July 16, 2010
Newburgh parishioners help flood-stricken Tennessee residents
Joe Hardesty, above right, is joined by parishioners at St. John the Baptist Church in Newburgh, during a trip to Tennessee to help out after early May floods devastated the Nashville area. They include Kevin Halter, Sarah Woehler, Erin Hurm, Meghan Adamson, Megan Hardesty, Michelle Brown and Trisha Dunlap. He is the director of youth ministry at the Newburgh parish. Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
In early May, Joe Hardesty was sitting in his living room watching CNN report on the devastating flooding near Nashville, Tenn.
As he watched the news reports, he realized that the affected area was only about two hours away from southern Indiana.
He’s the youth minister at St. John the Baptist Church in Newburgh, and he quickly organized two mission trips to Antioch, Tenn.
There were 14 Newburgh parishioners in the first group which headed to Tennessee the end of May. The second group of 27 people spent three days the end of June helping out.
They worked with Catholic Charities and with a flood relief agency. “At first we helped a family living right on the edge of the river,” Joe said. “This affected so many people, and so many had no flood insurance.
“We helped with yard debris, and we power washed the house. Another day we gutted a condo all the way down to the studs.” The group removed drywall, molding, carpet, cabinets and linoleum.
They also put up drywall in the Antioch Baptist Church. “Everyone needed help.”
The second group was as-signed to help out in a trailer park. “Really low income,” he said. “We were assigned to a lady who was a native of Haiti with six kids.
“There was quarter inch mold in some areas — mold on mold — and they could not live there. We did new drywall and worked on a drainage system for her.”
He added, “It’s amazing what can be done with so many people.”
Every night the parishioners would gather and “talk about where we saw God, where we saw Christ in other people, about being Christ to one another, and about what we are called to be and hearing God in our lives.”
The discussions usually lasted about an hour and were “very heartfelt.”
Both groups came away with an appreciation for “what they had” and the realization that “family connections are the most important.”
Newburgh parishioner Kevin Halter said he volunteered to help when he realized how close to home the tragedy was.
“Every day there was so much work to be done. I was amazed how quickly we were able to accomplish things. There was a lot of tearing down and taking out. A lot of demo work.
“It was good to be working in numbers because the more people you had the more you could get done.”
He said the evening discussions were helpful because it was “good to digest everything and reflect on everything you saw that day.”