Keisha Moran was living in Waveland, Mississippi, with her small children when Katrina destroyed their home along with the town. Oprah Winfrey found them living in a tent on a parking lot and featured their story on national television. Leaders from St. Paul United Church of Christ in Palatine, Illinois, a half hour northwest of Chicago, took pity and invited her family to move into the church parsonage rent-free. The idea was to give her enough time and opportunity to start afresh.
It’s a nice home–two story, three bedroom, located next to the church. Members fixed up the house and moved Keisha and her children in last September. What the two parties did not do was have a clear understanding on how long she would be allowed to stay in the home. Now, almost a year later, the relationship between the Katrina evacuee and the compassionate church is wearing thin.
Keisha Moran says she has until December 31 to get out. The church wants her out now, this month. “They told me I could stay until December 31 rent-free,” she told a reporter for the Associated Press. “Then we’d work out the rent.”
That is not how church leaders remember the agreement. Terry Ryan, speaking for the congregation, told the reporter they had a verbal agreement that Moran could stay until June 2006, at which time everyone would meet to “revisit” the matter. In a statement released last Friday, leaders say they have tried numerous times to meet with Moran to create a lease. “She never responded to our numerous requests for that meeting,” the statement said.
Keisha said, “I feel like it’s coming across that maybe I’m ungrateful, but that’s not it. I’m not asking them to give me money. I just don’t have a roof to put over my children’s head.”
I wonder how many times this same scenario is playing out all across this land. Churches and communities opened their hearts, their homes, and their wallets to take care of our people who lost everything in the hurricane and subsequent flooding. Initially, warm feelings abounded on both sides. The victims thought their hosts were the best people on the planet. The hosts rejoiced at this opportunity to show hospitality to “the least of these my brethren.” But that was then; this is now.
My wife read the entire 700-plus pages of Doug Brinkley’s “The Great Deluge” about Katrina and the flooding of this part of the world and called my attention to the story of James Cardiff of McKinney, Texas. He’s identified as a solid Christian who admires Billy Graham and supports George Bush, and who out of Christian convictions wanted to do something about the desperation he was watching on television.
He could not believe the feds were not sending in the Army and the Marines. He worried about the stranded people. People on life-support could live only a short time without electricity. “I said to my wife that I just can’t do nothing, what kind of Christian would I be?”
Cardiff packed a bag, flew to Houston, and rented a large van. He packed it with gallon jugs of water and bought 150 gallons of diesel fuel, which Brinkley calls “the rarest of all commodities in New Orleans.” Then he had a magnetic sign printed up for the van which read: “RESCUE WORKER.” In New Orleans, he hooked up with Child Evangelism worker and sergeant in the Mississippi National Guard Hy McEnery III. These two believers struck out to make a difference in New Orleans and did, in a magnificent way. For the next week, Cardiff rescued hundreds of New Orleanians by boat. He said, “There was a hateful NOPD officer who tried to stop my efforts. But I wasn’t going to let the devil stop me from doing what was right.”
Brinkley writes, “Asked why he’d drive into New Orleans from Texas when martial law dictated that he stay out, Cardiff had a pat retort. ‘How could you leave all those poor people behind?’ he asked. ‘How could you have resources and not help?'”
A hero of the first order, no doubt. Bravery, courage, dedication, Christianity on display the way it should be done.
We need some now. The spotlight has moved away from our city. There are no awards being passed out and no banquets being thrown for responders and rescuers who reach out to the needy this week. But we still depend on them and their compassion. In one sense–if you will allow me to say this–it’s harder to drop everything and come to help New Orleans now. In one sense, it’s more difficult and more courageous for a Houstonian to drive across the city and minister to a New Orleanian today.
Perhaps glamour is not the word. Excitement. The attention of the world. Whatever you want to call it. It’s gone. It’s worn off. We’re down to the nitty-gritty now.
Some of the evacuees who scattered across America and settled in with receptive communities were God-fearing, hard-working people, the “salt of the earth.” But some weren’t. Some of them had never held a job and had no intentions of changing. If do-gooders wanted to provide for their needs, fine with them. To complicate matters further, some families were a mixture of both types.
God bless the churches like St. Paul in Palatine. They did the best they knew how. They went the second mile. And, may I say, God bless Keisha Moran and her three little children, ages 5, 19 months, and 4 months. Not knowing Keisha Moran’s situation, we do not want to pass judgement. She’s in a difficult situation.
I suppose I just have one question: Oprah, where are you? These folks need you again.
Susan Larson reviews books for the Times-Picayune and has a good eye for a great read. Sunday, she told us about Mike Tidwell’s newest work, “The Ravaging Tide,” in which he warns Americans on the risk of global warming. Here’s a striking paragraph.
“The great strength of ‘The Ravaging Tide’ is the passionate, informed way Tidwell makes the case for such environmental catastrophe elsewhere. As he lays out the facts, it simply seems a matter of common sense, though many will find it startling when he says that what created our sinking city was the fact that the levees held for so long, not that they failed. Land subsidence and rising seas combine to make bowls of coastal cities protected by levees. It’s inevitable.”
