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Disaster ministry provides home, answer to prayer

 
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6:00 P.M. EST April 8, 2010 | SLIDELL, La. (UMNS)

Linda Meyer stands on
 the steps of her new home with Louisiana  United Methodist Disaster 
Response volunteer Glenn Hawthorne. The trailer in the background has 
been her home since 2006.  A UMNS photo by Betty Backstrom.
Linda Meyer stands on the steps of her new home with Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Response volunteer Glenn Hawthorne. The trailer in the background has been her home since 2006. A UMNS photo by Betty Backstrom.
View in Photo Gallery

A helping hand from United Methodists has turned life around for Linda Meyer, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina.

Representatives of Louisiana’s United Methodist Disaster Response Ministry gathered March 26 with volunteers from around the United States to dedicate a new home they had built for Meyer.

It was a milestone in a journey that has been marked by tragedy and loss.

Meyer’s struggles were only beginning when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, destroying her home in Slidell, La. Several months later, she and her husband, John, were issued a trailer by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that they placed on their wooded property in Slidell. The trailer sat on the very spot where their mobile home stood before the storm.

“When Katrina hit, John and I were nearly finished remodeling our home. My husband had a shop on our property that he used for his automotive customizing business. John and I didn’t make a lot of money, but we were happy,” said Meyer, 58.

Then on April 13, 2006, the unthinkable happened: John lit a cigarette and the trailer’s propane tank exploded. Linda survived the accident, but John died as a result of his injuries.

Still stunned by the tragedy, Meyer went to live temporarily with relatives in Pearl River, La. Family members mentioned her situation to a company that ultimately donated a used trailer to her.

“They gave me the trailer on Memorial Day of 2006. It took a few months to prepare it for living in, but I was determined to come back home. This was where John and I lived for 26 years. It was comforting for me to be there,” Meyer said.

Teamwork involving 
the Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Response Ministry, area pastors 
and others resulted in the new home for Linda Meyer (pictured second 
from right). A UMNS photo by Betty Backstrom.  .
Teamwork involving the Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Response Ministry, area pastors and others resulted in the new home for Linda Meyer (pictured second from right). A UMNS photo by Betty Backstrom.
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She began looking everywhere she could for help in rebuilding her home. “Unfortunately, at the time of Katrina, we had no insurance on our home,” she explained.

She received promises of help from several organizations. When none of them materialized, she began to lose hope of ever having a permanent home on her property.

‘I prayed so hard’

One day, Meyer’s mother-in-law noticed an ad for the Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Response Ministry in the local paper. She made an appointment with Dale Kimball, special projects manager, to discuss her situation.

“I remember going to church several days before the appointment. I was so down, and I prayed so hard. I told God that I just couldn’t handle it all anymore,” she said.

Kimball recalls his first meeting with Meyer. “When she came in, she just kept saying, ‘If you can’t help me, please tell me up front.’ It was obvious that she had been disappointed many times,” he said.

With the help of donations and volunteer labor, the United Methodist disaster response ministry in Louisiana was able to give Meyer the home she needed. Work on the raised structure began Jan. 21 and was completed on March 7.

Meyer’s home was completed during a “building blitz” in the New Orleans area that involved 21 disaster response teams from 12 states and three foreign countries. “A total of 540 volunteers were involved in the blitz,” said Kimball. “In addition to Linda’s home, three additional homes were framed, and the teams worked on 19 other projects.”

‘Early Christmas present’

From the beginning, Meyer was impressed with the help she received from the United Methodist response ministry. “When I spoke to their group, it was such a different experience. There were no false promises. No ‘We can’t help you because we’re leaving town.’ The Methodists have been helping people from the very beginning (of the storm).”

A photo of the 
Meyers' FEMA trailer following the 2006 explosion. A UMNS photo courtesy
 of Louisiana Disaster Response Ministry.
A photo of the Meyers' FEMA trailer following the 2006 explosion. A UMNS photo courtesy of Louisiana Disaster Response Ministry.
View in Photo Gallery

Susan Arnold, 30, worked on the Meyer build with the Louisiana Disaster Response Ministry. A long-term disaster response volunteer from Zionsville, Ind., Arnold served briefly as assistant site manager for the ministry’s Slidell office.

“It was such a joy to see Linda’s face light up when we told her that we had obtained the permit to build her home. It was kind of like giving her an early Christmas present,” said Arnold, who grew up as a member of Zionsville United Methodist Church.

Arnold left her job as an elementary school teacher to serve in Louisiana. “I loved teaching, and was just about to complete my master’s degree. But God was pulling me in a different direction. At first, I kind of ignored him,” she said with a laugh.

After participating in several Volunteers In Mission hurricane-relief missions, she “really started praying” to discern the pull she felt toward disaster-response work. She shared her desires with VIM trainers, who connected her with the Louisiana Disaster Response office. They offered her a job.

The Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Response Ministry has helped survivors recover from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. Working with United Methodist Committee on Relief, the Louisiana organization has gutted 6,200 homes, completed 3,818 rebuilds and 2,352 new builds. Case management has been provided to more than 18,500 families since August 2005.

“To date, the ministry has overseen the response efforts of more than 5,900 teams providing nearly 72,000 volunteers,” Kimball said. “The volunteers have served close to 3 million hours of donated time.”

During the dedication of her new home, Meyer was overwhelmed as she tearfully offered her thanks to the dozens of volunteers who helped with the project. “I can definitely say this is truly God’s house.”

*Backstrom is editor of Louisiana Now!, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church’s Louisiana Annual Conference.

News media contact: Joey Butler or Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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