In the path of total destruction
Mississippi member finds some precious memories—
but little else

It’s like a treasure hunt—you keep going back, looking for more,” says AFT member Marla Mauffray of post-Hurricane Katrina expeditions to her Long Beach, Miss., beachfront neighborhood.

Two crystal crosses are among the few relics Mauffray, a fourth-grade teacher at Thomas L. Reeves Elementary School and a member of the Long Beach Federation of Teachers, has recovered from her home—her neighborhood, actually. “Our stuff is not even on our property,” she says. “It’s to the north, the east, the west—and probably the south.”

Like many coastal homes along the Gulf, Mauffray’s house was reduced to a slab of concrete by Hurricane Katrina’s winds, which seemed to devour most of the family’s belongings. Only some dishes, a couple pieces of jewelry and those treasured crosses from her daughters’ baptisms were found nearby.

Although her family—husband Bobby and daughters Emma, 4, and Ryann, 2—have lost their house and nearly all their possessions, they have a roof over their heads. She and her family are living with her mother and stepfather, whose home, thankfully, was not in the path of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. Mauffray went back to work at Reeves in late September (students returned Oct. 3).

“Knowing that I can never go back to that house” is difficult, she says.  “We brought both of our children home from the hospital to that house.”

'It's what I have to do so my family can
come back home'
Louisiana member says it will take six months to
rebuild his house

School custodian and longtime St. Tammany Parish, La., resident Jerome Troullier, along with his wife, son, daughter and grandson, headed to a relative’s house in a safer, drier part of the state to ride out Hurricane Katrina.

When Troullier returned four days later, he found his house—a doublewide mobile home—still standing but ravaged by flooding. There was damage to the walls and floors, and nearly all furniture, appliances and clothes were ruined—a lifetime’s collection. Troullier expects the house to be uninhabitable for nearly six months, and estimates damages to approach $40,000. Some FEMA and private insurance money is trickling in to cover these costs, but the payments won’t come close to reimbursing Troullier for his losses.

Restoring his home to a livable condition is going to be a long, slow process, Troullier realizes. His first major struggle was to clear his house of ruined possessions, a task that was especially hard on his back and knees, he says.

At the same time, Troullier knows that he was lucky. He still has his job and hasn’t missed a paycheck. Thankfully, his school, Honey Island Elementary, reopened on Oct. 3 and Troullier, an active member of the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees, is back at work. With the house uninhabitable, he and his wife are staying at a nearby motel; his son, daughter and grandson are still with relatives.

Troullier is resolute in the face of the monumental challenges that lie ahead. “It’s basically the same thing every day right now—wake up early, go to work, finish work, go do some repairs on the house, return to the motel late at night and fall asleep. It’s tiring, but it’s what I have to do so my family can come back home.”

Local has 'Bear Necessities' for displaced kids
Shreveport, La., affiliate has warm welcome for students
and families

The families displaced by Hurricane Katrina include 1,500 New Orleans schoolchildren who arrived in Shreveport, La., in early September and enrolled in the city’s schools. Many came with nothing more than a backpack. Their clothes, schoolbooks, beloved toys—all were out of reach and mostly ruined.

“The measure of our community is not just in how we welcomed families on the run from hurricanes in September, but also how we care for them as their long months of displacement unfold,” says Jackie Lansdale, president of the Caddo Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel.

For the Caddo federation, that caring has evolved into the “Bear Necessities” project. Local members observed that while immediate necessities—food, shelter and piles of second-hand clothing—were provided, children also needed basics like underwear. So the local raised money to purchase briefs and T-shirts in children’s sizes, including attractive cotton camisoles for the girls. Each Bear Necessities bag contains something to wear, something to read, and a bear pin to wear as jewelry or attach to backpacks or other possessions.

AFT locals from New York and Florida contributed generously when they heard of the local’s project. The national AFT contributed funds and literature for parents.

