Team Vance helps Katrina victims

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. David Tomlinson
  • Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  To say that it has been a difficult two weeks for the relatives of one Team Vance security forces member would be an understatement. Staff Sgt. Josie Fellows' family is just one of thousands displaced by hurricane Katrina, and one of several to find their way to the Enid area in search of a place to regroup and assess their situation.
The six adults, seven children and one teenager are from St. Bernard Parish, one of the worst hit areas on the gulf coast. However, they were able to leave the area before the deadly storm struck.
"We left Sunday morning at about 4:15 a.m.," said A.J. Finkelstein, Sergeant Fellows' cousin. "It's been tough -- especially having to move from place to place."
Having made it as far as Dallas before finding a hotel with vacancies, the 14-member family contacted Sergeant Fellows who suggested they continue on to Vance Air Force Base. Upon learning of their situation, the family support center mobilized to assist the evacuees.
"All they had were the clothes on their backs," said Terri Presa, relocation manager at the family support center. "We just tried to get them a place to live -- food, shelter and clothing."
The center also worked to provide the family with necessities such as medication, bedding and gas and oil changes for the four vehicles they drove from southern Louisiana to Vance AFB. Ms. Presa and others coordinated with base organizations such as the chapel, as well as local agencies to accomplish this.
"Emanuel (Baptist) Church gave $100 gas vouchers to the family and Wal-Mart donated oil changes for the four cars," Ms. Presa said. "Several of our Officer's Spouses' Club members came forward and got clothing and other donations together as did the YWCA, Hope Outreach and the Salvation Army."
The youth center also put together several plates of cookies along with handmade cards for the family.
Sergeant Fellows' relatives spent three nights in the base temporary lodging facility before taking up residence with local families and parishes. Unfortunately, despite the outpouring of support which the family has received, little can be done to bring back the life they knew.
"We found out that most of the trailers that are back there are all twisted," Mr. Finkelstein said, "they weren't destroyed ... but the water is over the roofs."
The family stays updated on the situation in New Orleans through friends and relatives as well as television news coverage.
"It's all we watch most of the time," Mr. Finkelstein said. "It's unreal, I mean the water. Even though they say that it's stopped because it's leveled off ... there's probably nothing left there to even go back to."
Unfortunately, while most of Sergeant Fellows' family was able to escape before the hurricane, several of her relatives were unable to leave the city as a result of civic duties.
"That's just part of my family," Sergeant Fellows said. "We've still got three or four people stuck in St. Bernard Parish. My grandma's husband, her son and one of my cousins are still stuck down there."
It may be months before anyone can return to the part of Louisiana where the family lived but, nonetheless, Sergeant Fellows is relieved to have most of her close relatives out of harm's way.
"My grandma, she's like a mother to me. She raised me -- my aunt too," Sergeant Fellows said. "They're the only ones I have left now."
To their credit, the displaced family members are taking their situation in stride and doing what they can to get their lives back in order. Several members, including Mr. Finkelstein, have already secured jobs in the local area and the children of the family have been enrolled in local schools.
"I really feel like the community and our military rallied around them," Ms. Presa said. "Basically, their needs have been met from here."