Louisiana Flood Relief:
Heartbreak and Triumph
by Heather Powers
 An enormous area of south-central Louisiana flooded In August, receiving 31 inches of rain in three days. Baton Rouge-where my grandfather was born and where I was raised, was at the center of the flooding. For most of 17 years it was home to me, and when the rain fell non-stop from August 12-14 onto already saturated land, it flooded the homes of friends I've known for years. Approximately 140,000 homes sustained damage. On August 13 and 14 I read the Facebook posts and saw the video feed of people trapped by flood waters praying for rescue. I knew the gutting of houses would start soon, and also that I needed to be there to see my people and do what I could do.
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My fellow alumni from Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, a state funded boarding school with competitive entry for students from all over the state, quickly put together a relief effort. Flood-ravaged alumni were able to put their needs--house gutting, for example, or food and clothing--into a database, and they were matched with alumni who entered data about things that they had to offer. A Facebook group updated members about where available workers could go each weekend and through the week. Volunteers and those receiving assistance have included alumni, the parents and family members of alumni, and the parents and family members of current students at the school.
Hurriedly from members of St. Mark's, my coworkers, the coworkers of Janet Vail, and friends of my housemate, I gathered donations for flood relief/clean up supplies and money. As my potential co-pilots for the drive down had life surprises come up, I drove down alone September 2-3, having to go through Tennessee rather than Georgia because of Tropical Storm Hermine. 
From Sunday, September 4, to Wednesday, September 7, I worked in the humid heat alongside wonderful sweaty people. I worked in two houses belonging to alumni I had not met before, and then I worked on the house of my biggest high school crush... and I found his wife of more than 20 years delightful! I was saddened, however, by the fact that both he and she had become disabled in their 30s (from spinal bifida and seizure disorder, respectively). Now, in their 40s, they have lost everything, and were wearing donated clothing both days that I saw them. 
I remember how a friend got a ride on a tractor's forklift raised high in the air to return to his shelter after a boat gave him a ride to a functioning drugstore. I can imagine him laughing with glee while wishing someone had a working camera. He was a Cajun industrial maharaja for a moment! The shadow side of the joy was that he had waited for a boat going his way for more than an hour in the scorching sun and humidity-logged air. He was about to walk with four bags slung over a 2x4 on his shoulders through the snake, alligator and sewage infested waters. I am SO glad for that tractor.
Most know houses flooded, but it is striking when driving through Denham Springs to see the trashed furniture, sopping insulation, and useless office machines piled helter-skelter outside places like schools, dollar stores, nursing homes, drug stores and gas stations. The places that help us all to keep running also have to dry out and rebuild. 
The joy comes in small items that when decorated with a child's favorite character are priceless and make the world better. By the end of this week a toddler will delight in a Mickey Mouse potty-seat. Although everything from his Mickey-themed bedroom was water logged and sitting in the front yard in a pile of muddied sogginess, the lad will have Mickey to visit on the potty when he resumes his toilet training. In truth, two weeks in diapers in a school temporary building located 25 yards away from the building with the restrooms undid all his previous progress. But he will learn again--with Mickey cheering him on!
On the Saturday of the flooding, one high-school friend carried his two dogs out through chest-deep water despite his spinal bifida. His wife had the ziplocked papers, wallets and cell phone in bags around her neck. On the following day, when they had to evacuate a second time--this time from her parents' house--his glasses were broken. He will have new glasses because of y'all's contributions.
In June, a committee offered a presentation on race and diversity to those who craft the programs and culture of St. Mark's, including leaders, committee members and greeters. The goal was to begin a conversation about the ways in which St. Mark's can expand our culture of acceptance. It is an area where, as I have learned through my work co-chairing the Membership Committee, we have at times struggled to send a message of radical welcome. By supporting and encouraging the more than 50 people at the meeting to create a greater focus on racial issues, we hoped to germinate more opportunities to counterbalance the negative experiences that some continuing members and new visitors of color have had at St. Mark's.
The lessons of this method were then applied to two role-plays, fictionalized but based on real events at St. Mark's. For example, we explored how calling someone by the wrong name--especially the name of someone perceived to be a member of the same racial group, even in jest--can engender a deep sense of otherness, sending them the painful message that they don't fully belong. Attendees were challenged to reevaluate their assumptions, given tools to listen deeply and respond constructively, and empowered to speak out in defense of others.
of how small, seemingly innocuous choices can lead to the outsized result of significant, unintended segregation. We also considered how thinking consciously about the implicit rules of doing business at St. Mark's can free us to make choices that decrease barriers to participation in the church. 
promises of those actions might be. We were thrilled to find that the small discussion groups were so engaged by the topic and determined in their work that they wanted even more time to brainstorm and evaluate future steps. 
Thanks to a generous gift of books by St. Mark's Vestry member Fritz Henn, the Verna J. Dozier Library in the Undercroft can now offer the congregation an expanded and updated selection of books, DVDs and other material.
Members of the congregation who got to know Suella after she and Fritz joined St. Mark's in 2006 remember well the remarkable range of her theological interests, her expertise in pastoral care and spiritual direction, and her self-effacing commitment to service. For those of you who have joined us since her untimely death in July of last year, a short biographical sketch will reveal the passionate seeker and servant for whom these books lit the way on her faith journey.
In July 2014, Suella preached a sermon entitled "Intimations of Presence" as part of a series on "Meeting God in Our Lives: Exploring Spiritual Practices." (Copies will be available at the celebration on September 25.) While not the focus of her remarks, the important role that reading played in her own faith journey is evident in references to a wide array of writers, from St. Benedict and Teilhard de Chardin to Howard Thurman, Joan Chittister and poet Mary Oliver.
The Library Committee hopes that your next steps will lead you down to the Undercroft to explore the riches contained in the Dozier Library. Just inside the door to the right, you can read about Verna Dozier, revered member of St. Mark's and renowned Biblical scholar and teacher. There you will also find four binders: two hold Catalogs to the Collection with location information; one is for your Suggestions; and one contains Sign-Out sheets.
The St. Mark's Players invite you to join them for the fall production of Peter and the Starcatcher, running from October 7-22. Prepare yourself for a few hours of hilarity, heart and, most importantly, imagination. 