• Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
The Texas Catholic
The Texas Catholic

Dallas, Texas

Today is Sunday, March 26, 2023
  • Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Instagram
Home
Nation

Parish, Catholic Charities supply water, food to Florida migrants after Ian

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Volunteers and members of the local community distribute food at Jesús Obrero ( Jesus the Worker) in Fort Myers, Fla., Parish Oct. 4, 2022, amid the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. (CNS photo/Tom Tracy)

By Tom Tracy
Catholic News Service

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Father Patrick O’Connor, pastor of Jesús Obrero (Jesus the Worker) Parish, northwest of downtown Fort Myers, orchestrated a familiar operation Oct. 4 as he shuffled about his parish hall stacked high with clothing.

An efficient food and water distribution line was in full swing to serve an estimated several thousand members of the mostly farmworker and Hispanic community who arrived on what was the busiest day of emergency supply distribution since Ian landed, according to Father O’Connor.

Volunteers from a Spanish-language radio station in West Palm Beach had just finished unloading a delivery of donated supplies when Father O’Connor came over to offer hugs and a blessing, along with the obligatory group photo with the radio station staff.

“They put out the word for us and brought in five trucks for us full of water, food and clothes and baby items, diapers and feminine products and all sorts of things that people need right now — especially in East Fort Meyers that got hit so hard,” Father O’Connor said of the radio station delivery.

This was a function the same priest and same parish food pantry played out following 2017’s Hurricane Irma and now they were at it again following the even more devastating Category 4 Hurricane Ian that swept through southwest Florida after making landfall a week earlier on the state’s west coast.

“This is a very poor community in this part of Fort Meyers, and they can’t really get out of here like other people can — so they are kind of stuck,” said the priest, who is an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.

The death total in the Lee County area alone, which includes the city of Fort Myers, was estimated at 45. The toll for Florida is much higher, but numbers were expected to rise as the cause of death was still pending on many others.

Father O’Connor said his immigrant community, composed mostly of Mexican and Central American laborers, is most in need simply of food and water donations right now, as the supply chain situation hasn’t been great.

The city of Fort Myers reportedly does have water but has cautioned that it remains contaminated and unsafe to consume without boiling at this time. He noted that people in this community don’t have the luxury of driving off to other communities to buy supplies or wait for a modicum of normalcy to return here.

“Part of the county does not even have water to the homes yet; days have passed without water in some of the homes,” the priest said.

Sister Maria Isabela Jaimes, a Franciscan Sister of the Immaculate Mary from Bucaramanga, Colombia, who was helping at Jesus the Worker Church, said she had never experienced a hurricane crisis until Irma.

“Thanks be to God I’m alive, but it’s because I was able to evacuate before the storm,” the nun said in Spanish. “But I do feel very close to how my brothers and sisters have suffered because of this hurricane, and I have realized the greatness of God but also the respect for the power of nature.”

Sister Jaimes said the community was in relatively good spirits one week later, as they moved into recovery mode.

“I see the people accepting God’s will; they are at peace are calm now,” she said. “They are coming for (donated) goods but what they really need is solidarity and interior peace, and community.”

At the nearby Elizabeth Kay Galeana Catholic Charities Center in Fort Myers, Alex Olivares, regional director for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Venice, helped with drive-up distribution of water and emergency supplies. Nearby tree removal crews and power companies were busy with cleanup projects.

“This storm hit us really hard; some people were expecting it, but most people were not so everybody is struggling. A lot of folks still have no water and no power,” Olivares said.

Compared to Hurricane Irma, Olivares said he thought Hurricane Ian was going to be less severe, but it seems to have been so much worse for this Latino and African American community known locally as Dunbar.

One locally based Catholic Charities employee lost his entire home due to flooding, Olivares said.

“The damage has been catastrophic for some areas; parts of Fort Myers have been really smashed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly said repairs to the Pine Island bridge should be completed by the end of the week in order for debris removal and utility crews can move toward restoring power.

Pine Island is one of the barrier islands hardest hit by Hurricane Ian, along with Sanibel, which is expected to remain largely inaccessible after Ian destroyed the causeway.

Fort Myers Beach also was severely damaged by Ian; DeSantis described it as a complete disaster zone. Many communities from Naples north to Sarasota and beyond are still waiting for power to be restored.

One newspaper reported that about a quarter of the 2.2 million power outages have been restored in the days since Ian made landfall.

Florida’s Department of Emergency Management also deployed some 11 fueling depot stations statewide, and a mobile fuel truck has been deployed to the hard hit interior city of Arcadia to support residents without access to fuel.

The governor also announced the opening of the first Disaster Recovery Center for Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian at the Lakes Regional Library in Fort Myers.

Father O’Connor urged water and food supplies be directed to the rural and farmworker communities such as his.

“These are very hard-working people,” Father O’Connor said. “They work in restaurants, construction, landscaping, they are cooks, they are chefs, road crews, they do all the heavy labor; farm workers — they are the backbone of the community and they are ones who will be cleaning up everything after this and will be a fundamental and important part of rebuilding all the community.”

“Right now they are in crisis and need so much help,” he added.

  • Tags
  • Catholic
  • charity
  • Hurricane Ian
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Next article True discernment requires knowing oneself, pope says
Previous article Lifting up others through song

Related Posts

National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series Nation
Friday, March 24, 2023

National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series

New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God 'for his life, ministry' Nation
Wednesday, March 22, 2023

New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God 'for his life, ministry'

Bishop Flores named to synod preparatory commission Nation
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Bishop Flores named to synod preparatory commission

Texas Catholic Classics

A look at the five Dallas law enforcement officers who gave their lives while protecting citizens during a mass shooting in downtown Dallas in July 2016.

 

How a child with special needs inspired a high school volleyball team, community and a family who heeded God’s call to protect life.

 

After a young runner collapsed at a Dallas marathon, grace and providence unfolded for those involved in the valiant effort to help her.

   

In the summer of 2016, 50 students and 25 chaperones from Dallas Catholic high schools traveled to Nicaragua for a 10-day mission trip.

 

Early on a November morning, Kenndrick Mendieta bounded from the gym at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep toward the campus’ athletic fields as clouds lifted on a fresh new day.

 

Subscribe

Get the award-winning Texas Catholic delivered to your door. Use the menu below to subscribe now.


Subscription length




 

Photo Gallery

Click here to find your favorite Texas Catholic photographs.

The Texas Catholic Newspaper

Catholic Diocese of Dallas
Michael Gresham, Editor

3725 Blackburn Street
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 379-2800

Our Affiliated Sites

Texas Catholic Youth

Revista Católica

Legal and Other

Contact us

Terms of service

Privacy policy

Site map

Site powered by TexasCatholicMedia

© 2013-2019 The Texas Catholic Publishing Company. All rights reserved.