DALLAS (ABP) — Murray Broden and Benny Hand are getting used to running out of time. The two men held out in their New Orleans homes as long as they could until the flood waters after Hurricane Katrina made the situation too dangerous.
They evacuated the city and ended up in the Dallas Convention Center with only a few trash bags of belongings to their names, only to find this would just be a temporary stop. The city is trying to move all evacuees from the convention center and Reunion Arena to alternative housing by Sept. 18.
Fortunately, the two found a table of volunteers from Dallas-area churches who had set up in the convention center to help evacuees. They located an apartment in Plano for the two men — a place to stay and possibly to start their lives anew.
“It's like a blessing straight out of the sky,” said Hand.
Broden and Hand are two of the more than 1,500 people from the convention center and arena that volunteers with the Dallas Baptist Association have placed in apartments, some of them rent-free. The effort is the result of a long-running relationship between Barbara Oden, the association's multihousing consultant, and apartment complex managers.
Soon after the flooding began in New Orleans, managers were calling Oden offering to help. Many volunteered apartments for evacuees. So Oden set up a table at Reunion Arena and began connecting people with places to stay.
While many people said they feel like they have been bounced from person to person like a pinball, DBA's yellow shirts became easily identifiable with people who want to help.
Julie Leftwich of Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas said she wants to make a difference in at least one person's life. “I'd like to say 'You're in the right place. I've got you a place to get started.'”
DBA is hoping to furnish each apartment through donations from Dallas-area churches, Oden said. The Baptist General Convention of Texas helped locate 4,000 mattresses through World Vision.
Congregations are coming together to adopt apartment complexes with evacuees, Oden continued. Church members can help provide transportation and emotional and spiritual support for each displaced person.
Dallas Baptists' assistance already has brightened the spirits of Hand and Broden, who were all smiles Sept. 15 just prior to leaving for their new home. Each said they would consider staying in the Dallas area. Their new life may be starting with an apartment from Texas Baptists.
“It's a great weight off our shoulders,” Broden said. “It's a blessing.”