►
Description
A host of Salvation Army staff and officers at the Gulf Coast Command in Biloxi reflect on their personal and moving experiences with the Salvation Army during and after Hurricane Katrina. Says one: "We get to the see throught the lens of God."
A
Yes,
I
was
in
katrina
in
2005
me
and
my
three
grandchildren,
my
daughter
and
my
husband
and
my
uncle
he's
totally
handicapped.
So
I
went
and
looked
out
the
window.
The
water
was
in
the
backyard
and
I'm
like,
oh
my
god,
and
as
we
get
ready
to
try
to
get
find
a
way
up
in
the
attic
I'm
trying
to
get
maturing
in
that.
So
my
husband
made
him
that
he
got
all
the
children
up
there.
A
Oh
lord,
the
water
got
up
so
quick,
so
we
got
him
up
there
and
and
then
it
was
me
trying
to
get
up
there
and
added
water
was
started
rising.
It
was
rising
quick.
So
I
put
the
life
jacket
on
my
uncle
and
I
told
my
grandchildren
when
they
looked
outside
the
water
was
already
up
to
the
roof
of
the
house.
A
So
I
said
y'all
got
to
get
out
here
and
we're
going
to
get
in
the
tree,
so
he
matured
looked
out
and
said:
oh
no
grandma.
We
can't
spray
him
all
that
water.
I
said.
Yes,
you
can
y'all
hold
on
to
the
roof
and
we're
going
to
walk.
It
was
thank
god
for
the
tree
were
broke.
It
had
a
limb
under
the
water
that
they
could
walk
down
on
that
limb
underwater,
but
I
dared
anybody
to
touch
that
tree,
because
that
was
a
tree
of
god.
C
On
august
29
2005,
we
had
received
warnings
that
katrina
was
coming
and
father
wouldn't
leave.
So
me
and
my
brother
decided,
since
we
can't
get
him
to
leave
we're
going
to
stay
with
him
and
stay
at
his
house
at
that
time
it
was
a
category
one.
I
didn't
think
it
was
going
to
be
too
bad.
So
we
went
to
bed
that
night
and
woke
up
the
next
morning,
and
it
was
up
to
a
category
5..
C
We
knew
it
was
too
late
to
leave
then
so
we
just
decided
to
hunker
down
about
9
00
a.m.
That
morning
looked
outside
and
the
water
started
coming
up
came
up
pretty
fast.
We
were
texting
back
and
forth
with
friends
who
had
left
wanting
to
know
how
everything
was
going.
We
told
them
the
water
was
coming
up
and
within
an
hour
it
had
gone
from
nothing
to
about
10
feet.
C
Luckily
we're
in
my
dad's
house
and
we
were
able
to
get
upstairs
and
not
have
to
go
through
the
attic
or
anything
and
we
looked
outside.
You
could
see
people's
furniture
floating
down
the
street.
You
saw
cars
floating
down
the
street
and
probably
around
12
o'clock
as
quick
as
it
came
in
it
went
out
in
about
an
hour
or
two,
so
we
went
out
to
see
the
kind
of
damage
it
had
down
there
and
I
had
a
house
that
was
two
blocks
from
my
dad's
house.
C
So
I
figured
out
walk
around
and
see
what
my
house,
or
what
was
left
of
my
house
got
two
blocks
over
looked
at
my
house
and
said:
okay
looks
pretty
good,
not
much
damage,
maybe
some
flood
water
inside
and
I
opened
the
front
door
and
my
house
was
completely
split
into
two
pieces,
so
everything
had
washed
out
going
into
the
bay
and
basically
lost
everything.
You
know
from
that
point
on,
we
started
seeing
salvation
army
trucks
coming
around
to
start
assisting
people
and
we're
getting
ready.
C
I
remember
coming
here
to
the
the
salvation
army
headquarters
here
at
the
stadium
and
they're
doing
technic
shots
for
everybody,
giving
out
food
giving
out
help.
So
at
one
point,
when
I
was
looking
for
a
job,
I
decided
to
come
here
to
the
salvation
army
to
use
the
kroc
center,
because
I
figured
I
would
give
my
money
to
someone
to
help
me.
So
I
started
working
here
after
working
out
here
started
working
here
and
volunteered
for
the
disaster
relief
team.
C
I
always
said
after
katrina,
with
the
amount
of
help
that
salvation
army
gave
us.
I
would
love
to
give
that
back.
So
I
was
deployed
during
hurricane
michael
in
florida
after
that
hurricane
and
was
able
to
help
a
lot
of
people
out.
We
were
doing
about
ten
thousand
meals
a
day
and
saw
a
lot
of
happy
people
that
were
happy
to
see
the
salvation
army
in
town,
helping
people
out.
E
I
started
with
the
salvation
army
as
a
bookkeeper,
slash
social
services
worker
two
years,
almost
two
years
into
that
is
when
katrina
hit
and
we
had
a
small
office
down
on
howard
avenue
and
the
day
that
it
hit
we
drove
down
there.
