehoused, and collapsed into bed at midnight (if we were lucky). If you want to actually go along with us next time, contact your local Red Cross chapter and get trained as a DSHR worker (Disaster Services Human Resources). Most of the training is free. All of it is useful. Red Cross will pay for your travel expenses, housing, and most of your daily living needs if you are deployed--you'll just have to work your buns off for 3 weeks or more. If you can't go along with us in person, come with us again in spirit--we need you and we're glad to have you on our team!

With love and appreciation,
Anita and John Laffey