Returning Miss. coast doctors want patients back from free clinic

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Fearing the long-term generosity from out-of-town doctors could do more harm than good, local physicians say it's decision time: Us or them.

Beth Gallup, a 49-year-old Kansas doctor, organized Mississippi's Forgotten, a nonprofit relief group designed to meet the needs of Katrina victims. The group plans to offer free health care here for the next three years.

Gallup and a small group of volunteers are working from a travel trailer at the Bay St. Louis train depot, seeing about 100 patients a day, and offering free medications to treat infection, depression and the common cold, also known as "Katrina Crud."

"It's volunteers or nothing, especially in Hancock County," Gallup said. "There aren't enough physicians to meet the people's needs."

Louine Verneuil (LuLu) has posted her workteam pictures

Click on the link above to view them. They're great.

Another Work Crew Goes to tbe Coast

by Mary Shaw
Saturday, December 10, 2005

Eight Covenant members left well before sunrise to make another trek to Bay St. Louis. When we arrived at the Presbyterian Church we were greeted by members of a sister church in Jackson who had come to give a party for the children in the area. After being given the address of the home in which we would be working, we loaded up tools we would need, and off we went.

The home owner, who we judged to be in her mid 40’s to early 50’s, joined us in a short while, and we entered the house to see what needed to be done. It is hard to describe what we found. As best we could tell very little had been removed since the storm. The house had taken in about three feet of water, and some of that water was still in storage boxes that had been under a bed. It seemed to us that much of what was in the house needed to be put on the street for debris removal, but the home owner was far from the point of being able to do that. She had been out of state for a long period of time, and just had not gotten over the magnitude of what had happened. To add to her dilemma this house had been built by her father in the 40’s and was where she was born. She had gotten a FEMA trailer, but the water/sewer system was not functioning properly; she was spending days in the trailer and nights at a relative’s house. Though she said a sister and the sister’s grandchild had lived with her they were not there, and we had the feeling that she had to make all the decisions.

We took out the items with which she was able to part, moved the remaining furniture, personal belongings, etc. to the middle of the rooms, and began tearing out the wallboard. Another unpleasant discovery was made when we uncovered a large amount of termite damage under the wallboard.

A group of high school students with an adult sponsor from an academy in Cleveland, TN joined us about mid morning, and they multiplied our work efforts. While “young” energy abounded, our crew’s energy, which was only slightly past “young”, abounded as well.

After lunch we made a run back to the church and found the children’s party well under way. Every child had a stuffed animal under arm, other toys and food in hand, and a smile over his (her) face. It seemed to be a happy occasion in the midst of some pretty grim surroundings.

As time came for us to leave we joined with the homeowner in a circle of prayer, and each of us left with a burdened heart. As you continue to pray for all of the people on the Coast who have suffered loss, please pray especially for Leonardine, that she will be able to overcome her situation and be able to let go of things that were so dear to her.