Mennonite Central Committee

San Antonio congregation shelters evacuees from Hurricane Rita

October 5, 2005

Continuing a tradition of reaching out to the community, San Antonio Mennonite Church opened its doors to people fleeing Hurricane Rita, including some Louisiana residents who had fled to Texas from Hurricane Katrina.

"When I started getting frantic calls from people from the Gulf Coast of Texas I realized that we had to get ready fast," said Hugo Saucedo, a church member who as city director of DOOR San Antonio was accustomed to hosting large groups.

In a matter of hours, San Antonio Mennonite was ready to house at least 200 evacuees.

"I was encouraged by the response of San Antonio Mennonite members in this time of crisis," Saucedo said. "In addition to the people power we were aided in this event by supplies and money sent to us by MCC. This was a total team effort and with God's grace we were able to share with our brothers and sisters in this time of uncertainty."

Some 150 people stayed at the church and the Mary Martha House, which provides lodging to volunteers from outside San Antonio and is administered by DOOR, which stands for Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection. MCC provided some $14,000 U.S. for these efforts.

Saucedo, who also serves as South Central/Western District Conference Youth Minister for Mennonite Church USA, said evacuees stayed at the church about five days.

But the response to the hurricanes continues, Saucedo notes. The city of San Antonio has more than 12,000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, and individual church members are volunteering at evacuee centers around the city or hosting families at their homes. The Mary Martha House is currently housing individuals fleeing Hurricane Katrina, Saucedo said.

And the congregation has entered a time of reflection. "We are examining what we did well and what could have been done better. The reality is that whenever another hurricane heads towards the Texas coast we will likely be playing the role of host. We need to be prepared at a moment's notice."