“Hurricanes come and go in New Orleans,” says George Bordenave, an AFT national representative and resident of New Orleans, who is now an evacuee himself. “We all told our kids we’d be back home soon. This time, however, the tremendous displacement and loss of possessions caused by Katrina means many of these kids and families will not be returning home anytime soon. So we all have to do more to help those victimized by this disaster.”

Donations help restock libraries
New York PSRPs collect books for damaged schools

Each year, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel (PSRP) leaders in New York state bring books to their leadership conference and donate them to needy schools in their state. This October, those attending the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) leaders meeting in Rochester decided to send the more than 2,000 books they collected to storm-ravaged schools in Louisiana and Mississippi.

One NYSUT local alone—the North Syracuse Education Association—collected more than 800 books for local president Mary Jo Roberge to add to the book pile. The books were sent to several schools, including those in Pass Christian, Miss., and St. Tammany Parish and Jefferson Parish, La. Sue Hatem, president of the Pass Christian local, says one school’s librarian “was overcome with joy at the sight of the books. To have books to share with our students is a wonderful experience for her now.”

A lasting impression
Member of AFT's healthcare division helps out in Gulf

Lisa Daniels, a surgical technician at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn., was with one of the first teams of relief workers to make it to the Gulf just days after Hurricane Katrina. “What struck me first was the widespread devastation, but it was the little things that left the most lasting impressions,” says Daniels, who traveled to Bay St. Louis, Miss., with the faith-based group Willing Heart, Helping Hands.

In the small coastal community, destruction was everywhere, says Daniels, president of the union’s licensed practical nurse/tech unit at her hospital.

Daniels, whose local is an affiliate of AFT Healthcare, went to work in a makeshift clinic set up in the town’s train station, where her duties ranged from filling prescriptions and treating infections to managing cases of heat exhaustion and dehydration. She also was part of a mobile medical team. Although Daniels did not receive a paycheck during her stay in Mississippi, she did get donations from family, friends and AFT locals to cover her traveling expenses.

“It was hard to watch people struggle to have something to hope for. Many people lost everything and there was literally nowhere for them to go. I came back and realized how blessed I was to have gone.”

The experience is all the more important to Daniels since she almost didn’t go. The hospital would not allow her co-workers to donate their paid time off, nor would it allow her to use her vacation time for the days she spent doing relief work.

“I believe the hospital’s first responsibility is to patients in the community, but if I could provide coverage for my shift, why stand in the way?” she says. There are other healthcare workers who want to go down to the Gulf to help out, Daniels adds, “but their hands are tied because the hospital won’t cut through their red tape to make it easier for people to go.”

AFT staff helps Gulf Coast schools recover
Donations benefit educators and students
in Mississippi schools

Mississippi AFT (MAFT) president Greg Kelly estimates that nearly 1,000 members in Mississippi, including teachers, staff and school-related personnel, have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. About 600 members live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and many have lost their homes and community schools.

The AFT established the Mississippi Gulf Coast School Supplies Project to help equip schools resuming classes after the hurricane. The first trucks arrived at MAFT headquarters in Gulfport, Miss., on Nov. 5 and local leaders distributed the supplies.

Much of the donated materials went to the AFT affiliate in Pass Christian, Miss., one of the hardest hit areas of the state. Three of the four schools in Pass Christian were destroyed by the hurricane. Although schools reopened on Oct. 11, the school district was forced to consolidate all of the schools on one campus and classes are being conducted in portables. To help Pass Christian members, AFT staffers donated the materials they needed, from basic items such as office supplies and furniture to more specific classroom necessities such as calculators, world globes and maps, and electronic pencil sharpeners.

Another devastated district, Bay St. Louis, Miss., also received school supplies through the AFT project.  Classes resumed in Bay St. Louis on Nov. 7.

“Mississippi AFT members have expressed deep gratitude for the AFT staff’s collective hard work in helping them get back on their feet,” says Connie Cordovilla, an associate director in the AFT’s human rights and community relations division and coordinator of the school supplies project.