P a g e A ô _______________________________ _________ î l? c | j J o r t l a t t ò
If they're coming here,
they 're coming with nothing.
- Rev. Matt Hennessee on the local relief effort for V
victims of Hurricane Katrina and the flood of New Orleans
PHOTO BY E rika -L eigh G oodwin /T he P ortland O bserver
Rev. Matt Hennessee, pastor o f Vancouver Avenue Baptist
Church, makes plans for a gospel concert and fundraising
extravaganza to be held at the church on Friday at 7 p.m. to help
victims of the hurricane and New Orleans flood being relocated
to Portland.
Rallying Local Relief
con tin u ed
fro m F ront
elderly starving in the streets o f
N ew O rleans, dying in shelters,
survivors still w aiting for rescue
and corpses being consum ed by
verm in in the streets drive C arter
and other prom inent m em bers of
Portland African A m erican com
m unity to do more.
“ It’s interesting how w e see that
in B angladesh and we recognize
it’s a third w orld country, w e see
that in the tsunam i disaster and say
again ‘T h at’s that region o f the
w orld,’ but here we look at New
O rleans and we have to scratch our
heads and say ‘T his is really the
U nited States o f A m erica?” said
Rev. M att Hennessee, another Port
land A fric a n -A m e ric a n leader.
“Q uite frankly our response to di
sasters elsew here is a lot quicker
and it’s a lot bigger than it feels like
the response w as this tim e.”
Friday, C arter team ed up with
H ennessee to engineer a plan for
local relief. A lso in attendance was
Peggy C. Ross o f the G overnor’s
O ffice and A m ber O ntiveros from
TriM et.
T he m eeting evolved to a rally
ing effort w here m ore than 25 local
pastors, w ere phoned with hopes
o f organizing an event this week.
By Sunday afternoon the steer
ing com m ittee doubled in num bers
and w illingness to help. R epresen
tatives from the state and county as
w ellascom m unity members wanted
to play an im portant part in the
revitalization o f the hurricane sur
v ivors’ lives.
T he com m ittee is w orking to ar
range a w elcom e reception for vic
tim s m oved to Portland as w ell as
various form s o f assistance to help
them retain som e sense o f normalcy
a fte r liv in g th ro u g h th is c a ta
strophic event.
A s a result on Friday, Sept. 9 at
7 p.m ., Rev. H ennessee and his
V ancouver A venue First Baptist
C h u r c h , lo c a te d at 3 1 3 8 N.
V ancouver Ave., will play host to a
gospel extravaganza.
The A m azing G race R elief C on
cert will benefit H urricane Katrina
survivors w ho are being relocated
to Portland by the Federal E m er
gency M anagem ent A gency.
Choirs and ministers from all over
Portland will sing and preach their
hearts our with hopes o f making the
survivor who will call Portland their
shelterfeel more like they are at home.
A ttendees are encouraged to
bring donations o f m oney, non-
perishable food and clothing.
M ost o f the displaced A m eri
cans in Portland will find tem porary
housing at the form er W ashington
High School in southeast Portland.
“If th ey ’re com ing here, th ey ’re
c o m in g w ith n o th in g ," sa id
H ennessee. “W e're ju st concerned
citizens w ho w ant to see som ething
happen; to be o f support in a tim e
like this."
T he gospel show will be the first
o f m any fund raising and outreach
efforts by the group. T here are also
sub-com m ittees w orking on pro
viding health care, education as
sistance and faith m inistries.
“T h is is not a C hristm as activ
ity,” said C arter. “T his is about
long-term , sustainable activity and
us, as O regonians, answ ering the
cries and pleas o f people w ho are
no less A m erican. It will take the
heart o f A m erican people to co n
tinue a com m itm ent that goes be
yond a one tim e answ er.”
For m ore inform ation on the
A m azing G race Relief Concert o rto
v o lu n te e r p le a s e c o n ta c t th e
V ancouver First Baptist C hurch at
503-282-9496.