We
drove
right
past
it
because
it
was
pretty
much
completely
gone,
so
we
just
put
ourselves
in
the
parking
lot.
We
being
me
and
my
husband,
he
was
there
with
me
and
we
just
started
helping
people,
but
my
first
indoctrination
to
the
salvation
army.
E
E
And
so
many
people
lost,
you
know
everything,
so
some
of
the
things
that
we
could
give,
they
didn't
even
have
a
house
to
put
it
in
yet,
but
yet
we
try
to
do
what
we
could
for
them
and
and
even
some
of
the
people
didn't
even
you
know
in
this
part
of
the
town,
we
had
a
lot
of
senior
citizens
and
and
right
across
the
street
from
the
dome
we
had.
You
know
a
couple,
ladies,
that
didn't
even
make
it
to
see
their
house
totally
rebuilt
and
those
are
the
sad
things
about.
E
You
know
the
whole
disaster,
but
the
good
things
there
was
a
lot
of
good
things
every
day
you
know
we've
seen
people
rebuild
their
lives
and
their
houses
were
better
for
it.
You
know
we
also
serviced
people
in
paying
their
rent.
If
they
still
had
a
house,
we
know
we
helped
them
with
the
rent
because
they
lost
their
jobs
or
their
utilities.
E
We,
the
hardest
thing
was
as
being
site
coordinator,
was
right
off
the
bat.
They
said
you
need
to
find
10
case
workers
that
can
help
you
and-
and
that
was
hard
to
do,
because
their
people
weren't
looking
for
jobs
right
at
that
minute,
they
were
trying
to
rebuild
their
lives
and
their
homes,
so
bringing
them
into
work
was
not
at
the
top
of
their
list
right
then,
but
we
found
we
found
some
very
qualified
individuals
to
work
for
us
and
and
do
the
most
good
with
the
salvation
army.
E
You
know
the
the
best
thing
I
can
say
about
katrina.
It
made
me
a
better
person.
It
made
me
it
brought
things
out
of
me
made
me
a
stronger
person
made
me
a
more
compassionate
person.
I
would
never
want
to
relive
those
days
again,
but
I
would
never
want
to
live
my
life
without
that
event,
because
it
made
all
of
us
here
on
the
coast
who
we
are
and
made
us
different
people,
better
people.
F
In
2005,
after
katrina
had
hit
it
had
been
about
two
weeks
we
were
living
without
power,
hot
meals,
hot
showers
were
hard
to
come
by.
We
were
in
biloxi
putting
a
blue
tarp
on
a
friend
of
mine's
roof,
and
he
said
man
about
this
time.
The
salvation
army
rolls
by
you
know,
delivering
meals
to
people
who
need
them,
and
you
know
it
sounded
good.
F
We
hadn't
had
a
hot
meal
in
weeks
and
sure
enough
around
12
o'clock,
the
canteen
came
by
and
we
ran
up
to
it
and
they
were
serving
spaghetti
and
meatballs
and
didn't
really
know
it
at
the
time,
but
that
it
it
was
the
best
meal
we
had
had
in
weeks
and
it
and
it
tasted
like
the
best
meal
we'd
ever
had
in
our
life.
It
was
spaghetti,
meatballs,
hot
garlic,
bread
and
a
gatorade.
F
We
were
living
on
water
for
weeks
and
and
that
gatorade
tasted,
the
best
of
anything
we
could
have
had
and
now
that
I
work
for
the
salvation
army
and
have
been
deployed
on
a
number
of
disasters.
I
know
what
those
people
are
going
through,
and
so
I
I
know
what
it
feels
like
to
get
a
hot
meal
at
a
time
when
people
are
are
hurting
the
most.
So
I've
always
remembered
that
and
knowing
when
I'm
out
on
deployment
it
we're
really
doing
some
good.
G
H
H
We
cover
six
counties
here,
with
this
area
command
and
with
or
without
a
hurricane,
we
are
ready
to
serve.
We
serve
through
our
social
service
offices.
We
have
in
gulfport
soon
here
in
biloxi,
over
in
pascagoula
up
in
loose
dale,
so
every
county
is
serviced
in
these
lower
six
counties
of
mississippi.
I
I
remember
when
I
was
a
teenager
and
hearing
about
hurricane
katrina
and
the
devastation
that
it
caused
for
all
those
along
the
gulf
coast.
Today,
as
an
officer
in
the
salvation
army,
I
am
able
to
serve
those
very
communities
where
the
devastation
occurred
today.
The
salvation
army
is
serving
in
many
communities
and
our
biggest
need
is
volunteers.
I
J
Becoming
a
salvation
army
officer
helped
me
live
out
that
dream
and
that
passion
of
helping
other
people
and
now
we're
living
in
a
time
where
we're
presented
again
with
a
disaster,
a
pandemic
crisis,
kovic
19..
