“They think it’s going to be another five years before the houses will be rebuilt in Biloxi,” said Deer Isle lobsterman David Heanssler as he played a video of the continuing rebuilding effort, one of many following in the wake of destruction left by hurricane Katrina. In other words, there is still time and opportunity for those interested in volunteering their time or money.
Heanssler and his wife, Betty, had wanted to volunteer after seeing the destruction left in Indonesia by a tsunami there, but were put off because they didn’t speak the language. When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Heanssler figured he and Betty, a native Kentuckian, could offer their services, as he explained, “Betty can translate Southern for me.”
Although New Orleans got most media attention, he said, “Biloxi [Mississippi] had the biggest storm surge ever recorded in U. S. history.”
The Heansslers tried to volunteer, but David said, “Nobody wanted couples.” Apparently, the volunteer services wanted groups. Finally, someone from the Heansslers’ church suggested trying to work through Lutheran Disaster Response, and when they did, the couple found themselves welcomed.
They signed up for four weeks in March 2006, with David thinking, “I’ve done boot camp; I can do this.”
From the kitchen, Betty chimed in, “I’ve had three kids.”
After those first four weeks, David said, “We felt we were doing so much good, we signed on for two more weeks…”
“And didn’t want to leave then,” Betty said, finishing his sentence. (They’ve been married for 40 years; they do that.)
David helped rebuild houses, some of which were shown in the video, and guided college kids in removing what he called “tons of debris.” After a week or so, he said he knew what to do with the college kids: “Put `em right to work and embarrass them into working harder.”
Betty worked in the Tool Crib: the container body of a trailer-truck, its shelves filled to the ceiling with multiples of every kind of tool imaginable. Betty, shown in the video, helped people find and sign out tools.
“We went to New Orleans one weekend and didn’t feel safe in the city,” Betty said. “Biloxi is more volunteer-friendly.”
The different service operations have donated trailers available to volunteers to stay in the campground while they work and a place where meals are served. The Heansslers brought their own fifth-wheel RV and made their own breakfast, but because Betty worked such long hours, they ate supper at the camp.
The Heansslers explained that the place they volunteered, Camp Biloxi, has cable hookup for those with campers: wireless, full hookup, Internet access, water, electricity, sewer, use of washers and dryers, etc. The donated trailers come with TV sets hooked up to cable and the rest of the usual amenities.
“We meet so many great people,” Heanssler said. “The stories — when you go to a house, we were told, if they want to talk, encourage them to talk. That’s often more important than anything.” Betty said, “In orientation, one of the first things they tell you is to get [hurricane victims] to talk.”
The Heansslers, referred to now by the Camp Biloxi staff as “long-term volunteers” because of the months they’ve spent over two winters, have special identification badges, and David proudly wears a cross made of wood from a Katrina victim’s destroyed parquet floor given him for his service.
The volunteer organizations need all kinds of help, the Heansslers said: skilled labor, spiritual and emotional support givers, people who can type and do data entry, all kinds of things. It takes a lot of volunteer help to run the camp, whose aim is to rebuild and restore what Katrina took away. The Heansslers suggested that people call and find out what’s available. According to Camp Biloxi’s website, volunteers do a variety of cleanup, rebuilding, and distributing jobs as well as cooking, medical assistance and other jobs.
Dave and Betty Heanssler, a fisherman who can do carpentry and a housewife, mother, fine cook and quilter, have found ways to help hurricane victims and in so doing, have made their lives richer and fuller. “Fishing used to be my life,” said Dave; “now it’s something I do so I can go back to Biloxi to help the folks down there.”
FMI: To volunteer in Louisiana, call Mike Swan at 866-709-0888, 1-888-248-2636 or go to lavols@yahoo.com. To volunteer in Mississippi Call 1-866-572-6453 (MILE) or call the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard at 228-388-5767. 228-594-0008 at Camp Biloxi, or go to campbiloxi@cableone.net.