Tidwell’s earlier book, “Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast,” sounded the alarm for the environmental crisis we now find ourselves immersed in, Larson says. When that book came out, then-Governor Mike Foster was so taken by its theme that he bought copies for every member of the state legislature and the U.S. Congress. Larson adds, “Perhaps we would have been better served if they had taken the time to read it.”
I’m putting these two on my must-read list. I’m tired of Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk making jokes at anyone who mentions even the possibility of global warming. I’m pretty certain they do not know what they are talking about and dead sure that I know nothing of this phenomenon. And yet, we’d better learn and quickly. Larson says, referring to Tidwell’s message, “The calamity that was Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath could befall New York, Baltimore, Miami–and probably will. It’s just a matter of time, time that Tidwell says is rapidly running out.”
Another book we recommend for those interested in studying the effects of this mighty river flowing through the heart of America is “Rising Tide” by John Barry, written maybe 5 or 6 years ago. The subtitle is something about the flood of 1927, but that’s only a small part of the book. Most of it deals with the Mississippi River, the structure of its underbed, the way it has changed courses over the centuries, and what the Corps of Engineers has done to it. Anyone living near this river will benefit from the book. Your town library probably has a copy.
Susan Larson says Tidwell is not a pessimist and thinks a grass-roots movement can still make things better. But, she says, local citizens may well be horrified by his statement that “The demise of New Orleans and much of south Louisiana can only be described, in the end, as a form of group suicide.”
My friend Bo Parker died Sunday in Columbus, Mississippi. Bo was a wonderful brother, a deacon in the First Baptist Church there, and a true character in every sense of the word. He was blessed with a terrific wife, Oleta, who “made” him a success. She was that strong woman we always hear about standing behind every successful man. They had five children, each one the pride of their parents, three of whom who died tragically at separate times. Oleta herself died some years back when she was working in the attic of their home, took a wrong step and fell to the garage floor, then had a heart attack as I recall. Bo was understandably devastated, but he got back up and went on with life. I haven’t been his pastor in twenty years, but whenever I would return to Columbus he could be found either around his furniture store which his longtime assistant Howard was running, or in the Methodist retirement home at the east end of town. Bo might have been 80 years old, I haven’t asked, and his health has been poor for some time now. But a lasting image I have is him coming out the door of Trinity Place as I was entering, maybe 4 years ago. “I’m running errands for some of the residents,” he said. He was unsteady on his feet and I wondered about his driving. He was picking up things at the drugstore for his neighbors. Always serving, always wearing a smile, forever looking for someone to help.
Bo was one of these church members who brought only joy and encouragement to his pastors. God blessed his store and made him wealthy, and he in turn became one of the most generous souls I’ve ever known. He was sweet-spirited with a servant heart, and we shall miss him. Already, I expect, Bo is being shown around Heaven by Oleta who has had plenty of time to pick out his celestial outfits, her tastes always being impeccable.
Along with many others, Margaret and I did love that man. We will gather Tuesday at the First Baptist Church of Columbus at 1 pm to pay our tributes, then drive a few blocks south to the ancient Friendship Cemetery, earthly abode to Civil War generals and 19th century pastors of that church and a host of dear friends whose funerals I conducted during the 70s and 80s.
Rest well, Bo. We will miss your laughter.
The question about global warming is not whether or not it is happening — the question is “Did humankind cause it?” and “Can humankind stop it?”
Or is it just part of God’s plan for His planet — like a Volcano eruption. I see no harm in planning for what is probably inevitable, but I also see no evidence at all that we caused it, much less can stop it from happening.
If we gave up every car and plane on the planet, and every air conditioner, and went back to the horse & buggy days of Thomas Jefferson, would that prevent the calamity that is being predicted? Somehow I doubt it… And no one is seriously claiming that it would.
I knew Mr. Parker, too. I think we bought some furniture from Parker Furniture when Beverly and I first got married. He was a fine man, I know folks in Columbus that will miss him. He was a true servant. I had forgotten about the tragedies that he had experienced in his life. I guess it just shows that regardless of your situation in this life, you can live it out, making a positive difference in the lives of others by focusing on helping others, without regard for your own life. Somebody else did that, didn’t they?
St Paul’s United Church did NOT see Keisha on the Oprah show. 2 girls did. The 2 girls were going to pay for her living expenses for a year, however, Pastor Michelle, the biggest psycho ever took control of the whole thing to get herself on TV, which did not work. That church lied. They never helped her with childcare, held hundreds of dollars in donations back from Keisha for expenses and then accused her of being an expense. They did not like her BLACK friends, which is humorous since many of the homosexual parishioners of that church adopt BLACK babies, yet, her BLACK friends, while clean were trash to the pastors.
The pastors NOR parishioners paid for the renovations of the big yellow house that Keisha lived in, the girls that brought her to Palatine paid handymen and also had dozens of friends come over while the pastor made derogatory comments about the girls bringing Keisha back.
