Volunteer returns from hurricane zone

Volunteer returns from hurricane zone
Maria Justice answers call for helpers

Volunteering has always been a part of Maria Justice's life, so when the call came out from the American Red Cross for nurses and volunteers to help with hurricane relief efforts, she packed her bags and left for two weeks.

Justice, who has been a nurse for many years, works for the Center for Lifetime Wellness in Rochester. She said she was drawn to helping the victims. "I heard the plea on television that nurses were needed and was drawn," she said. "I talked to my boss and my family and they all said for me to go and help out."

While she has always volunteered her time and talents, this was Justice's first time volunteering with the Red Cross. "I wasn't sure what to expect when I got down there (Texas) to the service center, I think it was as bad as I had expected," she said.

The service center where she worked, Justice said, was a step up from the shelters where most of the hurricane victims were living.

"I did go down to Port Arthur and the Sabine Pass near the border of Louisiana and couldn't believe the amount of devastation that was there," she said. "That was worse than I anticipated it would be."

Justice was set up in a vacant department store building with many other volunteers. She spent her days helping those affected by Hurricane Rita and Katrina fill out the paperwork to receive aid money. She also worked in the first aid room addressing residents' health concerns.

"We had a man who was waiting for two hours for service and he ran out of oxygen in his tank and we had to call around and round up a temporary tank for him," she said.

Living conditions, while not as bad as they could have been, were primitive, Justice said. "We lived in dorm style quarters in an abandoned hospital, we were issued army cots and blankets and many, many of us all shared the same restroom facilities," she said. "I found if I got up at 5 a.m. I could take a shower uninterrupted but we couldn't use hot water because it would set off the fire alarms in the building."

The second week she was there, Justice said, the volunteers spent most of the time completing paperwork for the residents. "But, the second week we were put up in a hotel and it was like being at the Ritz," she joked.

She said that even though she'd heard and read about the wreckage caused by the hurricanes it was hard to get her arms around it until she saw it first hand.

Justice returned from her two week stint on October 29 and was greeted by her family and her grandchildren.

"The grandkids ran up, greeted me with hugs and handmade pictures and my husband, Ray, brought me flowers," she said.

Justice e-mailed home to her family as often as she could while she was gone and she also documented her two weeks of volunteering duty on her website at www.pickhealthy.com. The following is an excerpt from her website in which she gives her 10 tips for volunteering:

Hi Everyone:
I arrived home yesterday from my Texan Hurricane Rita adventure with the Red Cross. Stories were heard, vast devastation seen, evacuees helped and new acquaintances made from all over the United States. On my last workday, while waiting for the next assignment, I jotted down 10 lessons learned from this experience.