My afternoon at a Katrina Service Center

[wellstone dem]

This is the second time I've tried to write it. I wish I were good with words. This afternoon I worked at the Katrina Service Center in Minnesota

The 5 families I served in the 5 hours I was there touched me deeply.

As I listened to the radio as I drove the 1 1/2 hours home, I wished that the people in congress could spend 5 hours talking to 5 families.

I talked with an man in his 80s. He found a picture of his house on the internet and saw only the roof. He lost everything because when he evacuated he thought he would be coming home in a few days. He told me that he was already cold, even though he was wearing a sweater. He was afraid of the future.

I talked with a Vietnamese couple, in their 60s but looking to be much older, who couldn't speak English. They had lived here when they first immigrated last year, but had moved to NOLA because they feared the cold. They smiled at me as there interpreter told me what they needed. As they left they left the wife grabbed my hand and said "Thank you." The interpreter told me those were the only English words she knew.

I spoke to a man who had bought a used car in Minnesota, which didn't run. He wanted to get to California but was afraid he would need to spend the winter here.

I talked to a woman who was staying in a home loaned by a friend but the foreclosure date expired today and they were told they had to leave tonight. She bravely talked about moving again.

I spoke to a young woman who shook and had tears in her eyes the whole time we spoke.

Everyone was so kind and appreciative. Several people stopped back and shook my hand several times as they passed the cubicle, going from agency to agency. All seemed to be holding on to the little hope they could find. A minister stopped and told me "Bless you for being here."

I heard a radio report where someone said, "immediate needs have been met, Congress is moving on to longer term planning." and I started to cry because the immediate needs have been met, but it is not enough. There is no understanding of the devastating loss.

I'm so glad I got to be there. And when I got home my daughter said, "I made you cookies because I'm so proud of what you did today."
And I started to cry.