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Cajun Navy Ground Force helps communities come back after natural disasters
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January 1, 2022Since the morning after Hurricane Ida’s devastating winds ripped through this area, the Cajun Navy Ground Force has been working alongside Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux personnel and volunteers to assist its most impacted victims.
“Personnel and volunteers from Cajun Navy Ground Force and the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux went out into the communities together to help families muck out houses, save memorabilia, and tear down homes to the studs so they can rebuild. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux has graciously been providing extra hands and opportunities to Cajun Navy Ground Force as we continue to help those affected by Hurricane Ida,” says Bobbi Grace Hebermehl, director of Information Systems for the Cajun Navy Ground Force.A 501(c)3 non-profit organization that specializes in disaster relief, Cajun Navy Ground Force was established in 2016 during the historic Louisiana floods that hit Baton Rouge and many of the surrounding communities. Since that time, the Cajun Navy Ground Force has traveled to many areas across Louisiana and Texas helping communities come back stronger after each natural disaster, while providing a sense of normalcy during the recovery stages.
“We are a citizen-led non-profit that provides supplemental supply distribution and medical care services, acts as community caretakers as we help muck out homes and remove debris for communities in crisis following natural disasters,” says Hebermehl.
“The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux has been a huge help in expanding the positive impact we’ve made across many communities since we arrived, by combining our volunteer base and ticket requests,” says Hebermehl.
Diocesan leadership also ensured that the long-term volunteers of Cajun Navy Ground Force were taken care of during their stay, by housing them at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever.
Hebermehl says they will stay in the area as long as there is still work to be done.
“As community caretakers, we are so grateful for the opportunity to build these connections and help families down here recover,” says Hebermehl. “We will continue to be down here until there’s no longer a need for it, because Cajun Navy Ground Force stays even after the storm hits to help rebuild these communities and continue to provide a little sense of normalcy during these difficult times.”
According to Hebermehl, Cajun Navy Ground Force has made a huge impact on Southern Louisiana due to its incredible partners, corporate sponsors, donations and volunteers. Across South Louisiana during the three months after the storm, the Cajun Navy Ground Force handed out more than 75,000 hot meals, more than 300,000 pounds of goods such as water, food, baby and pet supplies, etc., and has helped over 50 families muck out their homes and remove debris.
“This would not have been possible without the community of people we have supporting us,” says Hebermehl, “and we are so grateful for the opportunity to continue our work down here.”
Hebermehl stresses that the volunteers just have a desire to help.
“Some of us are from Louisiana so these disasters hit close to home as many of us have lived through them,” she says. “Although we’ve had many volunteers come here that weren’t from Louisiana; they come for the same reason: They all just want to help. We don’t want to sit on the sidelines as our home state or communities are in trouble during these times. Many of us have been down here since the storm hit, and even though it is hard to be away from our loved ones for months at a time, it’s a calling. It is a life changing experience to be able to be on the ground helping out, seeing the destruction, and hearing survivor’s stories. You truly gain another family.”
In addition to the volunteers working on the ground, the Cajun Navy Ground Force also has a team working remotely around the clock making it possible for those volunteers to do what they do, explains Hebermehl. “They help us secure the volunteers on the ground, bring in the donations and supplies needed during SAFE Camp and operations here, help to ensure our ground team is all safe and accounted for, and so much more.”
Cajun Navy Ground Force was founded by Robert Gaudet and has a staff of six individuals assisting with operations such as volunteers, donations, technical support, social media, boots on the ground logistics, etc. However, Cajun Navy Ground Force is an organization driven by thousands of volunteers who help out for a period of time after a natural disaster.