IN The first article that came out regarding this issue PASTOR MICHELLE stated that the “girl” that brought Keisha to Palatine (there were 2) did not hold up her financial end of the bargain, and also that she abaondoned Keisha and that the PASTOR could not locate this “girl”. Yet Michelle had no problem locating this “girl” when she showed up at her house (under 1 mile from the church) to be interviewed by the Oprah crew.
The Pastor is a liar and makes me wonder what the prerequisites are to be a pastor.
Keisha was pregnant when she arrived in Palatine and had a baby 4 months ago yet, she is called a freeloader.
Why don’t you ask the good pastor and also, Pastor Page why they made sure they would be out of town the entire week that Keisha was due with the baby.
What ever happened to the great plan that Michelle had for Keisha? Was it because Keisha didn’t like coffee, or was it because the Mississippi fanfare wore off just like it does everywhere?
Give me a break, why don’t you get the real story? You should know better than to just read an associated press story and consider it true. News reporters can publish lies by “quoting” people. That is the secret.
Again, church members were not the ones that did the majority of the work on this 2 story house that was in a complete state of disrepair. this house was fixed up by friends of the abandoners, employees of Citibank, friends of friends… and about 6 parishioners. If you count Michelle who just stood around, make that 7. I would know, I was there.
Expect more comments as I unleash your link.
JOE MORE OR LESS DEFENDS HIMSELF
I wrote the last two commenters and thanked them for giving us their point of view. I explained that what I wrote came from the Times-Picayune as they picked it up from the Associated Press.
Once I wrote about a preacher who was given a large contract with the city to do something or other in post-Katrina life, and only THEN did he go out and form a company to accomplish it. I do not know the man and was only reporting what I read. (I try to make that plain in the body of the articles.) Anyway, I suppose the gentleman googled himself and found my blog. He left a rather uncomplimentary note that I should have checked with him before uncritically reporting what the newspaper had said.
On another occasion, I reported that after the attorney general announced the arrest of Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses at Memorial Hospital for their part in the deaths of four critically ill patients following the hurricane, I told, again from the paper, of a lawyer calling this doctor’s office, offering his services free of charge, only to be told that he was the tenth to call that morning with the same offer. Well, a few days later, the ex-wife of that lawyer found this article and left a blistering retort, accusing the lawyer of non-payment of child support, etc. Once again, I thanked her for her comments, commiserated with what she and her child are experiencing, but told her all I was doing was reporting a synopsis of local happenings.
We’re always glad to get fuller viewpoints on the events reported on here, even when they are contrary to anything I might have said.
Joe McKeever
In regard to global warming:
Most of what we hear is in the service of politics. Politicians do not have the scientific knowledge necessary to make any prediction, but continue in the general line of “Elect me and the weather will be fine.”
If the burning of fossil fuels and the resultant increase of carbon dioxide are responsible, then to reverse the warming we must remove CO2 from the atmosphere. That means no fossil fuels may be burned, and we grow and preserve wood for all of eternity to replace the fossel fuels burned thus far.
When primitive hunters burned off most of Texas to flush out game, they influenced the weather. We still do. When we let scrub juniper cover the same area, another change was made. But the questions to ask are, how much? and how do we adjust to it?
Any international program to reduce CO2 is a game that only cheaters will win. It is extremely doubtful that nations will impoverish themselves in order to prevent coastal tidal flooding elsewhere. The magnitude of the problem puts it beyond the technical and political expertise of the world to solve. It may be that future generations will live in a world without winter, and that they will wonder how we ever lived through the dark and cold ice age.
It is most unfortunate that politicians will try to use this issue to grab power rather than provide sane and knowledgable leadership.
I would like to thank the person stepping up to try and tell the true story about what the church really did . Nothing , and Keisha had no intention of FREELOADING . She is educated , was attending school for nursing and holding a job along with renting a nice 3 BR home 2 blocks from the beach in Waveland Mississippi. Donations were sent to the church specifically for the Moran family , Donations that were taken and locked up to be handled by the church , The only donations .
to the church Keisha knew about were the one people made that the church never would acknowledge . I think the church should be investigated , they are the ones that were looking for a free ride , Like maybe some big donations from Opera and some wealthy people in the area . Get the story right before you print .When the truth comes out . I hope the most honest Newspaper gets the first print and puts it on the front page .
I am truly sorry to hear about your friend death . Many of the church organizations here in Bay Saint and Waveland have been a true gift from GOD . God bless your friend
It’s funny to me that people are coming out of the woodwork now to “defend” ms. moran and her actions. It’s also funny to me that ms. moran made no effort to find another place to live until she was issued a notice to vacate. Then, instead of looking for someplace, she goes to the press. Hungry for attention much?
If you want to bash the church, I can stop you, but please don’t make ms. moran out to be some innocent victim – she is a very smart, very manupulative person. I pray that she succeeds in her new home and new job – and I pray that the Palatine and St. Paul communities don’t take this one bad experience and let it taint any future opportunities to help someone in need.