Hurricane inspires action

Locals form Corps of Compassion to help Katrina victims

When Marsha Cook decided to move to Las Vegas a little more than a month ago, she just wanted to be in a place where "it's really dry."

A former resident of Kenner, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Cook stayed in Houston for a month following Hurricane Katrina then returned home.

After seeing the destruction in the area of New Orleans, where she worked before the hurricane, Cook felt she needed a change of climate.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the area around Canal Street. I was supposed to stay in a hotel there and when I saw the destruction and breathed in the smell, I felt sick -- I couldn't do it," she said.

So Cook moved to Las Vegas with the five grandchildren she cares for, and began the slow process of building her life again. She said she was lucky to be able to transfer jobs within her company and her grandchildren are adjusting to their new schools but the family is still looking for permanent housing and the small items they once took for granted.

"With working and finding a place to live, it's really slow, but it's happening," Cook said. "We can only do so much each day, with work and the kids, but at least we're all healthy."

Cook said the family is getting help, largely from a local nonprofit organization called Corps of Compassion, established about three months ago by Henderson residents Joelle Jarvis and her partner, ,Scott Sullivan.

Jarvis and Sullivan originally formed Ultimate Boot Camp: Mission Rescue in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina pummeled the South. Shortly after forming Mission Rescue, the organization grew into a full-time nonprofit, and was renamed Corps of Compassion.

Sullivan, a native of Baton Rouge, La., who still spends much of his time there running his family's business, was in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. The messages and phone calls he sent Jarvis during that time asking the Las Vegas community to send help to the South inspired the duo to create a nonprofit organization and concentrate on relief efforts.

"Since we first started, we've become more and more involved with helping families here as well as in New Orleans," Jarvis said. "We've set up case management here for relocated families that need clothes, jobs, furniture and a place to live."

Jarvis said the organization currently has a warehouse to store clothing and another for furniture. Relocated hurricane victims can stop to pick up anything they might need free of charge and Jarvis said the organization also delivers furniture and other goods to those in need.

"We are set up now so we can do entire households, providing dishes, pots and pans, bedding, just everything, to the people we work with and we also have other organizations that are helping hurricane victims calling us for assistance," she said.

Because the Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) help centers have closed, Jarvis said nonprofit organizations like Corps of Compassion are even more important to those individuals and families who were displaced by the hurricanes. The organization has been taking on new cases almost daily since its formation.

"It's been really hard for these families," Jarvis said. "We have at least 150 families with no permanent housing in the Las Vegas Valley. A lot of these people have never been outside of Louisiana or Mississippi before, and are coming to us in varying degrees of need.

"Some of them need furniture or clothing or child care while they find work and get adjusted, and some need everything."

Jarvis said Corps of Compassion also has remained very involved with relief efforts in New Orleans as well, and Sullivan has continued to spend much of his time there.

"It will take a lot of money and a lot of help to get all of these people set, but we're here for the long haul," she said. "The Las Vegas community has been fabulous."

One of the biggest obstacles facing those who have relocated is finding work, transportation, child care and permanent housing while trying to coordinate relief and insurance checks, family members and any other ongoing situations in the cities and towns they are coming from. Jarvis said in addition to herself and Sullivan, Corps of Compassion now has five full-time staff members, including a full-time caseworker and a pick-up and delivery person to move furniture and other large items. The organization also receives volunteer support from hurricane victims living in the valley.

Cook said the non-monetary support she has received from Corps of Compassion since moving to the valley also has been important.

"Corps of Compassion has befriended me and given me encouragement," she said. "They've helped us with clothes to wear and things like furniture, but they've also given an ear to listen when I'm upset. They've been really special."

The organization also recently got involved with the Marines' Toys for Tots program to help bring holiday cheer and children's gifts to those who have relocated to the valley.

Corps of Compassion got involved with Toys for Tots through Anastasia Rowley, whose son goes to school with Jarvis' son Jackson.

"Toys for Tots really stepped up. We got them information on what the kids wanted and they really worked to get those things," Jarvis said.

The event included a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, hot cocoa, pictures with Santa and Christmas music.

"It's just going to be a big Christmas party, and it'll give people a chance to meet each other," Jarvis said. "So many of the relocated hurricane victims love being here but they don't really know anyone -- this will give them a chance to make new friends and exchange their stories."

For more information, visit www.corpsofcompassion.org.