On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans followed three weeks later by Hurricane Rita. Scientology Volunteer Ministers from around the country traveled to the Gulf Coast to provide relief. This article by Ani Amirkhanian in the October 19, 2005 edition of the Glendale News-Press tells of a 71-year old woman who volunteered in Louisiana and Texas following the hurricanes. It is the story of one of the more than 900 Scientology Volunteer Ministers who put their own lives on hold to help the people affected by these disasters.
Senior Citizen Goes To Louisiana
To Help Displaced Children
Montrose CA. At 71 years, Jerrye Albert’s mission of mercy to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and to Houston, TX, is a tribute to the desire of humanity to help. In her calling as a Volunteer Minister to the Church of Scientology, Albert’s mission is to show others that “Something can be done about it.”
“It is the truth,” says Albert who does not see her age as any reason to stop jumping into the fray when people need help even in the middle of the aftermath of Katrina.
Out of hundreds of contacts, this one stayed in Albert’s mind: “There was a woman sitting totally still and staring into space. Her children were in chairs around her, quite sad, waiting for her to communicate, but she was not saying anything to them. So I sat down next to her and asked her if she wanted to tell me anything and received no response. I waited a bit, and then repeated my question, again, no response. I waited again and repeated my question a third time, at which point a few tears ran down her cheeks. I told her it was okay to cry. I told her there was nothing wrong with that.
I told her to go ahead and cry and assured her that this was okay. It took a bit, but finally the woman did cry. She cried for a very long time and I sat next to her. Then she talked. She told me about losing her mother, not knowing where she was, and also that her cousin, only in his 30’s had just died in a New Orleans hospital. But what I also observed was that the next person who addressed her, she answered, and I could see that she was finally back with us. At that point she left with one of the workers, but when she saw me later, she thanked me. It is such a simple thing, but so powerful to restore someone’s willingness to be alive. Her children had their mother back.”
Albert’s love of children drew her to Baton Rouge. The cots were crowded close together, and there was no privacy whatsoever. The children were rambunctious, being children, she says, but it is optimum and normal for children to be noisy, she added. There was so much noise anyway.
“They are such innocents! They gather right up to you and touch you,” she says, “and the parents were trying to show love to their children despite the horrific surroundings and circumstances.” She spent hours with them just drawing pictures. “At first there were pictures of houses, rain falling from clouds, tornados, and water covering most of the houses,” she recalls.
“Several days later, there were pictures with sun shining, Halloween witches and monsters. Quite a difference.”
“The hardest part was hearing over and over about missing family members and realizing the agony that each person felt not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead,” says Albert. But if that was the worst part, the best was enabling people to smile again. “When they smiled, I knew they were out of the worst. Many of them promised me that they would create a happy future for themselves and their families, because they absolutely knew that they had that capacity again. As a Volunteer Minister I can help a person discover that ‘Something Can Be Done About it’ no matter what happens, and that was my mission,” she stated. For information on training as a Volunteer Minister, contact the Church of Scientology Los Angeles at 323 953-3200.
Counseling down to an art
Jerrye Albert has always had a knack for creativity.
The 71-hear-old Montrose resident plays the piano, writes poetry, draws and even sculpts in her free time when she is not working two jobs.
When Albert learned about the aid needed for Hurricane Katrina victims, she decided to put her creative talents to good use.
She paid her way to Louisiana and made her way back, stopping in Texas, with the Church of Scientology disaster response team, and helped the displaced hurricane survivors express their loss and grief with art.
Albert, who has training as a counselor, also counseled victims at two shelters in Baton Rouge and at the Astrodome in Houston.
Glendale News-Press News Assistant Ani Amirkhanian sat down with Albert and asked her some questions about her experience with the disaster relief effort.
What motivated you to travel to the South after the hurricane?
I went to Louisiana because it needed to be done and it was right here in our own country.
I was gone for 10 days. The Scientology disaster response team has a motto and it’s “something can be done about it.” It was a very intense experience.
What sparked your interest in Scientology?
I guess I was looking for answers just as many of us are today and I had tried many different roads. When you look at it, ultimately all roads lead back to the same things.
But for me individually, Scientology held the answers for me and it was a very workable philosophy.
How did bringing in art help people cope with their loss?
I went around and I got people to draw. I would give them crayons and marking pens and paper and they would draw.
Art is a form of creation and if you get people to start creating, they get better. I feel a person can always create.
If you are creative as a writer, or whatever, you can always create and have a cause for your future.
How did children respond when you asked them to draw?
It was so amazing to see when they would start to draw, you would see pictures of houses covered with water and tornadoes.
The kids were so beautiful and creative.
Their drawings started to show the sun shining and you started to see a change in them.
How did you approach people to counsel them?
I sat down and talked to a lot of different people and I got them to tell me about their grief.
Some of them couldn’t even talk at first, but I would sit and I would put my arm around them and listen and wait until I got them to talk.
I got a lot of different stories.
How can seniors be of help to victims?It’s all about you and your ability to love others. You still have your capacity.
You’re needed, you are so needed for your ability to love and care.