St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic aids victims of Helene flooding

By Gabrielle Nolan

Following the Sept. 26-27 storm in East Tennessee caused by Hurricane Helene, St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic responded to Erwin, Mountain City, and Newport in October to meet the needs of locals impacted by the devastating flooding.

On Oct. 11, the mobile medical clinic, which provides health care to the medically uninsured within the Diocese of Knoxville, traveled from Knoxville to Erwin. A subset of volunteers made the journey from Erwin to Mountain City.

In Erwin, the clinic set up tent stations outdoors at St. Michael the Archangel Church. Inside the church building, the Mexican consulate was present to aid locals who were in need of new documentation after the flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also was present to inquire with locals about any property damage they incurred.

Martin Vargas, executive director of St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, noted that more than 60 volunteers arrived to help in Erwin.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Mr. Vargas said. “We are here at the request of Father (Tom Charters, GHM). Father said, what can you do to help? Catholic Charities had asked us, what can you do to help? And this is the Catholic response to the need of the people of Erwin who were devastated by the hurricane and the subsequent flooding that came through the area.”

Mr. Vargas said it was a “natural response” for the clinic to come to the hurricane-affected areas since its staff includes many health-care providers.

When strong remnants from Hurricane Helene blew from the Gulf Coast of Florida through Georgia and into the Carolinas Sept. 26-27, the storm dumped record amounts of rainfall in a short amount of time in the mountains of western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

That record rainfall turned rivers, streams, creeks, and any tributaries into swollen, raging walls of water that destroyed everything in their path, including roads, bridges, houses, and businesses.

Eighteen people died in the flooding in Tennessee, and interstates 40 and 26 that connect Tennessee and North Carolina were shut down when the Pigeon and Nolichucky rivers washed away a bridge and part of the roadway. I-26 between Erwin and Asheville, N.C., has since reopened, but I-40 between Newport and Asheville remains closed.

The rapidly rising Nolichucky River in Erwin washed away businesses and homes, and even flooded Unicoi County Hospital, where patients had to be airlifted from the hospital roof. Heartbreaking stories of loss and harrowing stories of survival emerged in the hours following the flooding.

Erwin

Several partners assisted the mobile clinic in Erwin. Blackberry Farm donated 200 lunches for volunteers and patients; AmeriCares was present with its disaster-relief team; East Tennessee State University assisted with the on-site pharmacy; and a community of volunteers, including students from the University of Tennessee, were present to unload and sort donations, assist patients, and set up and tear down the clinic site.

“The response has been tremendous,” Mr. Vargas remarked. “We have kept filling up our offices and warehouse with donated supplies from individuals who just came forward. A member of our team, Sarah Grimes, came up with the idea of an Amazon wish list, and the packages just kept coming and coming and coming. We assembled those into care packages for the community to get their most basic needs.”

Monetary aid, such as donations from the Smith Foundation and an emergency grant from AmeriCares, also has assisted the clinic in its efforts.

Ms. Grimes, a clinical nurse manager, noted that St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic treated 23 patients in Erwin.

“Many were without power and water,” she said. “Water seemed to be the most needed item as they were under a boil advisory.”

Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, medical director of the legacy clinic, said that one patient who endured the flooding was “holding onto a pipe for hours to keep from being pulled into the fast-flowing water.”

“She now is dealing with significant shoulder pain from that time as well as the trauma of that experience,” Sister Mary Lisa shared. “Another patient came with anxiety, as she has been translating for the Red Cross and other groups to let family members know that their loved ones have been found deceased or that they were still missing. Our team was able to offer her comfort and support, and in our follow-up calls we have been able to connect her to free counseling.”

Mountain City

After the clinic was successfully running in Erwin, three vehicles of volunteers made the hourlong drive to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City, where the clinic served 18 patients.

Father Jesús Guerrero, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua as well as St. Elizabeth in Elizabethton, requested that the clinic come to Mountain City because some of his parishioners were starting to become ill.

“In Mountain City, several families are living in an apartment complex that was flooded, so they now are developing respiratory illness from living in the damp environment,” Sister Mary Lisa said. “They want to stay in the area to keep their jobs, but there are little housing options available for them there.”

Father Guerrero shared that many locals were affected either by the floodwaters or the high winds from the hurricane’s inland storms.

“Those who were affected by water, the flooded houses, those people don’t have anywhere to go,” he said. “And so, they are there dealing with humidity, dealing with mold, and so they lost pretty much everything. They lost furniture, appliances, clothing, personal documents, and now they’re dealing with sickness, illnesses related to the mold. All sorts of other homes were affected by the wind, fallen trees just all over the place, including my home.”

Deacon Joe Herman, who serves at St. Anthony of Padua, said Sister Mary Lisa “put things in motion rather quickly” to schedule the clinic to visit St. Anthony Parish.

“We’re just so thankful that they came up here because I think they also have a team over in Erwin today, and the fact that they were able to gather enough volunteers and enough staff to come up here, it’s very touching. That’s not doing it enough justice, but we’re very grateful for Sister Mary Lisa and the Legacy Clinic and all that they’re doing today,” Deacon Herman said.

The Johnson County parish runs a food pantry called St. Anthony Bread (SAB), and as the largest pantry in Johnson County, it serves around 400 families.

“We’re well-known within the community,” Father Guerrero remarked. “People have been coming here seeking aid. It felt just natural for them to seek aid here. There is an army of volunteers, not only from our own local parish but from the community. So, they’ve been getting together and opening the SAB pretty much every other day to serve the community and to distribute food and other goodies that Catholic Charities and other organizations are giving to us.”

On a spiritual level, the parish never stopped having Masses after the storms.

