LIFE IN A SHELTER
Carol Stehly, MS, MEd, Community Director in the Department of Family Medicine wrote this account to send to relatives up North. It is a perspective of life at the shelter.
I have spent the past four days and nights managing a shelter run by the Red Cross/Chisholm Trail Chapter of Tarrant County. It is very sad.
Many of the individuals we are helping are very frail. We have many elderly frail adults who need an extreme amount of assistance.
At one shelter we have many new moms with their newborn infants and no other family. These young girls are scared.
All of our individuals were dehydrated to the point that they needed some assistance with drinking.
Constant reassurance and patience needs to be practiced at all times. Their main topic of concern is where their other family members are.
The individuals I have spoken with had very little to begin with and now they have lost the little they had. They are afraid of the unknown.
When I have sent some of the residents to the hospital for treatment (John Peter Smith), there main concern is when will they be back and where is it exactly‑ that they are.
This shelter is their home now, and they do not want to leave or are afraid they will not return to the same spot. The fear of the unknown is overwhelming.
From the women have heard horror stories about what has happened in other shelters. They are afraid to go to sleep for fear of being raped or attacked in some manner.
The same members we see in society daily are at the shelter. We need to keep a watchful eye out for individuals showing an abnormal interest in children or others that are in a compromised situation. Constant reassurance is necessary to calm their fears.
Many residents were having difficulty with no cigarettes. I cannot believe I did this, but I did go out and buy cigarettes ¼ this was not a time to try and change behaviors.
The shelters do appear to be chaotic and unorganized, but believe me they might appear that way but they are very organized. Several thousand individuals needing food, soap, toothpaste, underwear, clothes, cots, pillows, blankets ¼ ..all at one time will create chaos.
I worked with two women who desperately needed to be in a skilled nursing facility. I located a nursing home that would come and take them to their facility, but the women were refusing to go because they were here all alone‑no family or friends. They were airlifted out of their New Orleans nursing home, and none of the other residents came to this shelter with them. They feared that if they left the shelter, no one would know who or where they were.
I used my community connections that I have developed here at the UNT Health Science Center to find nursing homes that we could use.
The nursing home staff that arrived to transport them were very loving and convinced the women that they would take good care of them and help to get them back with their other nursing home friends‑the problem being they did not know the last names of their friends.
JPS, our county hospital, has been very responsive, but on Saturday night we needed to stop transport to them because they were overloaded. Many residents we sent needed hospitalization, so they were kept at JPS or transferred to another local hospital. JPS has been a bright light and very caring and throughout.
I have called the hospital about a few residents, and we can always get information. One cute aside –our residents like to go to JPS because they can get “fast –food” while they are waiting there.
While working at our shelter, I heard what a great service the Health Science Center medical staff were providing at other shelters. On Sunday I had a graduate from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine walk in and volunteer to treat and evaluate more of the residents.
One highlight on Saturday evening was the resourcefulness of the individuals. The transport left JPS without one of our residents we had sent, and late Saturday evening he returned by himself. I asked him how he got back, and he said he told the policeman he needed a ride “home.”
Another highlight occurred Sunday evening when our shelter residents decided they were going to have a party to celebrate their new beginning in Fort Worth. They got together and were going to use their food stamps to buy food for the party. (We found a sponsor to pay for the food). Many children missed their birthdays, so today (Sunday) we are having the party to celebrate their new life as well as the missed birthdays‑decorations and all.
The individuals I have helped are very appreciative of everything you do for them from finding them clean socks and underwear to arranging their blankets or carrying their food tray.
The Fort Worth Independent School District came to enroll the children yesterday. This morning the bus was scheduled to pick up all of the children at the door of the shelter.
Please disregard the media attention downgrading the Red Cross and Salvation Army. We must realize this is the worst disaster this generation of employees has experienced. They open up shelters within hours (2) of the time they know they need them. They collaborate with all other agencies in the community.
For example: Red Cross provides shelter and food while they rely on the Salvation Army and other organizations to provide the clothing, etc.
I thought I would write this to give you an inside perspective of what some of our New Orleans neighbors are trying to live with 24 hours a day.
Carol Stehly