Dave Peterson (pictured here), Anne Peterson, Marilyn Sutherland, Chuck Sutherland
Texas, USA
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Mobilizing for Hurricane Evacuees
Think of it as a Hotel Rwanda of sorts. As thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees streamed into Dallas last September, tired, traumatized, and looking for a place to sleep, four Landmark grads decided to do something extraordinary: they turned the Quality Inn hotel they owned into a shelter for hundreds of evacuees.
"We drew a line in the sand and said, We're going to take care of them," says Dave Peterson, a Landmark graduate and program leader for eight years who is married to fellow program leader Anne Peterson. "Our vision for our hotel is to provide extraordinary service and meet people's needs in an extraordinary way. It's always been about making a difference for the four of us. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina presented us with an enormous opportunity to do that."
When Dave, Anne, and Landmark program leaders Chuck and Marilyn Sutherland decided to convert the hotel into a clearinghouse for Katrina evacuees, at a staggering cost of $150,000 a month, they had no idea whether they would ever be reimbursed by any agency, or the government, or anyone, but they shrugged off their concerns.
"It scared me to death," Chuck admits. "But, it was the right thing to do, and we decided we'd figure out the money later."
As soon as people starting filling up the hotel, the group of four reached out to their network and the community to help out with everything from donations of clothing and shoes to hosting job fairs to trying to move people into apartments. The response was swift. A friend of Dave's loaned him $50,000 for six months with a mere $1 interest. A young girl sent $85 from her allowance savings. Three employment agencies came calling, and at the first job fair - a mere two days after Katrina hit -37 refugees found employment. When it became apparent that most of the evacuees were loading up on the complimentary breakfast because they couldn't afford to pay for lunch or dinner, the local Lion's Club donated money for food.
"People from neighborhood school kids to multimillionaires got in on the action, folding and organizing clothes in a 100-degree warehouse," Marilyn says, "so the evacuees could go through them."
As the network of volunteers expanded, the four realized that not only were they able to directly help the Katrina evacuees, they had also become a catalyst and a conduit for other people to contribute.
"People want to make a difference, they're hungry to make a difference," says Chuck. "And when they can make a direct difference and they know that the people they are working with are up to the same thing, the flood gates open up."
Anne says, "Little of this would have been possible without our Landmark training." The four agree. "All of us are graduates of the Self-Expression and Leadership program," says Chuck. "From that experience we knew we could dance with the chaos that came at us hourly."
All of the hard work and the daily struggles were worthwhile, they say, because not only did they get the gift of supporting people, they also got to meet extraordinary people and find common ground, regardless of beliefs, backgrounds, or circumstances.
"There were these two young guys, tough looking guys with whom my path wouldn't normally have crossed, and they were in the warehouse looking for stuff and I asked them, 'How are you, Where do you live, is your family with you?' I saw them every day for a week and whenever they saw me, they would come over and give me a hug," says Marilyn.
Marilyn went on to say, "There was this acknowledgment among us that in the normal course of events we might never have talked, human to human."
The four hotel owners say the experience they had reminded them of the power we all have to make a difference in the lives of others every day and what an enormous gift that is.
Dave Peterson pictured with hotel guests
Anne Peterson (left) pictured with hotel guests
