Little Did I Know

It was August of 2005 and a Category 5 hurricane was barreling into the Gulf of Mexico heading directly for the Gulf Coast. I sat at home watching the weather reports and kept wondering if there might be a miracle and the hurricane would turn away or at least lose strength. So now I watched and prayed for a miracle to intervene on behalf of the Gulf Coast residents. I also wanted to do something to help, but not just by donating money that may or may not get used to help these families.

When I first received the E-mail describing what David and Rebecca Floeter had initiated together with Cyril and Gayneille Neville on New Year's Eve was a project called “Operation Transformation” taking place in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans to take place during Mardi Gras weekend of February 18th. However, I didn't see how I could fit into their event. Then I received another more detailed outline of the people involved and noticed a very striking theme among them and the organization they were working with, Common Ground Relief. They all had one powerful common denominator…they were all being spiritually driven to restore “hope” to those who were still living through the nightmare of Hurricane Katrina.

There wasn't even a way to determine how many people to expect for the "Lindwall Releasing®" workshop. I asked Spirit for guidance and was told to be flexible and "Let Go and Let God!"

I loaded my yellow Volkswagen Bug to the brim with all the clothing donations and a computer donated from Hot Springs residents, and 100 copies the book, “Rays of the Dawn” donated by the Concept Therapy Institute (www.concept-therapy.org) and all the materials I would leave behind for volunteers and residents. The space for the workshop and “Operation Transformation” was a former school, turned shelter known as St. Mary's of the Angels (as I would later realize, a befitting name for the Common Ground Relief Organization and all its volunteers).

During the hurricane, the entire first floor of the school had been submerged and some local residents had taken refuge there without food or water for over a week. Many people died in the building in the week following Katrina from the sweltering New Orleans heat. Today the non-profit organization known as Common Ground Relief has made this makeshift building their headquarters. It is also home to volunteers who left behind careers (lawyers, journalists, first-aide workers, and environmentalists) as well as the homeless. Ironically, the volunteers are also homeless now.

Because the water damage ruined the electrical system, there hasn't been heat in the School/Shelter since the hurricane and it will cost $20,000 to install a new boiler. IT WAS SO COLD! All the volunteers and shelter residents have lived in these conditions since beginning the relief efforts just 6 months after the flood. Common Ground learned early on that accessing government funds for their relief efforts was near impossible. They did not let that stop them and instead reached into the private sectors for funding and to date have raised over $2 million dollars which has gone directly to the people. Money goes only for necessities like food they prepare for volunteers, visitors and the homeless, and tools for gutting and rebuilding houses. They have not used any of the funds to repair the heating or cooling systems.

Everywhere you look in the Lower 9th Ward are these kids. Well, I call them kids because they are all under 30, volunteering to do whatever is needed! These young people come from all over the world and are obviously dedicated to do whatever job no matter how dirty it might be! Most of them have been here for months without a day off while having to struggle to live in this ghost town. But each volunteer I met was filled with a Light that shines through their smiling faces, even when they have become weary from the overwhelming impact of their surroundings.

I met so many homeless shelter residents each with a heart-wrenching story. It made me realize just how resilient the human soul really is! I discovered the real “heroes” of New Orleans came in the most inconspicuous packages…those who have either shown up as volunteers, the people who couldn't evacuate prior to the storm, and those who have returned to try to reclaim their heritage. However, a reporter tried to call these young volunteers, “heroes” and was quickly admonished by the words that still echo through these desolate streets, “it's not being a hero to do what is right!”

Also at the shelter I met another young soft-spoken volunteer, Brandon Darby, co-founder and Director of Common Ground. He and his friend, Scott Crow, had driven over 500 miles and arrived in New Orleans a day after the levees broke and flooded the city. With a 15 foot, flat-bottom skiff they were determined to save another friend whom they had not heard from. Neither Brandon nor Scott had boating experience yet faced the alligator, snake and debris-filled toxic water, a thunderstorm and waves crashing over the bow of their boat. Nine days after searching in the boat that was not created to withstand the ocean waters of the Gulf of Mexico, he finally located his friend, who said simply, “I knew y'all'd come!” This is the kind of heart that makes up the Common Ground Relief Organization.

Common Ground started by going to any remaining house and asked people, "What can we do to support you?" Brandon and his friends started by removing the tons of garbage that covered the area, picking up the trash and decomposing animals, and then began placing tarps over some homes. These activists have brought together people from every background, race and economic sector – doctors working with garbage men working with cooks working with lawyers working with kids, all of one common goal. Volunteer nurses and kids provide medical assistance to the residents of the 9th Ward. Because the literacy rate of the area is only 38% completing the legal documents for any type of assistance is a challenge. Common Ground has filled this need by creating a legal aid organization to help those trying to rebuild their lives and navigate the paperwork. The soil is SO toxic from the contamination, so Common Ground stepped up and initiated soil reclamation projects where they introduce earthworms to help cleanse the soil, and have planted sunflowers because of the flowers' natural detoxifying capabilities, and the project list goes on and on.

When I was introduced to any one who was brave enough to live in the 9th Ward, I began to choke back the tears because you could not miss the love pouring through everyone there as they went out each day with more courage than I have ever witnessed! I wondered if I would be able to get through the workshop without tearing up. However, on Saturday afternoon, after finally getting enough extension cords run down the hall to the only electricity on the second floor, the music I brought along for the workshop was bellowing out the door telling everyone who entered, "How Could Anyone Ever Tell You, You Are Anything Less Than Beautiful?" Homeless people, volunteers and leaders of the Common Ground organization arrived for the workshop. They had to face all the emotions they had been dealing with for almost 2 years. That takes COURAGE!!!

Sam, a Shelter Resident at the Lindwall Releasing® Workshop

So much emotion was stirred during the workshop! There was a volunteer who was also a victim of the flood and lost everything who was so overwhelmed by having to face his trauma that he had to leave after the introduction. This is just one example of how much emotion is tied to this catastrophe and shows the need for mental health intervention. I also had the privilege of meeting two young male volunteers from Texas and was able to initiate them into the background of the "why" and "how" the Lindwall Releasing® method works. Now they can carry this gift forward.

In addition, after the workshop, I asked the question, "How can anyone continue to work in these conditions without some relief?" Unfortunately, at that time there was no mental health care available! However, Common Ground is going to remedy this as well! Dr. Caroline Heldman, political science professor at Occidental University in Los Angeles, who participated in the workshop and is a leader of Common Ground, asked me to return several times later this year to assist in building a mental health care program that will include Lindwall Releasing®.

After returning home, I have to admit that it took quite a while to incorporate all that I had witnessed on every level; mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychically. I needed to WASH and cleanse everything I had. However, the rewards far outweigh any effects of witnessing this devastation because I know that by learning to use the Lindwall Releasing® technique, these volunteers and those they help will be much better equipped to emotionally handle their daily survival in the face of such mass destruction and the many seemingly hopeless obstacles they face in rebuilding lives and recreating the community with a sense of spiritual renewal.

Little did I know that the miracle I had prayed for 18 months earlier did happen in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans in the name of Common Ground Relief Organization and all its volunteers!

Please remember to continue sending love, light and prayers to all of those in the Gulf Coast areas of the United States devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Shelter Resident Leaving With Donations From
"Operation Transformation" Week-End

For more information on the Lindwall Foundation Outreach Program in New Orleans,
please contact Jeannie Whyte, jeannie@fastmail.fm,
or call 501-262-5026.

For Donation information click here