The Extra Milers: Julie and Greg Landers

By CAROL A. DAWSON
newsroom@newsandtribune.com

December 23, 2006 01:17 pm

— When Julie and Greg Landers received the call telling them there was a family from the New Orleans area who could use their empty rental property, Julie was more than excited. She paralled the announcement to the euphoria of welcoming a new baby to the family. As it turns out, they were doing just that ... as baby Joseph (just shy of his second birthday) came to live in the Lander’s home with his grandmother Grace DeVillier (Mama D), the family matriarch. They moved in the week of September 12, along with Grace’s nephew, Carlo. Julie turned to her friends at First Christian Church in Jeffersonville to assist in furnishing the home. Grace’s son, Fred J. DeVillier, who drove 30 hours round trip to rescue the family from his mother’s destroyed home in Picayune, Mississippi, was also finding generous assistance from his military family, especially Major Armand Bolotte, the 123d Base Supply Commander, Colonel Kraus and Colonel Dornbush of the Kentucky Air National Guard. Julie knew the family would need everything from baby supplies to kitchenware, from sheets to toiletress, and of course, furniture.
The Clark County Extra Milers went to work and soon an entire home was completely furnished, including stuffed animals and new clothes on the bed for Joseph. Quickly following the Lander’s happy news was information that there were more family members to be housed. A call for assistance brought an immediate response from Dr. Charles Kemper and his wife, Linda. They own an older home that was empty and didn’t hesitate to offer their place to the remaining family members; however, the family would have to double up with Grace until repairs to the house could be made. The remaining family members, along with their two beloved dogs, moved into the Kemper’s home after working to get the repairs completed in the home and major appliances installed. All the offers of furniture and household items that were not needed earlier were collected for the second home and violá; a second residence quickly became a home. Mama D and Carlo now live in one home and the remaining family members live in the other ... rent free for several months, giving the family time to get settled into the community with jobs.
The DeVillier family members recently had a “thank you” fish fry and shrimp boil at their new home in Jeffersonville. They invited everyone they could find who provided assistance during their journey from Katrina’s devastation. Mama D is quick to tell you that there are too many people to count who have helped their family feel welcome into Jeffersonville . She begins naming them ... the church, the Kentucky Air National Guard, Chase Bank, Save-A-Lot Grocery, Dollar General, Kroger, FEMA, the American Red Cross, a local doctor, and the list went on and on. “Everywhere we go people recognize our accents and offer to help in any way they can.” When asked if the family will stay in Jeffersonville , Mama D was quick to respond, “We feel welcome here, have family here, and like it here. We have no home to take us back to Louisiana; we lost everything, our plan is to rebuild our lives in this area.”
The American Red Cross introduced me next to a family who escaped their own horror of Katrina’s devastation to find their way to Clark County, Clarksville . Once again it was a family tie that brought them to Southern Indiana, Kim Smith. Kim’s sister, Patricia (Pat) Stewart made some of the best Hot Tamales in the New Orleans area before being driven from her home by the rising flood waters. After working in the food industry for 28 years, she misses her trade and wants to find employment to use her cooking talents. She and her family were rescued from the Houston Astrodome by Kim after many long hours traveling from their flooded homes, which including a night sleeping on an interstate with nothing more than a jacket or blanket between their bodies and the asphalt. Pat’s daughter, Rhonda, was 9 months pregnant that night on the interstate. They were waiting for a bus to take them to Houston. Pat isn’t too pleased with the manner in which many of the Louisiana Katrina evacuees responded to the tragedy, “I realize many people lost everything, but so did my family, and we didn’t act disrespectful. They needed to be more patient and understanding of the people who were trying to help.”
Then Pat’s eyes dance as she talks about how generous and good hearted people have been to her family — from Louisiana to Southern Indiana. There were a couple of special expressions of love that occurred along the journey that she wanted to share. She told of a preacher who they met while in the shelter in Texas , “He came to us and asked us if we needed anything. We told him that we needed prayers for the safety of our family who were lost during the chaos of the storm.” She added, “We are a large family and didn’t know where many were or if they made it out alive. The preacher wrote down each and every name and prayed with us. Within a few hours, the calls started coming in and within several days we had heard from every family member.” With her hands pressed together, Pat softly said, “We are grateful for God’s miracle that everyone was okay.” Another highlight was a kind deed performed by the classmates of Pat’s niece, Destiny Bradford, a 4 th grader at Lillian Emery Elementary School in New Albany . Soon after arriving in Clark County, Rhonda’s baby, Maya, was born. The 4 th graders “adopted” baby Mya and sent a basket full of gifts and well wishes. Pat and her family tell of special new friends, church groups, and businesses that have taken them under their wings and given them security and love for today and hope for the future. The Covenant Life Church congregation in Jeffersonville has come through with furniture, food, and clothing to ensure they have the necessities needed to be comfortable. One family member stated, “It hasn’t been necessary to ask for anything. People just bring it to us.” Their apartments, Courtyard Square Apartments, were rented to them for $1 a month for up to six months.
