An Evacuee's Story
Morgan and I met Diane H., a Hurricane Katrina evacuee, on Friday, Sept. 9, while participating in EnviroMedia’s 2006 Pay it Forward.
Diane was at the Austin Convention Center standing in the lines for housing and employment information when she met my coworker Tamala, who was volunteering with the Red Cross, and through the day she paired willing evacuees with EnviroMedia staff members for an afternoon dedicated to fulfilling any particular needs or desires.
Tamala discovered during her conversation with Diane that Diane was a vegan, a person who does not use or eat animal products. She asked Diane if she’d like to go to lunch with me since I eat a vegetarian diet. Morgan and I picked Diane up at the convention center and took her to a vegetarian restaurant with an extensive menu. Each of us chose different entrées along with some appetizers and shared the entire meal. Diane said that it was the best meal she’d had since she was evacuated from New Orleans.
Over lunch Diane told us her story: She was a single woman less than one year short of retirement when the hurricane hit. She was a homeowner, and she had never been homeless before. Like so many evacuees Diane had had to leave her three dogs at her house when she was evacuated to Lafayette. While in Lafayette she was paired with a Texas couple who wanted to provide a temporary home for a Katrina evacuee. When these good Samaritans arrived in Lafayette to pick up Diane they had a rowboat tied to the roof of their car. Instead of heading for Georgetown they continued on to New Orleans with the goal of rescuing Diane’s dogs! It was an adventure, but with an abandoned motor boat and the help of a British news crew Diane was reunited with her dogs. She and her dogs were living with the Texas couple when we met.
When the restaurant owner overheard Diane’s story he insisted on covering the cost of our meals. Due to the generosity of the restaurant’s owner we were then able to give Diane the entire $100 that EnviroMedia provides each team of two employees. (Our only directive was to spend it doing random acts of kindness to commemorate the kindness strangers displayed worldwide on 9-11-2001.)
After lunch Morgan showed Diane an Austin map so that Diane could get a feel for the layout of the city during her housing search, and then we took a driving tour of Austin along MoPac, Lamar and South Congress. We stopped by Whole Foods to enquire about employment opportunities and to give Diane a chance to do a little shopping. We dropped Diane off at her car, a loaner from her Texas sponsors, by the convention center and said goodbye. It was a really big day for Diane and a big day for us too.
Meeting Diane was so rewarding and inspiring. As traumatized as she was by her experiences she was amazingly resilient and optimistic. Diane’s story was filled with examples of extraordinary kindness from complete strangers. There was the Texas couple opening their home, initiating the dog rescue and loaning their car to Diane; the British news crew who navigated the streets of New Orleans in a motor boat to retrieve Diane’s dogs; the restaurant owner who treated us to that fabulous lunch after hearing Diane’s story; and finally Kevin and Valerie who gave us the opportunity to pay it forward.
I’m eagerly anticipating Pay it Forward 2006. —Cathy
Diane was at the Austin Convention Center standing in the lines for housing and employment information when she met my coworker Tamala, who was volunteering with the Red Cross, and through the day she paired willing evacuees with EnviroMedia staff members for an afternoon dedicated to fulfilling any particular needs or desires.
Tamala discovered during her conversation with Diane that Diane was a vegan, a person who does not use or eat animal products. She asked Diane if she’d like to go to lunch with me since I eat a vegetarian diet. Morgan and I picked Diane up at the convention center and took her to a vegetarian restaurant with an extensive menu. Each of us chose different entrées along with some appetizers and shared the entire meal. Diane said that it was the best meal she’d had since she was evacuated from New Orleans.
Over lunch Diane told us her story: She was a single woman less than one year short of retirement when the hurricane hit. She was a homeowner, and she had never been homeless before. Like so many evacuees Diane had had to leave her three dogs at her house when she was evacuated to Lafayette. While in Lafayette she was paired with a Texas couple who wanted to provide a temporary home for a Katrina evacuee. When these good Samaritans arrived in Lafayette to pick up Diane they had a rowboat tied to the roof of their car. Instead of heading for Georgetown they continued on to New Orleans with the goal of rescuing Diane’s dogs! It was an adventure, but with an abandoned motor boat and the help of a British news crew Diane was reunited with her dogs. She and her dogs were living with the Texas couple when we met.
When the restaurant owner overheard Diane’s story he insisted on covering the cost of our meals. Due to the generosity of the restaurant’s owner we were then able to give Diane the entire $100 that EnviroMedia provides each team of two employees. (Our only directive was to spend it doing random acts of kindness to commemorate the kindness strangers displayed worldwide on 9-11-2001.)
After lunch Morgan showed Diane an Austin map so that Diane could get a feel for the layout of the city during her housing search, and then we took a driving tour of Austin along MoPac, Lamar and South Congress. We stopped by Whole Foods to enquire about employment opportunities and to give Diane a chance to do a little shopping. We dropped Diane off at her car, a loaner from her Texas sponsors, by the convention center and said goodbye. It was a really big day for Diane and a big day for us too.
Meeting Diane was so rewarding and inspiring. As traumatized as she was by her experiences she was amazingly resilient and optimistic. Diane’s story was filled with examples of extraordinary kindness from complete strangers. There was the Texas couple opening their home, initiating the dog rescue and loaning their car to Diane; the British news crew who navigated the streets of New Orleans in a motor boat to retrieve Diane’s dogs; the restaurant owner who treated us to that fabulous lunch after hearing Diane’s story; and finally Kevin and Valerie who gave us the opportunity to pay it forward.
I’m eagerly anticipating Pay it Forward 2006. —Cathy
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