“That first weekend when we had the storm, we didn’t have electricity or running water, but we did not cancel the Masses. We have two Sunday Masses, so the Masses were celebrated as normal. We had lower attendance. However, many people were here. We’ve been hosting Holy Hours to pray for those in need, even to pray for those who lost their lives and their families. And so, as small as we are as a community, we’re doing what’s in our hands to help out, either providing food and even more than food, clothing and everything that is provided for us to the community, and also prayers,” Father Guerrero said.

Deacon Herman said “one thing that we can never get enough of is prayer.”

“We just ask for a lot of prayer. And I’m sure the needs will probably change as things go on. I know right now a lot of people need the cleaning supplies, which I think we’ve got a pretty good stock of. But people are starting to clean up from the debris and the mess and what have you,” he noted.

Deacon Herman, who grew up in Mountain City and knows the community well, said he has noticed an increase in Mass attendance since the storms.

“I think people are coming to God, coming to the Church looking for that comfort and that spirituality,” he shared.

Sadie Thompson, a registered nurse and clinical instructor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee, volunteered for the first time with the mobile medical clinic.

“I have seen the devastation and felt drawn to help my neighbors,” she said. “As a nurse, I care deeply for people and feel they should have access to care regardless of their situation. I love community service and seeing a community come together to support one another.”

“It was such an amazing experience,” Ms. Thompson continued. “The staff at the SMLC is so amazing, and you can really feel the love of God radiating from the volunteers. I felt so privileged to be able to care for the patients in the community.”

She remarked that what stood out most to her during the clinic’s operation in upper East Tennessee was the patients caring for one another.

“We had trouble communicating and didn’t have enough interpreters to help everyone at once. After several patients had been seen, they offered to stay and help other patients by interpreting. It was truly moving to see these people who have nothing and need to have medical care put others first and help us communicate with the patients who did not speak English. The patients were all so kind and had such a positive attitude considering the grief and trauma they have endured,” Ms. Thompson said.

Volunteering with the mobile clinic brought Ms. Thompson closer to her Knoxville community acquaintances.

“I saw people from my church, small groups, the hospital where I work, and from UT-K College of Nursing, both students and faculty. It was really inspiring seeing so many people from different parts of my life coming together and helping other people,” she shared.

Laine Hanson, a junior nursing student at the University of Tennessee, also volunteered with the clinic for the first time.

“I’ve been looking for ways to help out with hurricane relief,” she said. “It’s been really cool. I feel like it’s been a great way to help out in ways I can.”

“I feel like we got really lucky that Knoxville didn’t get very much harm at all, and it’s been really devastating to see as much as has happened to everyone around here. So, to be able to help at all, especially when I don’t have anything going on, like instead of sitting there in my room doing nothing I can help and be of assistance in some way, and that has been really cool to be able to do,” Ms. Hanson added.

Newport

On Oct. 23, the clinic served patients at Church of the Good Shepherd in Newport.

Mr. Vargas noted that the urgent clinic trips to Erwin, Mountain City, and Newport were factored into the already busy clinic schedule, where St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic regularly visits 10 sites around East Tennessee each month.

“It’s the least we can do to add in these clinics to our normal schedule,” he said. “It’s very important that we maintain our normal schedule to ensure the trust in the communities that we serve. … They rely on us for care, and we are happy to meet that. So, on days, the few days that we don’t go into the field to serve those needs, we have scheduled these clinics so we can do both.”

Scott Mulligan, the ministries coordinator at Church of the Good Shepherd, contacted the medical clinic about visiting Newport.

“I reached out to St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic when we started doing the food pantry because people were coming in with needs of chronic illness. Do you have heart medication, how can I get my medications, how can I get my diabetes stuff? So, I reached out through Catholic Charities to St. Mary’s because Catholic Charities helped us with our food pantry,” Mr. Mulligan shared.

In response to the storms, Mr. Mulligan said the community response at the parish has been “amazing.”

“We’ve had parishioners come and volunteer their time and their talents and their treasures,” he said. “We’ve had parishioners from Holy Trinity (Jefferson City) coming; we’ve had people from different St. Vincent de Paul conferences within the diocese come and help. We’ve had people just showing up bringing supplies and food and clothing. Every time we turn around a truck has been pulling up to our door saying, ‘Hey, can you take this?’”

Mr. Mulligan noted that people from all over the country have donated, ranging from Indiana and Kentucky to Iowa and Florida.

“We had a little lady from Memphis who called and said, ‘I want to do something,’ and she Amazon-ed an order to us. She had an Amazon order dropped, which was really kind of cool. We had a little family from outside of Chicago, the father and grandfather came down, but the little girls made these gift bags for all of our children that were affected. They had little coloring books and crayons, and then each one had a personal note. It was so great to see this,” he said. “For a tragedy, it’s been really neat to see all these different people from all over the country, Catholics, non-Catholics, all have come together and just supported our community.”

The parish also is giving away donations to communities in need, such as Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.

Mr. Mulligan said that additional services to their parish have included the St. Vincent de Paul disaster corps, which helped locals with their FEMA work, and Catholic Charities USA, which sent housing specialists for those who had housing damage.

The parish also was affected by the death of two parishioners who drowned in their home during the flooding when the Pigeon River overflowed its banks.

Deacon Otto Preske, who is retired but assists at the parish, knew the couple who died and is assisting their daughter, who survived the flood.

“They were friends; I knew them from many years ago,” Deacon Preske shared. “But their house was completely ruined, it was really under water a lot. [The daughter] is really having big-time problems over it, and I’ve been helping her the best I can.”

He noted that the daughter was given a small grant to help pay for her parents’ funeral costs.

While downtown Newport was hard hit, Deacon Preske said the parish was fortunate that it did not receive any damage.

For more information on St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic and Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, visit smlcares.com and ccetn.org.