News

Parish shelters victims of apartment fire

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

GREEN BAY -- No time is a good time for a fire, but a cold winter morning is even worse. On the early morning of March 5, with temperatures in the single digits, more than 100 people found themselves out on the streets of downtown Green Bay because of a fire.

The blaze in an eighth floor apartment in Port Plaza Towers, an assisted living facility in a former 1920s hotel, had displaced the residents, many of whom are elderly or have disabilities.

When it became apparent to the Red Cross that the fire damage would take a lot of clean-up, they immediately looked for emergency shelter. They found it at St. Willebrord Catholic Church, about five blocks away.

It was a first for the church, but Judy Gregory, Red Cross' Disaster services director, had worked with St. Willebrord's pastoral associate, Sr. Melanie Maczka, before in emergencies. By cell phone, she called Sr. Melanie, who hurried to the church. Within 45 minutes, she was making coffee in the parish community center as people began arriving on commandeered city buses.

"A lot of people were still in their pajamas and robes," said Sr. Melanie, a member of the Society of the Sisters of the Church. "One woman arrived barefoot. We went looking for socks for her right away."

Diane Vander Heiden, parish business administrator, said the Salvation Army brought in food and coffee "immediately, to start with the first crunch. Then the Red Cross brought in more breakfast (from Perkins Restaurant), as we started to realize the number of people who were coming."

She said nearly 150 people sought shelter that morning. When it became clear that people would be staying longer, the Red Cross brought in cots and the parish started to reschedule meetings to free up the community center.

Vander Heiden said that some people arrived in wheelchairs, pushed from Port Plaza Towers to the church by friends. Other people arrived with their service dogs.

"Somebody went out and got dog food for them," said Sr. Melanie.

Eventually, about two dozen people who could not find temporary shelter with friends or family or use the Red Cross hotel vouchers, stayed at St. Willebrord for two nights.

Both Sr. Melanie and Vander Heiden were impressed with how smoothly things worked.

"The Red Cross has been phenomenal," said Vander Heiden. "It's a well-oiled machine, that's how I would describe it."

Sr. Melanie was also pleased with "the response of people, including other parish members, who were calling and stopping by and offering to help."

She also admired the attitude of the displaced residents - many of whom are also members of St. Willebrord.

"It's amazing, how people are rolling with this," she said. "They kept telling us, 'It could have been worse; We could have been in the fire.'"