The news is all over the people who got stranded (or chose to stay) in New Orleans, but let’s not forget that they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
There are tens (or hundreds) of thousands of others who did get out before the hurricane hit. In the best of situations, these people are displaced from their homes and jobs for weeks to come. In the worst case scenario, their homes and/or jobs are gone for good. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs, and they won’t be going home for a long time if at all.
In Pflugerville, St. Mary’s Baptist Church is dealing with seventeen refugee families, and Katie is helping our church and the greater Pflugerville community to get involved in aiding them.
One of my coworkers said that the parents of one of the children on his son’s soccer team had 12 displaced relatives show up on their doorstep.
And those are just the stories I’ve heard about directly.
Imagine if a bunch of your relatives showed up on your doorstep and needed a place to live and other aid for weeks or months: you wouldn’t want to turn them away. At the same time, you’d be hard pressed to serve their needs yourself.
By all means, give to the Red Cross and other charities, but also see how you can help directly in your own community. With the devastation that this storm has caused, I’m sure you can find refugees in pretty much every community in the US.
Update: Katie heard from a neighbor who works in the middle school that a family in our subdivision had twelve displaced relatives show up on their door. This weekend, we’re going to try to get ahold of the family, make sure they’re aware of relief efforts that are already starting up via St. Mary’s Baptist Church, see what their needs are, and do what we can to get them help.

Categories: Odds and Ends