A note from the CEO // Hurricane Ida
Dear friends,
I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Southeast Louisiana several times this week to serve with our sister agency, Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux, and provide direct support during this critical time of response to the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Ida in the Bayou region.
The human suffering that I witnessed this week in Southeast Louisiana is some of the worst I have seen on U.S. soil.
My staff and I have been working directly with Bishop Shelton Fabre and Nicole Bourgeois, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, helping to connect those who are offering to volunteer, donate, and host supply drives for those who are in desperate need of help.
The emotions I have are similar to those I experienced while responding to our neighbors to the west after Hurricanes Laura and Delta last year. In the first few weeks following a major disaster, response is extremely complex to navigate. There is little to no running water, food, electricity, internet, cell service, hospitals or bathrooms. Traffic is often backed up for many miles, while there is minimal availability of fuel in the region. The heat index has reached over 100 degrees every day this week as homeowners and volunteers work to remove trees from homes and tarp roofs without the reprieve of air conditioning. We are still operating in the context of a pandemic as Louisiana continues to experience high numbers of COVID infection rates. Our crews lack communication while working in the hardest hit areas often adding delay and frustration to efforts to bring relief.
I appeal to those who have offered their assistance in volunteering or donating material goods to be as flexible as possible. Details can change in an instant and drastically affect even the best laid plans.
As a team, we are exhausted yet deeply encouraged. We’ve seen familiar faces from Acadiana and volunteers from all over the country reaching out to offer their service so selflessly. Priests from both the Lafayette Diocese and the Lake Charles Diocese are adopting Parishes and offering assistance in a spirit of brotherhood and solidarity. What has been incredibly uplifting is witnessing friends from the hardest hit areas in Lake Charles showing up to assist almost daily- even in the midst of their own ongoing disaster.
The road ahead for the Bayou region is daunting. There is so much to be done. As I type this letter, crews are continuing their work on major infrastructure challenges such as large debris removal, power, phone service, etc. The fact is that the difficult work of rebuilding cannot begin until living conditions improve. Catholic of Charities of Acadiana will stand in solidarity with Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Houma- Thibodaux and continue to offer our staff in humble service to them.
We cannot forget about the work being done in our own area and to the west- both in response to Hurricane Laura. Our Disaster Response and Rebuilding Together Acadiana teams continue responding to a growing number of our neighbors in need of tarps, debris removal, muck outs and other forms of rebuilding.
Everyone wants to know how to assist and join the recovery efforts.
Here are several concrete ways to help:
Relief agencies, such as Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux and Catholic Charities of Acadiana, will be doing long term recovery work many years after Hurricane Ida is long gone from the public eye. Simply put, the task at hand requires a multitude of resources. If you have the capacity to give, please consider donating monetarily.
Give to Catholic Charities of Acadiana: https://give.classy.org/disaster
Give to Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux: https://catholiccharitiesht.org/ida
Warehouse space is limited both here and in the heavily impacted areas to the Southeast; it is important to coordinate your in-kind donations with Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux. We are helping to strategically coordinate with all of our partners in disaster response. Click below to let us know what you and/or your organization have in mind for drives, service, or donations.
Coordinate your offer of assistance: https://bit.ly/HurricaneIdaHelp
Volunteer your time here in Lafayette at St. Joseph Diner by helping to prepare and package food for both those who have been evacuated and those in the storm zone.
Volunteer at St. Joseph Diner: http://catholiccharitiesacadiana.org/volunteer-calendar
Note on volunteering - We are currently developing ways for you to volunteer your time directly to assist coordinators in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. These ways will be for those who wish to drive down and assist in person. Once those are put together, we will inform you and give you easy ways to sign up. Thank you for your patience in this process.
Thank you again for responding to the needs of so many suffering in our community: those affected by Hurricane Ida, those still suffering from catastrophic storms of last year, our brothers and sisters who are experiencing poverty, hunger, and homelessness, and those who have been impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis.
In service and with prayer,
Kim Boudreaux
CEO, Catholic Charities of Acadiana.