Girard Family Hurricane Helene Relief
Goal:
USD $50,000
Raised:
USD $41,475
Campaign funds will be received by Paul Girard
Girard Family Hurricane Helene Relief
Paul and Photini, along with their 6 children, were displaced by Hurricane Helene due to flooding in their home. Thankfully they all made it out of the house safely, but just barely. They will need help getting back on their feet again as their home is no longer livable.
The Girards Abridged Story
Short words for now because my brain is functioning in survival mode with a low bandwidth. Mostly centered in keeping my children happy, fed, and safe.
On the Feast of the Holy Cross, the day St. Helens commemoration of finding the True Cross is remembered and honored every year, we were hit by hurricane Helene in WNC and surrounding regions.
My son woke up early in the morning to quickly rising waters and alerted my husband and I. We all quickly got the children dressed, the holy relics and the relic of the holy cross that we bear from his reposed father, father Laurence (memory eternal), some food, and some blankets into the car, and loaded up and out.
By the time we got to the bridge across our creek, the flood was up to the trusses and rising rapidly. We were received into our loving neighbors home, Kristin Brumm who with her self sacrificing children helped care for my family until we were able to escape, across the street.
When my husband Paul Girard went to return to get our other vehicle moments later, the bridge has completely flooded. Shortly after, the house was engulfed in 3+ feet of water, with the creek turned into a raging river all around it. Our home was an island. Mike Stephens came to make sure we had gotten out, bless him, because he knows how many little children we have. But we were safely across the street.
We are now in Blountville TN, after our church and priest organized massive rescue efforts to locate and rescue any parishioners in WNC. After having located all his parishioners and helped them (including us) evacuate, he and teams are now helping other regions in the deep woods and hollers get help they so desperately need.
We managed to get out with our vehicles with the help of a volunteer firefighter who had established a temporary bridge to circumvent the 40-50 ft deep sink hole that engulfed our road. We met with the st tikhons rescue team in spruce pine where they drove us to our parish in TN on back roads they helped chainsaw to make passable.
Glory to God in the highest.
*****take note***** the flood waters in our home don’t go even a millimeter above the horizontal bar in our wall cross. On the feast of the cross.
For God is With Us
☦️
If you can share or donate, our family is so thankful. We lost so much.
https://givesendgo.com/GDD65?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=GDD65
All prayers for everyone that was devastated by this are welcome ❤️☦️🙏 and all the rescue efforts
Recent Donations
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy
May our Good and Most Merciful Lord help and protect you all! I knew Fr. Lawrence very well, may his Memory be Eternal! He baptized me back in 1996.
Praying for you and your family
We are praying for you and your family, that our Lord will continue to move in mighty ways, and that His purpose and path will be clear for each of you. Much love.
May God Bless you!
Saw Maria's post on OrthodoxReflections.com. We are praying for you all.
Praying for you and your family. Stay strong. God is with you.
May God bless you and your family always!
Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have Mercy!
Praying for all your family.
Updates
Update #3
October 9th, 2024
Howdy. I wanted to hop on here to answer to FAQ regarding Helene, the flood, and our displacement as we have been asked questions along these lines.
We were not under evacuation orders where we lived. The creek on our property is usually anywhere from 2-5 feet wide depending on section, and maybe two feet deep in the deep spot past the bridge. Pretty mild on our stretch. It would gain a few feet in heavy storms, but still pretty low.
With that beings said, we didn’t have flood insurance as it wasn’t in a flood zone. The creek was so much lower than the house, I could walk under the bridge with relative ease.
We got flash flood warnings on our phone, so we stayed attentive to that, but again, the water had *never * gotten high enough that flooding the house ever became a thought. We slept downstairs because our concern was the trees potentially falling on the bedroom roof (which they surprisingly haven’t).
So alas, insurance likely won’t cover much if anything of the repairs, and we have no idea whether the house is salvageable or not. The foundation looks compromised and the extent of the mold damage and the driveway bridge damage and everything else is astronomical.
So, yes, it’s wild. But it is in His hand.
Before pictures of the creek from March of this year.
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone’s selfless generosity! The prospect of being able to purchase a home becomes a reality day by day.
For God is with us☦️
Update #2
October 6th, 2024
Mary here, and I just wanted to express the deepest of gratitude for the outpouring of support our dearly loved friends are receiving! This thankful heart is not only from me, but of course Paul and Photini as well. I can speak boldly for them when I say they are beyond humbled by your prayers, gifts, and donations for them. Photini has been in disbelief at the sheer number of people that have donated to this fundraiser. And the thought of how the Lord has provided for them through your generosity has brought her to tears many many times. Many of their friends and family members are also contacting me to express their thanks to all of those giving from their hearts. They can see through this campaign that God is with them through this and His people are serving as His hands and feet for them. Thank you for being a part of such a blessing for the Girard family. Please continue to share this page with anyone looking to help with a family in need after the damage left behind by Hurricane Helene. THANK YOU!!!
Update #1
October 4th, 2024
We are so thankful for the outpouring of support from friends, family, strangers, and all. We have no words to express the depth of gratitude as we see prayers and donations roll in, showing us that we may even be able to afford to get secured in a long term living solution. The Lords hand is weaving a tapestry of grace and mercy through this tragedy, and I’m humbled to be able to witness His mercy in action.
-Photini
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