Advocate

Sending Showers of Love to Leesville/Fort Polk, LA

Imagine…

Your home is destroyed. Your entire town is destroyed. Children and the elderly are displaced. Heat indexes are in the 100s. Power isn’t expected to be restored for weeks. There are reports that people are dying from gases leaking from the very generators they depended on to get them through this devastation. Gas can’t be found for miles around, so even with a generator, it won’t last long. Drinking water is not safe. You can’t bathe yourself or your children. Where do you turn for help? Who will provide refuge, water, and food for you, your family, and neighbors?

This is the reality for the Leesville/Fort Polk, Louisiana area after Hurricane Laura hit their area Thursday, August 27. Mayor Rick Allen has sent out pleas for assistance to residents and volunteers. In response, our good friends at YAIPaks Outreach, a local program that meets the homeless in Clarksville and surrounding communities “where they are”, has stepped up to answer that call, and United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region is humbled to partner with them by sending our Showers of Love mobile unit on their journey to provide relief. Additionally, United Way was able to connect with our local Publix stores to donate cases of water and paper supplies. 

We bought our Showers of Love mobile unit with a grant back when COVID shut down our city and we needed a resource to help our homeless friends. At the time, we knew in our hearts that the unit could and would do so much good, for many years to come; even without COVID at our back door. Our Showers of Love will serve that purpose well for the love of the community. We want to thank YAIPaks Outreach for allowing us the opportunity to serve with them, and for their dedication to their calling. We also want to thank Publix for supporting the cause and for continually providing for the community.