Helping them for the long term

As a volunteer shelter coordinator, Houston native Mike Firenza helped provide clothing and other supplies to thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees, meeting them, he says, as they lumbered off the buses, confused, devastated, homeless and dejected.

Now he’s making a different impact: helping provide long-term recovery by leading a construction crew that’s building Habitat house frames in downtown Houston this week

The amateur carpenter and former law enforcement official said his shelter work was rewarding then, and his Habitat work is rewarding now. “We looked at what families needed then, and we provided it. We look at what they need now, and this is providing it,” he said of the house frames being constructed only steps away.

Mike is active in his church, St. Luke United Methodist, which has been a faithful partner with the Houston Habitat for Humanity affiliate. The crew Mike led on site was composed of members from the St. Luke congregation.

While his Katrina shelter experience was at times overwhelming and always heartbreaking, Mike says he values it, because he was able to touch lives, to gain perspective on what means most, to contribute in some way to the relief of those who had endured so much.

Though so many of the shelters have returned to their original purpose, however, the shared plight of Hurricane victims, Mike is quick to suggest, has hardly subsided. People still need homes. They need stability and hope; they need permanence, support, compassion and a willingness from others to contribute what is possible.

With the same hands he used to deliver blankets and shoes to trounced Katrina evacuees two months ago, Mike is this week delivering hope through the metal end of a hammer. Where once he helped victims in the short term, this week he’s helping them in the long term.

“Housing is one of the things people need,” he says. “And housing is what we can offer them.”