( © b s e r u e r ______________________________________ September 7, 2005
Parallels to New Orleans Tragedy
co n tin u ed
fro m F ront
hood, and w hat they called home.
“ My m other lost everything,”
W ashington said. It took the fam
ily tw o years to finally get back
onto stable ground, living-w ise.
Still, seeing coverage o f those
tragically affected by the flood o f
N ew O rleans, W ashington noted
that at least “ in V anport, once we
got onto Interstate A venue and
were dry, we had water and homes
to stay in. W e got out safely, we
knew w here we all together.”
His em pathy is im m ense for
those suffering in the South.
“ W e lost o u r housing like
those people in New O rleans.
M ost o f the housing w as com
pletely lifted up o ff the founda
tion. You d id n ’t have tim e to get
anything out - your fam ily pic
tures, your books. Y ou ju st have
to get out to save your life,”
W ash in g to n said . “ I ’ve been
struck by the loss o f everything
and that slow step o f putting
their lives back together. T h at’s
a lot o f people to be housed when
the housing isn ’t there.”
W ashington can also relate
w ith the children affected by the
flood, saying, “ As a 12-year-old
kid, having to get on a bus to
som e unknow n place and having
to go to a gym to sleep on cots
and eating food th at’s not your
m o m ’s food - you ’ re gracious for
w hat you get.”
He said it’s im portant that the
rest o f the nation supports those
affected, regardless o f w hether
or not they know anyone directly
hit.
“ I like to believe that the o th
ers o f us in this country w ho are
not experiencing this will open
their hearts and will open their
Van port Flood survivor
Ed Washington looks over
a lake that covers part o f
what was once the city o f
Vanport, located between
Portland and Vancouver.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortiani ) O bserver
purses to help. T h ey ’re not in it by
them selves,” W ashington said.
C oncerning the g o v ern m en t’s
lack o f planning before the o n
slaught o f the hurricane, W ash in g
ton said , “ I t’s an u n b eliev a b le
recipe for d isaster.”
But, he added, it’s difficult to
foresee the results o f a natural c a
tastro p h e.
“I’m sure that their thought p ro
cess w as predicated on past situ a
tions. I’m sure th e y ’re doing the
best they can under the circu m
stances. T here will be lots o f re
O nce the hurricane starts blow ing,
th a t’s going to run its course. It’s
how do you deal with the afterm ath.
I’m not certain that any city in this
country is prepared. W e have to
look beyond the disaster, w hat do
w e do w ith people in hospitals. I
w ould hope that o u r w hole ap
proach w ould be a bit more
co m p reh en siv e.”
Families, homes and
W ashington said people are
even cars were covered
not ju st losing th eir houses
by water from the
and m aterial goods, th e y ’re
Columbia River on May
losing loved ones, their sense
30, 1948, shown in
o f well-being and for some, their
this historical photo
will to survive.
from the Vanport Flood.
“ Y ou can alw ays get new
O regon H istorical
clothes.
Y ou c a n ’t get a new
S ociety photo
m om o r dad or b rother o r sister
re a lly h its ,” W a sh in g to n said . or w ife o r friend. W e lost all o f our
“D oes Portland really have a place clothes but w e had o u r lives and
for a m ajor earthquake? W e p ro b our fam ilies. T h ere’s no co m p ari
ably have som e plans in term s o f son,” W ashington said. “The only
bridges, but do w e really have a thing any o f us can have is to try to
plan in w here w e take people, w here the best o f y o u r ability to hold on.
do w e take them o ut o f the city. Just d o n ’t give up.”
hashing o f w hat sh o u ld ’ve been
d o n e an d w h at sh o u ld ’ve been
do n e,” W ashington said.
If nothing else, this is an event to
learn from.
“ I think that every city in this
country ought to be thinking about
the possibility o f w hat to do if it
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