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Katrina spurs four homeless locals to action
Gloucester Daily Times, September 1, 2005 page one
"People that have nothing are thinking about other people and giving back"
By Patricia Cronin
The pictures of devastation pouring out of hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and two other states along the Gulf Coast touched a nerve with Ventura Guzman.
Although he has no place to call his own, the 44-year-old homeless man was so moved by news reports of Hurricane Katrina's effects that he decided to help.
He and three other homeless people who use the Action Inc. shelter on Main Street filled out applications to become Red Cross volunteers yesterday.
Although the four have different reasons for trying to help others recover from Hurricane Katrina, each one said they feel a bond with those who survived the storm but are now left with nothing.
"I know what it's like to start over again," said Guzman, who has been staying at the shelter since December of last year. "I've been wanting to do this for some time and right now nothing is holding me back from doing this," he said.
According to the Red Cross Web site, more than 250 shelters have been opened across seven states to assist those driven from their homes. Volunteers are needed to help distribute care to an estimated 42,000 evacuees who will need significant assistance over the next few months.
Stacy Reis, 24, said she is not sure what she will be doing or where she will be dispatched if she is selected as a volunteer, but said she is sure the experience will be beneficial.
"We're helping them, but they're helping us, too," she said.
The four Gloucester volunteers will have to go through a background and medical check before they find out if their applications have been accepted.
But Jonathan Skeato, 39, said he will go whether or not his application is approved.
"That's not going to hinder me from going," he said. "I'm going to go."
Skeato came to the Gloucester area six months ago to pursue fishing jobs following a divorce. When he couldn't find work, he too ended up staying at the Action shelter.
The past two weeks have been his first ever staying in a shelter. He said emotionally, he was depressed and full of self-pity, until he began seeing the first pictures of the hurricane devastation.
One particular news report, about a man whose wife slipped from his grasp in the flood waters, made him realize that his life was not as bad as he had previously thought.
"I think I've got problems, I think I'm hurting | come on. I was sitting there, kind of feeling like the guy who has no shoes, until I was sitting there watching TV and saw a guy who has no feet."
Skeato said it is his way of giving back and saying thank you for the amount of care he received while staying at Action.
The youngest volunteer, Robert Turner, 23, came to the shelter a little over two weeks ago after a life on and off the streets and in and out of jail.
Turner said he was excited about the idea of traveling to the area at first, but then began having second thoughts. He said he was afraid of what he might see. News coverage of families being flown from their flooded homes in helicopters made him change his mind.
Turner said he will primarily be going to help others but also to help his future.
"I need to start making a life for myself, and like Jon said to me," he said, "what better way to help yourself than by helping others?"
When asked why they did not just collect donations or clothing on Cape Ann for the cause instead of traveling to the Gulf Coast, Guzman said the decision was simple.
"To actually be there where those people are, it's a whole new learning experience," Guzman said. "It can change your life, being there."
Shelter manager Jim Noble said he hoped the group's efforts would erase some of the stigma that is associated with the homeless.
"It just struck me that these people are willing to think of others instead of themselves," he said. "I really do think that it's great for them, people that have nothing are thinking about other people and giving back."
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