"Faith and Hope in New Orleans:
   Dominicans after Katrina"

Story Part 10:
Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic -
Associates and Sisters

EMD Associates - Home Is Where the Heart Is

For some of the Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic Associates, there is truth to the cliché “you can’t go home again.” Over half of the 48 associates were directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina with 14 of those from the Greater New Orleans area not being able to return to their original address, and they have no plans to return.

Jeanne Moore, EMD, said that the majority of associates evacuated and were gone for several weeks or longer. “Some were able to patch their roof and go on,” she said. Others weren’t that fortunate. Most stayed away months, some in other parts of the state or country with three in other countries, while their houses were gutted and underwent major repairs. A white FEMA trailer (visible in this photo) was “home” for “the lucky ones” month after month – even until now, almost two years later.
 

“We are finding it harder now than we originally thought it would be,” Moore said. With only six of the 24 EMD’s who were in New Orleans currently in the city, the associates and sisters are not able to connect in the same way. Associates, as well as others in the city, are finding that their parishes are closed. Their city, their lives, their homes have been forever changed by the events in August 2005. “The sisters are using most of their energy to recommit to their ministry under these trying circumstances,” Moore said.

The whereabouts of all the associates is now known, but the fate of everyone wasn’t immediately known. “It took several months to find where everyone landed and many times that address was just temporary,” Moore said of the fact that often times the associates we staying with friends or family until more permanent arrangements could be made or until they could    move back to the city.

The Internet was the key in locating everyone, she said, and remains a vital tool in staying connected. Twice a month a mailing called EMD Update is sent out to keep everyone informed.

Unfortunately, many of the EMD associates,
like more than half of the population of New Orleans before Katrina,
are finding that they can’t go home again
but they are also finding another cliché to be just as true –
“Home is where your heart is.”

EMD Sisters - Where Are They Now?

The other story of the Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic in New Orleans is the Sisters’ own evacuation and resettlement with the Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine, Kentucky.

Three days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the levees broke spilling a wall of water the city streets, the Eucharistic Missionaries evacuated their most vulnerable members to Kentucky, home of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine. “We were overwhelmed by the welcome and goodness of the people who helped us,” said Diane Hooley, OP, hospice chaplain working in New Orleans. The Kentucky Sisters gave us a place to stay, to pray, they gave us clothes, books. “We were prepared for three days, nothing beyond that.” The Adrian Dominicans donated six automobiles to give them the mobility they needed.

Since then, 17 EMDs have settled in St. Catharine Kentucky. Of the total 33 members, five are in New Orleans,with five others in Louisiana, four in Arizona, two in Michigan and one in Florida.

From New Orleans to Kentucky into the Dominican Cluster

In the meantime, the conversations that have been going on for several years by the Dominican Cluster congregations continues to move toward the possibility of one new union of the seven. Eucharistic Missionaries and Kentucky Dominicans are part of the conversation.

Recently all seven congregations voted to petition Rome for permission to become one new congregation. So the Eucharistic Missionaries, along with their sisters in the other six congregations, are beginning yet another journey together.

Story by Anne Lythgoe, OP (Catherine de' Ricci), formerly Elkins Park
 

Know the Whole Story: 
Go to www.domlife.org to read the entire story
of Dominicans in New Orleans after Katrina
and to view all the photos.

Click here to view the two snapshots "At a Glance" that relate to this story