Three years after Port Charlotte, Florida was hit by Hurricane Ian, a church that hosted as many as two to three teams of volunteer groups per month is closing the door on that chapter but leaving room for an epilogue.
The Rev. Devon Andrews, pastor of Wintergarden Presbyterian Church, recently led a poignant service honoring the church’s tenure as a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance volunteer host site.
Thanks to the small-but-mighty 33-member congregation, volunteers from all over the country received a place to stay while helping residents recover from 2022’s Hurricane Ian and subsequent storms that have moved through the gulf coast of southwest Florida.
The church opened its property despite having extensive hurricane damage to its sanctuary and property and provided a welcoming presence during a harrowing time for the community in the wake of one of the worst hurricanes to hit the U.S.
The service, with a liturgy of thanksgiving from PDA, was a time to reflect on the host site years and to thank those whose love and partnership helped Wintergarden to provide for the community while it persevered through its own challenges.
“Our church is a church of servants,” Andrews explained in an interview with Presbyterian News Service. “We serve our community in the best way we know how to.”
After the devastation wrought by Ian, “we started hearing all the stories of all the damage, and the question was, how can we (as a church) help and what do we do?” Andrews said.
Along with becoming a host site, Wintergarden continued serving hundreds of neighbors through its food pantry program and obtained critical funds, including a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support the purchase of rebuilding materials to help residents who had sustained significant damage to their homes.
“The majority of what we received (through grants) all went back out into the community,” Andrews said. “So, we were able to help homeowners with new doors, with garage doors, with windows, with paying a portion of their roof, helping buy drywall and insulation — all different building materials, really — to make their homes safe, sanitary and secure.”
Jim Reitz, a member of the PDA National Response Team (NRT), praises the congregation for its dedication. Despite being small, “it is an amazing group of people that are doing a lot of good stuff,” he said. It‘s helpful to have a pastor who cheers you on, “saying, ‘We can do this. Let's go.’”
When Reitz arrived in the community shortly after it was hit by Ian, up to 80% of roofs he saw were covered with blue tarps. But now he’s struck by the many new roofs and repairs he’s seen in the community as well as the restoration of the church.
“You laid the foundation, the footer, if you will, and then teams came in and they started building the brick walls, one layer at a time,” Reitz said during the service, which included a presentation of gifts from PDA.
“I, this morning, am just inspired by hearing your stories, and the stories of the other work partners and your listening to the Spirit calling, and trusting God to be with you,” said Michele Holifield, a fellow NRT member who presented the church with a cross and a certificate of appreciation from PDA.
Andrews credits much of the success of the host site to an array of partners that have included not only PDA, Peace River Presbytery and the Florida Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Network but also the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Others include SBP (the St. Bernard Project), Mennonite Disaster Services, Church of the Palms in Sarasota, the Gulf Coast partnership, the United Way in Charlotte County and Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in Tampa, among others.
“All those partnerships are what kept us going and kept us motivated because we couldn't have done anything without the partnerships that we had,” Andrews said.
PDA has several other host sites. For general questions about volunteering, contact the PDA Call Center at pda.callcenter@pcusa.org or 866-732-6121.
Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Golnaz Golriz, Guest Relations Manager, Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency
Sheldon Sorge, Field Study Coordinator, Stewardship & Funds Development, Administrative Services Group
Let us pray:
Gracious God, we give thanks for the hands that served, the doors that opened and the hearts that said yes when the needs were great. Bless the volunteers, partners and neighbors who rebuilt hope one board, prayer and act of love at a time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