Six children made the journey with Pat from Louisiana to Clarksville. Four are in local schools (Parkwood Elementary). One would think this experience would hinder their concentration and create a difficult learning environment; however, quite the opposite has occurred. Pat stated the class sizes here are much smaller than in New Orleans and the children are doing exceedingly well in school with the special attention they are getting from their teachers and the other students. Darnisha, a 4 th grader, said her teacher was helping her a lot and had purchased school supplies for her. Michael was getting ready to celebrate his 7th birthday with family and new friends at the local roller rink. The children have clearly fallen into a comfortable and happy routine.
The men are working two jobs at various businesses in the area and are hoping to get better paying jobs to help their family become self sustaining and to start building their lives. When I asked how they were being treated by their employers, they looked concerned and asked, “Is it legal here to hold back checks after a person has worked for two weeks?” I attempted to explain the state law on holding the first paycheck. This is not done in Louisiana and they were shocked when told they could work for two to four weeks before getting a first paycheck. Otherwise, the men say they have been treated well by their employers. When asked if the family will plan to make their homes in the area, Pat said they have been thinking about that question and really do not know the answer. Her daughter, Rhonda, said she wanted to go home when possible, adding that she is most comfortable in Louisiana . Since her home was flooded, she does not know if they have a place to live when she returns. So the story goes for the families affected by the devastation of Katrina ... much of their lives are left to speculation and hope. I asked what would keep this family in the area and Pat answered without hesitation, “It would be the schools. Our children are doing better here and are getting a better education.” The men said that full time good paying jobs would keep them here. Pat is a tremendously spiritual and grateful woman – with extreme loyalty to her family and appreciation for all of the extra milers who have touched their lives since Katrina.
These are the stories of just two families who found their way to Indiana and discovered a county full of Hoosiers with generously big hearts. Kindness has poured out from all over Southern Indiana . Jeffersonville Jazzercise held a special event and donated several thousand dollars to Katrina evacuees while some of the local Louisiana displaced women enjoyed free passes to Jazzercise classes during their time in our area. Teddy bears were collected with generous assistance from the Clarksville Toys R Us store, local citizens, and Standard Security Services to be given to the children as they arrived with their families to pick up “comfort kits.” Many companies and government agencies collected monetary donations for various charity sources, local businesses allowed the Katrina families to purchase on credit, banks set up immediate accounts to ensure the evacuees could make necessary purchases and obtain direct deposits, hundreds of average citizens became extraordinary volunteers (there were 77 volunteer representatives deployed from the Clark County ARC and more leave every day), and people found simple joy in digging a little deeper to help. Clearly Clark County citizens were giving as a privilege not an obligation.
From the beginning of the Katrina disaster, it has been a whirlwind of Clark County and Southern Indiana Extra Milers begging to be involved and to help. One of the survivors, Thomas DeVillier, entertained me during my visit with the family by speaking in “Cajun.” He used a word, lagniappe a couple of times. I asked him the meaning of this strange word. Thomas responded, “It is used a lot where we live. It means a little something extra.” He spelled the word for me and I looked it up later.
Lagniappe, pronounced “lan-yap,” derives from New World Spanish la ńapa, “the gift,” and ultimately from Quechua yapay, “to give more.” The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans . It is still used in the Gulf States to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean “an extra or unexpected gift or benefit.” There is no doubt that Clark County came through with lagniappe for our brothers and sisters who came here with little more than their pride, determination, and the clothes on their backs. The Evening News thanks all who went to the disaster area to save lives and rebuild, and to those who gave our new friends the needed gift of our welcoming open arms.
Most people have the innate desire to do kind things for those in need of help. Having the opportunity to help these families from Mississippi and Louisiana brought a mysterious sort of euphoria to Clark County . Our community came together to ensure these men and women felt welcome and their children felt safe. Clark County found that it is easy to be an Extra Miler during a time of a national tragedy, but the true test to be Extra Milers comes from sustaining our actions and good deeds into habit ... and don’t forget the lagniappe.
KINDNESS TIP OF THE MONTH: Add lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap) to your vocabulary and then build in those extra gifts or acts of kindness to your everyday lives. Don’t wait until a national disaster.
Carol A. Dawson is a resident of Jeffersonville and president of a national training and consulting company, EEO Guidance, Inc . If you have seen or been a part of an act of kindness or know an extra miler, let us know about it. To submit a story or act of kindness, contact Carol via email: Extra.Milers@newsandtribune.com or send mail to: The Extra Milers, The Evening News, 221 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN 47130-3340.