Katrina VictIm

Early in the morning on August 29, 2005 hurricane Katrina unleashed her fury on the gulf coast. What became a category five quickly overwhelmed the levees in New Orleans that were built to withstand a category three.  With 175 M.P.H. sustained winds and a storm surge 22 ft. high the city was ill prepared and outmatched to defend the onslaught. Eighty percent of the population was evacuated. New Orleans was hit the hardest and when levees began to fail tens of thousands of people were in need of rescue.  1,836 people died, 1,577 from New Orleans. Most of them were low income senior citizens. A hundred thousand people took refuge in the Superdome.  When the wind and the flood waters began to rescind and folks were finally able to go back to their homes and villages in order to access their losses, they were devastated to find nothing left and no resources to rebuild.  Those on the margins of society were the hardest hit.  In the aftermath thousands of people became refugees and urban nomads that were bussed from city to city trying to find a place to pick up the pieces of their lives.

I first met one of those people in 2006.  He and his grandfather owned and operated a roadhouse/ barbeque business.  Everything they had was gone and to make matters worse, even if they had the resources to rebuild, the government said that they could not.  They were first given a bus ticket to Seattle then Portland but couldn’t find an opportunity to get back on their feet.  The journey finally got to be too much for the grandfather and he died.

His grandson, Gary Long, was bused to the hard streets of the sixth street corridor in San Francisco, tired, homeless and hopeless.  The church that I Pastor is on Sixth Street and that’s where I first met Gary.

Thirteen years later and after suffering multiple strokes Gary once again finds himself in dire straits.  He has found refuge at a nursing home in San Francisco and has lived there for over eighteen months.  Gary is not well. He has H.I.V., Chronic heart disease as well as a multitude of other health issues.  After a small settlement from F.E.M.A entrusted to an attorney had dried up.  The attorney promised to get caught up on the past months of money due the nursing home but isn’t following through.  As a result Gary finds himself facing eviction.

The nursing home has agreed to allow Gary to stay there and the monthly financial requirement could be paid by his Social Security but he now owes over $8,500. 00 in back payment.  This is the amount we are hoping to raise for Gary.  I am convinced that Gary cannot survive on his own and it has been confirmed by his doctor.  He cannot take care of himself needing help for everything. Please consider helping my friend by contributing to his security and quality of life that has been denied him for so long.  All of the things I have written about can be verified.

Pastor Mike Moberg

Great news.
The nursing home Gary is staying in has agreed to accept the donations we have already received as payment and he was allowed to remain in his home in San Francisco.

I will be receiving the donations and taking a check to the home.I am pastor of Outpost Church in San Francisco and have known Gary since he moved here after Katrina and began attending the church.

I am requesting a withdrawal today so everything should be taken care of soon

Thanks to all of you for making this happen