I
don't
think
anybody
could
have
ever
expected
this
to
happen.
We
know
about
sicknesses
throughout.
You
know
our
communities
and
cities,
but
like
the
whole
world,
has
been
affected
by
this
and
again
I
had
that
feeling
in
my
heart.
J
What
can
we
do
and
now,
as
a
pastor,
I
have
more
influence,
of
course,
and
resources
to
do
the
things
that
I've
been
inspired
to
do
what
katrina
happened
and
instantly.
We
thought
about
ways
that
we
can
help
our
seniors
during
covet
19.
You
know
that
they're,
the
ones
that
you
know
are
most
impacted,
the
most
vulnerable
ones
and
they're
the
ones
that
should
you
know,
be
in
their
houses.
J
We
go
out
and
we
serve
our
seniors
on
monday,
wednesdays
and
fridays.
We
fix
them.
Homemade,
meals,
ministry,
I
didn't
think
was
like
cooking,
was
part
of
my
ministry,
but
I
loved
to
cook,
and
so
what
I
started
to
do
was
think
of
you
know:
meals,
home,
cooked
meals,
like
chicken
parmesan,
spaghetti
I've
made
them
grilled
chicken,
a
hot
dog
sandwiches,
and
it
I
don't
think
it's
necessarily
about
like
the
food
that
I
make.
J
It
made
me
think
that-
and
it's
so
not
about
like
me,
and
what
I'm
personally
doing
to
get
like
gratification
or
whatever,
but
it's
about
like
putting
a
smile
on
someone
else's
face,
so
I'm
so
thankful
for
the
opportunity
that
we
have
to
feed
we
fed
over.
I
want
to
say
about
5,
000
meals,
thus
far,
and
we
are
going
to
continue
on
that
service,
because
I
believe
that
covid
birthed
out
this
this
senior
meal
delivery.
J
We
have
their
their
family
and
friends.
Many
of
them
are
retired
veterans,
and
so
that's
such
a
blessing
too,
that
we
get
to
offer
that
we
get
to
see
through
the
lens
of
god.
Most
of
all
how
people
are
coping
and
dealing
with
this
and
when
a
senior
says
god
bless
you
and
thank
you
for
what
you're
doing
that
blessing
to
us
and
so
we're
blessed
that
we're
able
to
do
that.
We
also
are
able
to
take
care
of
our
congregation
as
well.
J
Doing
live
virtual
services
from
our
bible
study
to
our
worship,
because
church
has
to
continue
on
people
need
to
be
continued
to
be
uplifted
encouraged
during
this
time.
They
need
to
know
that
there
is
hope
we
wear
our
salvation
army,
hope
shirts
and
they
love
that
with
our
shield
on
there
and
they
need
to
be
reminded
during
this
time.
There
is
hope
in
our
lord
and
savior
jesus
christ.
J
This
may
have
caught
us
by
surprise,
but
it
certainly
didn't
catch
him
by
surprise
and
he
has
a
plan
for
each
and
every
one
of
us
through
this
do
this
pandemic.
If
we
see
through
his
lens,
we
can
see
the
goodness
that's
happening
a
month
amongst
us,
and
so
I'm
just
thankful
to
be
a
part
of
what
he's
doing
and
sharing
the
gospel
of
jesus
christ
and
meeting
human
needs
without
discrimination.
K
We
appreciate
you
our
supporting
donating
public,
you
who
care
about
the
ministry
of
the
salvation
army
and
the
people's
lives.
We
aim
to
touch
every
day.
We
are
in
a
difficult
time
right
now
for
meeting
face
to
face
and
forgiving
face
to
face.
So
we
encourage
you
to
find
all
those
other
options
for
donating
to
the
salvation
army
services.
You
can
find
us
online.
K
You
can
donate
by
check,
you
can
call
in
your
donation
or
you
can
still
come
and
give
your
donation
in
person,
but
we
encourage
you
to
be
ready
to
find
those
ways
of
giving
digitally
so
that
you
don't
have
to
come
in
contact
with
anyone,
but
you
can
support
the
people
we
are
coming
face
to
face
with
to
help
in
times
of
need.
You
can
even
designate
how
much
your
donation
goes
to
what
causes,
whether
it's
covid
hurricane
relief
or
other
responses
that
we
give
in
times
of
disaster
and
crisis.
K
So,
thank
you
for
being
willing
to
continue
caring,
giving
keeping
in
touch
with
what
we're
doing
in
your
community
to
make
a
lasting
difference
and
for
even
taking
part
by
volunteering
by
calling
in
your
questions
or
concerns
by
referring
people
to
us
that
we
can
help
or
that
would
like
to
know
more
about
the
salvation
army's
ministry.
We
appreciate
you,
we
need
you
and
we
hope
that
we're
serving
you
well
in
these
days.