Grandmother honored for post-hurricane aid Middletown resident volunteered for three weeks in Mississippi BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — A local grandmother of five has been honored for her role in aiding Gulf Coast residents effected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Stationed in a Columbus, Miss., shelter just two days after Katrina hit, nurse Janet Schaller, of Leonardo, spent three weeks volunteering with the Red Cross, providing medical care, hot meals and social services for thousands of individuals. Her employers at the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Central Jersey, Red Bank, not only paid her salary while she was away, they also hosted a party on Dec. 19 to honor her and others who helped after the disaster. “The feeling was I was going down with the spirit of the whole agency,” said Schaller. A Red Cross volunteer for nine years, Schaller is no stranger to devastation. She also volunteered her services after the 9/11 attacks. “Before I left, I can’t tell you how nervous I was,” said Schaller. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I worked during 9/11 but that was local.” She was soon immersed in the reality of life post-Katrina. In a rented moving van, she and fellow volunteers from the shelter rescued several stranded families in blighted neighborhoods from other towns. The trips offered Schaller a chilling view of Katrina’s overwhelming destruction. “Cars were thrown into sides of buildings,” said Schaller. “Entire developments were gone. Nothing. As far as the eye could see.” A husband and wife, their four teenage children and two teenage friends, whose parents went missing during the chaos, along with an uncle and cousin, were all living out of a tent provided by the Red Cross for two weeks after Katrina destroyed their home. “They were living in mud,” said Schaller. “They were covered in mud up to their waists.” Having heard that Hurricane Rita was on the way, the family somehow made contact with the shelter. “All that was left of their house was the foundation,” said Schaller. “They found their house three blocks from where it originally was. It was in the middle of the road.” Sadly, the National Guard bulldozed the family’s home the next day before the family was able to salvage any of their belongings. “People just couldn’t get a break,” said Schaller. The majority of Schaller’s time was spent at the shelter, which was converted from an elementary school. The largest shelter in the area, it also served as a cafeteria for upward of 900 people each day. The population of individuals living in the shelter fluctuated between four and 250, said Schaller, depending on the day. “Right before Rita, we got to our lowest,” said Schaller. “And then we filled right back up again. The goal was to find more permanent housing.” Much time was spent locating and dispensing medication. According to Schaller, most people thought they would only be away from their homes for a short while, and so did not bring along their medication. “Baby formula, that was a big thing,” said Schaller. “Just finding bottles and diapers and binkies was a goal. There were a lot of parents with very young children. They had no money. No clothes. [Some] had been wandering for days looking for a good place to stay.” Tending to wounds, replacing eyeglasses and monitoring those directly released from the hospital were also big jobs. To accomplish all this, Schaller worked 12-hour shifts each day, sometimes longer, for 20 days. “We worked based on the need,” said Schaller. After three weeks of service, the Red Cross required all volunteers to return home. Schaller said it was hard to leave because she knew most of the people she met were unable to do the same thing. “That’s the hard part about being back home,” she said, “to leave behind all this uncertainly.” Her employers, the VNA of Central Jersey, supported Schaller’s decision to volunteer. “When I told them I was going, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation,” said Schaller. “They enabled me to help in this disaster.”