ITEMS NEEDED!
A REFUGE FROM THE STORM
Like most Americans, Deb and Casey Johnson will always remember how Sept. 11 devastated their lives. But instead of the Twin Towers in New York City, they will be remembering Hurricane Irma attacking their home in Jacksonville, Fla.
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Even though they lived over 800 miles from the storm’s landfall, the city of Jacksonville was drowning in heavy rain. A record storm surge turned streets into rivers. Ferocious winds drove waves and debris through windows.
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The Deb and her Great Nephew Casey piled into their car and fled from the flood. When authorities allowed them to return back home, they were faced with seeing all their personal belongings were ruined, and backed-up sewage had destroyed their home. In despair, Deb and Casey – got back in the car and started driving north.
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“I didn’t know where we were going to go,” Deb says. “When we arrived to Atlanta, I googled places where we could get help, and Totality Centers came up.”
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As you know by then, other hurricane refugees were also hit and in town as well, and at first the Deb and Casey were told Totality Centers could only provide referrals to shelters in the local area but due to the storm many had no room in their shelter. But as Deb kept talking about their desperate situation, a light came on in the staffer’s eye. “Let me check something,” she said.
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“It was the sheer grace of God's timing that we called,” Deb says. “We had nowhere to go. I just can’t explain how badly we needed it – to have some place my great nephew to lay down at night, some place we could take a shower.”
Most people don’t realize how easy it is to find yourself in a situation like theirs, Deb says.
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“The storm took everything we had, and Totality Centers helped us with clothing, personal products, hot meals and referrals on different places to stay while I looked for jobs.
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Deb saw God’s hand at work in the first job she found: packing meals for Hurricane Maria survivors in Texas and Puerto Rico.
“I was thinking, ‘God put me in this special situation to do this for somebody else in need,” she recalls. “It’s an important point: helping others when we need help.”
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Totality Centers was able to help the Deb and Casey because of their generosity. Learn more about how you can help families in desperate need at totalitycenters.org.
