CAT Tracks for May 9, 2011
MOTHER'S DAY...IN A SHELTER


From the Southern Illinoisan...


Link to Original Story

Staying safe & dry

BY LINDA RUSH THE SOUTHERN

Posted: Monday, May 9, 2011 1:00 am

Displaced by floodwaters and living in shelters, some Southern Illinois families nonetheless celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday.

Rock Hill Baptist Church served a special dinner to the nearly 100 people staying at the Eurma C. Hayes Center in Carbondale. Meanwhile, those working at the shelter were opening additional rooms in the building to accommodate the crowd.

Volunteer Jim Scales said there were 94 people registered in the shelter of Sunday afternoon."That's pretty close to maxing out," he said, adding, "There's a family of six on their way from Cape Girardeau."

Those who initially went to hotels and motels are running out of money and needing places to stay, Scales said.

"We actually opened a new site in this building," he said. "We took an office and turned it into a family space."

Spending Mother's Day in such a family space were Chakira Morgan of Cairo with her three sons. Twins Christian and Joshua are 1 year old; their brother Justice is just 4 months old. Morgan said she fled Cairo with just two days' worth of clothing for herself and the boys and initially stayed in a motel. When she ran out of money, in desperation she tried to find some way to get herself and the babies into the Hayes Center. Looking for churches in the phone book, she found the name of the Rev. Oscar Burtley. Burtley's wife, Constance, and her daughters moved the family and their scant belongings into the shelter.

Constance Burtley said they were happy to help. She is from Cairo, and says 30 to 50 members of her extended family currently are staying in motels or shelters because of the evacuation order for the city.

Morgan said the community has been generous, providing vouchers for clothing, diapers, towels and other items.

"I'm grateful for the volunteers fixing the dinner today," she said. "They could be home with their families on Mother's Day."

Children living at the shelter were helped to create colorful gifts for their moms, too.

Having private quarters makes it easier for Morgan to care for her boys. And having a much smaller, but also private room, is making life easier for Dave Williams, 51, another former Cairo resident who arrived about 10 days ago. "I love my room," he said. "It's very comfortable." He has a disability including back fusion and also has trouble with noises, and is content to read or rest in his room, or venture out to play board games or watch TV. His temporary quarters (once was an exam room in the former free clinic in the center) is just big enough for his inflatable bed.

"I slept at Villa Ridge in my car a couple of days, then I heard about this place," Williams said. "I hadn't eaten in a day and a half when I arrived. "I haven't been hungry since." He said the folks at the shelter are "very outgoing and made me feel welcome."

Sandra Webster, director of the area Red Cross chapter, said the Eurma C. Hayes Center board volunteered to run the shelter, which it does with support of the Red Cross.

Scales and shelter director Evelyn Koine said volunteers are making things work. They read to the kids, take them to nearby Attucks Park, provide musical entertainment, even a skate party. The Science Center at University Mall also held a party for the kids and adults. Donations of clothing and food keep arriving, too.

Asked what's still needed, one young volunteer responded, "male hygiene products, more adult and large-size men's clothing, especially extra-large sizes, large size shoes - and diapers!" With about a half dozen babies on site, diapers are always in demand, he said.

The other Carbondale shelter, which was set up for evacuees from flooded areas in Murphysboro, Grand Tower or Carbondale, has been underutilized, Webster said. There were just six people there on the busiest day, and just one was registered as of Sunday night.

Webster said the Red Cross is urging others who are evacuating Cairo or other southernmost Illinois communities to utilize the Red Cross shelter at Shawnee College in Ullin. It's set up for as many as 600 people and currently has fewer than 100 living there, Webster said. "We're urging them to be closer to their homes on the advice of our crisis counseling person," she said.

She said Shawnee College students and others have been providing activities for children at the shelter in Ullin.

"I'm proud of the community - they all stepped up" to help in the disaster, Webster said.

Other Red Cross shelters in the region are at the First Baptist Church in Shawneetown, reopened to serve at least seven families who had been staying in motels and were expected to begin moving in today or Tuesday, and Waldo Baptist Church, between Brookport and Vienna, which can hold 50 people.

And, Webster added, the Vienna High School has been on standby and also could serve as an emergency shelter if needed.

For information on shelters, items still needed, and how to donate, contact the Red Cross office at 618-529-1525.