It’s Day 10 since the devastating Easter evening tornadoes tore through Jones and surrounding counties. The initial shock and grief of the loss of life and property has slightly subsided by necessity for many, giving way to the recovery and rebuilding efforts that likely won’t be fully finished for many months, even years. Glory House Global Outreach, which is based in Laurel, has been involved in the relief and recovery work from the beginning and will be here until the rebuild is complete.
“Our mission at the Glory House is to share the love of Christ to our community and to the world. We do that by loving our neighbor. So, we think about ‘how do we love our neighbor as ourself?’ In a time of crisis like this, we would want someone to help us,” said Hope Staples on Wednesday. “People are grieving the loss of a loved one from this tornado, or they are grieving the loss of something they have worked their whole life for, like a home or property or things in their home. They need a neighbor.”
Staples said that sometimes suffering individuals need more than food, clothing or shelter. She shared the story of one 61-year-old gentleman who was sitting by his rubble after the vicious storm took his home. “We tried to put him up in a hotel. He said he didn’t want to go; he said ‘this is my home.’”
The volunteers asked him if he wanted a sleeping bag and tried to find a tent for him. They gave him food. “We tried to do everything we could, but he would not leave. He just sat there beside his rubble. That’s everything he worked his whole life for.”
One volunteer finally just sat down next to the elderly man to be present with him. “Sometimes just your presence is all you need, just to let them know you are there, that they are not alone in this situation,” continued Staples. “We are called to love our neighbor regardless if they are in the home right next door to us or in our neighboring community or neighboring county. We are called to love our neighbor, and that’s what we have been doing.”
A UNITED EFFORT
With the help of local churches and restaurants, the Glory House has been serving sack lunches during the day and hot meals at night to the community, in addition to operating several relief centers, including one at the YWCO where Staples was Wednesday morning. Two other relief centers are located at Soso and Collins. The relief centers are stocked with food, clothing and many household supplies that are available to storm victims.
“We’ve been able to be in all of the affected locations in Jones County, as well as in the Moss area. We partner with all the churches to see how we can send them supplies and volunteers. Many other organizations are doing the same, but we are here all the time,” explained Staples. “Once the initial disaster happens, the instant relief is normally two weeks. Glory House will be here for the long-term recovery. So us establishing relationships with these people will be really beneficial.”
Residents can come and do an intake assessment at one of the relief centers, where they are asked if they need food, hygiene items, clothing, furniture, appliances, tarps or cleanup teams.
“The victims get to go into the center once a week and shop for free essentially,” said Staples.
To best coordinate its efforts, the Glory House works closely with the Jones County Baptist Association and meets with local pastors to plan and conduct needs assessments. Glory House shares the information with the pastors so that the churches can help the residents most in need in their areas.
“Our families were already suffering economically,” Staples stated, alluding to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Kids were out of school – kids who are normally depending on free breakfast and lunch – so there are so many people out there who are hungry; families are suffering just trying to take care of kids because daycares are closed down. So we are just working with every group that is around. It couldn’t happen if we didn’t work together in unity to serve our community.”
THE YWCO HELPS WITH SPACE
“The Y has been exceptional,” noted Staples. “Dawn Trest is currently the director of the Y, and when the December tornadoes came through, they hit right where the Glory House is located on 2nd Avenue. Our location was not hit, but the next four or five blocks were affected. When that happened I went out to check on our neighbors. It was cold at that time. The first night it was 26 degrees. They (residents there) already suffer from heat insecurity and food insecurity during the winter months. I told my husband, Grant, that we have to feed them. So I called Dawn, because we didn’t have power at the Glory House, and asked her if we could use their facilities to cook.
“She said yes,” Staples continued, “and volunteers showed up the next morning from everywhere. I then contacted Rena Register with the Baptist Association, and she got us some cooks who had been trained in disaster food prep. They came and we served a 1,000 hot meals within two days. That started the beautiful relationship with the Y. We could not do it without the Y letting us use their space, then and now.”
CURRENT NEEDS
“As we transition from instant relief into recovery, now we’re seeing that people need brooms, mops, sheets, pillows and blankets,” explained Staples, after pointing out that initial needs were more food related, with items like peanut butter and canned goods (such as tuna) in high demand.
Many residents will need furniture and appliances, and one ministry on the Coast is sending four truckloads of furniture to the Glory House’s relief center in Soso today. However, Staples said that it’s not just the big items but the tiny ones as well that storm victims need. “Think about what you would need if you lost everything. It’s the little things. They are going to need all the home essential items.”
She stated that The Glory House currently has a pressing need for people with heavy equipment, due to some areas being so congested with fallen trees and debris. Some of the areas are so jammed with debris that even chainsaw crews can’t work through them – those areas are where the heavy equipment is needed. The Glory House will also need skilled labor in the future when the focus turns to construction work in the rebuilding phase of the recovery.
To volunteer your services, you may go to the Glory House website (https://thegloryhouse.org) and look under the Contact Us section.
You may also take financial and other donations to the YWCO location in downtown Laurel from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The relief centers in Soso and Collins are also open and will be as long as community needs them.