By Kelsey Hammon
kelsey.hammon@leaderpub.com

When Dwight Grayson took off work for vacation this week, it wasn’t to sit on the beach with a good book.

Instead, Grayson put on work gloves and helped to lead more than a dozen volunteers in aiding Jefferson County residents do everything from gutting damaged homes to helping to treat for mold.
Grayson is a member of the Memphis-based Bellevue Baptist Church, which has about 30,000 members. Since the storm, groups of volunteers have taken turns spending a week lending a hand in Texas. The volunteer projects are coordinated by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Disaster Relief branch. Bill Bumpas, a public relations and contractor with SBTC estimated that about 200 jobs in Jefferson County had been completed through these efforts.

On Friday, Bellevue volunteers joined forces with another church group, The Chapel, that arrived from Lincoln Park, New Jersey this week with the same mission. The volunteers spent most of the day Friday helping to gut the home of Amy Allen, who lives at 512 47th St. in Groves.

Allen said the home has been in her family for more than 50 years. The home holds even more sentiment because her family was one of the first to settle in the neighborhood. Allen herself has owned the home for the past 30 years.

When Tropical Storm Harvey struck two months ago, the home was inundated with water and Allen, who had become stranded, had to be rescued by boat.

“At the time, we were just thankful to be out alive,” Allen said.

When she returned to her home, she discovered the extent of the storm damage.

“Everything that was in there was completely lost, from the furniture to the floors,” Allen said. “Now it’s all moldy.”

Since the storm, she has been living with a member of her church. Allen said she couldn’t gut the home herself and wasn’t sure where to turn to start the repair process, until she saw a group of church volunteers working at another location. She called the number on their truck and was added to a list to get help.

“These people are wonderful,” Allen said. “God bless those people. I am so grateful to them.”

Despite some rain Friday, volunteers from both church organizations ripped out sheet rock, warped floorboards, cabinets, appliances and anything else that might contain mold. The pile of debris grew quickly outside the home throughout the day.

“This is the first step that will allow me to start on the next steps [to repairing the home],” Allen said.

Twenty-one-year old Emily Kane of Memphis, has been attending Bellevue church for about four months. Last year, Kane said her brother, Tim, completed a disaster relief mission in Louisiana and the project inspired her to want to do the same.

Kane has cerebral palsy. But Kane is not one to let the disability define her or her limits to help others. On Friday, she grabbed a hammer and began pulling nails, breaking down the walls and lending a hand wherever needed.

“It’s just been eye-opening to be here and see what it is like to serve in a community, especially those who have experienced such destruction,” Kane said. “I’m so grateful to be part of team that is so willing to help serve others.”

At the end of the day, volunteer groups retire to Friendship Baptist Church in Groves, where they have been staying since the volunteer operation began. Grayson said crews will continue to come down and do relief work as long as it’s needed.

New Jersey volunteer project leader Bryan Weathers said this is the second time that The Chapel church’s Crisis Response Team had visited Southeast Texas to help. For this trip, nine volunteers have spent the past week helping Jefferson County residents.

“We just absolutely love serving,” Weathers said. “This is our way to serve. We may all be at different ends of the spectrum on different issues, but when it comes to helping each other out, we all come together.”

To get volunteer help or to volunteer:
Contact Bill Bumpas at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention at (817) 552-2500.