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A blog by IOCC’s Frontline, a group of Orthodox clergy, seminarians, and others who are offering pastoral care to those who were devastated by Hurricane Ike in Texas. The IOCC Frontliners are working in cooperation with the American Red Cross to provide trauma counseling to those whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the hurricane.
October 5, 2008
Galveston, Texas (IOCC) — Tony Speakman’s home is in shambles. As owner of the Speakman Construction Company, he estimates he has lost $60,000 worth of building materials, along with the entire contents of his garage. It all matters little to Tony Speakman though. He has other priorities, energy to devote elsewhere.
Speakman, who lives just outside Galveston, is determined to rebuild his church – singlehandedly, if necessary.
Hurricane Ike leveled Galveston during the early morning hours of September 13 sparing little. The contents of people’s lives sit on the curb, waiting to be hauled away. Included in Ike–s destructive path was the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, unprotected and uninsured from the raging Gulf waters. What a six-foot surge of water did not claim, vandals did, removing the copper from the church’s air conditioning units.
“Seeing the church destroyed hit me pretty hard,” says Speakman, who serves on the church’s parish Council. “I got pretty emotional when I saw it.” I met Speakman when I went down with a group of volunteers from IOCC known as the Frontline. IOCC responded to Hurricane Ike with pastoral care and trauma counseling as well as immediate financial support for parishioners who needed emergency supplies. Speakman plans on rebuilding Assumption, no matter the cost to his own business. After checking out a few projects each morning, Speakman heads for 1824 Ball Street in Galveston. Currently, he has a crew of 12 working on the church.. He says the church can be rebuilt by next Spring but estimates the cost to rebuild will fall somewhere between $1.25 - $1.5 million. Speakman does not know exactly where the financial support will come from, but he is prepared to dig deep into his own pockets if necessary.
Speakman’s efforts are not limited to his Assumption church. He is also assisting Fr Serge Veselinovic at the nearby Saints Constantine & Helen Serbian Orthodox Church with their clean-up and future plans. Saints Constantine & Helen is the oldest Serbian church in America. Its iconostasis was donated by Czar Nicholas around 1895. The damage to the church hall is minimal, but the adjacent community center was heavily damaged and must be rebuilt.
As for Assumption, nearly all its members have some level of insurance coverage, according to Speakman. The church however, did not have the necessary coverage.
“The adjustor came out and looked at our policy,” Speakman says. “He said, ‘no water, no theft, no flood or wind insurance coverage. There is nothing your policy will cover.’”
Assumption’s membership is approximately 90 families, 40 of which are active. The elderly live on the island, close to the church. Younger families live off the island. A number of families living in Houston have second homes on the island and occasionally attend Assumption.
“Several families have been totally wiped out,” Speakman said. “Even those who were not have been hit pretty hard and have sustained some level of damage. They’re all just trying to get their lives back in order and are trying to clean up their own homes. I’ve been hit hard, too. My wife asks me when I will get around to fixing our house. I’ve given 100% of my energy to our church. My house is not as important as rebuilding this church.”
Father Marc Vranes
IOCC Frontline
October 1, 2008
Galveston, Texas (IOCC) — Inga Hager says she is 15 years old, but it is difficult to comprehend.
Inga is homeless, a result of Hurricane Ike, the storm which destroyed the Galveston home she lived in with her mother and sister Heidi. Inga refuses to see herself as a storm victim though; she insists she is a survivor. To speak with Inga, is to speak with someone mature beyond her years.
“The storm will build endurance and character in me,” says Inga softly as she sits on her cot at the New Shelter Tent City in Galveston, just two days after Hurricane Ike’s arrival. “God gave us this hurricane, so that we can become stronger,” she continues, “If we are not able to survive Hurricane Ike, how will we be able to handle the larger problems?”
Inga moved to Galveston from Dennison, Texas just last year. It was love at first sight: Inga loved the island’s palm trees and the peaceful Gulf and Galveston Bay.
“Galveston was so beautiful before the hurricane came. It is so sad for me to see the trees and the plants which have been destroyed,” she says. “But if will be green and beautiful one day again.”
Inga has hopes to be a professional artist. She draws throughout the day, but she has no pictures of Hurricane Ike – and for good reason, she says.
Inga reaches under her cot and begins to show a visitor her work. She produces three pictures and offers them to the visitor.
The visitor offers to take the one that Inga likes the least. “No, I am giving you the very best one,” she insists. “Why would I want to give anyone anything but the best of my work?”
Father Marc Vranes
IOCC Frontline
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