When Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey Oct. 29, a lion’s share of damage was inflicted on two of the four counties of the Trenton Diocese.

The landscapes in Monmouth and Ocean counties had been dramatically altered by the storm, costing many thousands of faithful their homes, livelihoods and sense of wellbeing.

For, in so many instances, the storm hit them not only at a material level but at the spiritual and communal level as waters wreaked havoc on their parish and school facilities and outreach centers.

In the end, according to diocesan figures, Sandy had damaged 140 buildings in 59 parishes, leaving wreckage totaling
$17 million.

How the people of the parishes, Catholic schools and charitable agencies in the diocese, along with hundreds, if not thousands of volunteers, harnessed their faith, charity and belief in the future to meet the immediate, evolving and long range needs of neighbors, friends and the community-at-large is one of the most compelling stories of this epoch storm.

A  Presence from the Start

 “We, as Church, consistently reach out to those in need as an expression of our faith,” said Daughter of Charity Sister Joanne Dress, executive director of the diocesan Office of Catholic Social Services, in explaining the outpouring of care, concern and engagement from the diocese’s Catholic community in the effort for Superstorm Sandy.

“We were serving those in need pre-Sandy,” said Sister Joanne, charged by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in the immediate aftermath of the storm with coordinating the relief effort. “When a disaster hits, it is the same faith and desire to assist those in need that makes us do whatever we can to respond to the challenges presented to us.”

Within hours of the storm, parishioners responded in countless grassroots ways to meet the needs of residents in their local communities who were trying to stay warm, fed and dry.

Just one example of many was the outpouring from Visitation Parish, Brick, located on the fringes of swamped and devastated Mantoloking, where parishioners and members of the community organized a massive outreach that not only included clothing, non-perishable food and hygiene supplies but ongoing hot meals prepared by chefs from local restaurants.

On Oct. 31, Bishop O’Connell, escorted by the State Police, visited priests, parishes and schools in the area that had come to be known as Sandy’s “Ground Zero.”

In Lawrenceville, the Chancery, like so much of New Jersey, lost power and was only able to resume operations Nov. 2. That day was spent trying and many times failing, to reach the shore parishes by phone in order to get a sense of their damages and needs.

Diocesan websites and social media were soon chronicling unfolding developments and publishing growing lists of information on how and where to go for help. A hurricane relief hotline and email were quickly established and monitored on a continuous basis to help ensure that no call for help would fall through the cracks.

Frances Koukotas of the Department of Youth, Marriage and Family Life was called in to help Sister Joanne field hundreds of calls, not only from those in need in our diocese, but from concerned people around the country wanting to know what was most needed and where and how to direct aid. In case after case, the team successfully connected people, directing foods, clothing, cleaning supplies and offers to help clean-up where they were most needed.

Bishop O’Connell directed that a diocese-wide collection be held at all Masses Nov. 17 and 18 to raise money for the relief effort.  In the days, weeks and months that followed, the parishes were able to send $449,000 to the diocese for distribution. An additional $365,000 from independent donors and groups around the country was added to that amount for a total of $805,000 in hurricane relief.  Parishes that needed funds for their own relief efforts were given the option to keep them locally.

To date, $314,000 has been distributed via the diocesan relief effort to parish outreach organizations, St. Vincent de Paul conferences and Catholic social service organizations to provide for food, clothing, emergency shelter and medicine costs.

The weekend after the storm, the bishop braved the hazardous roadways again, visiting the bustling relief center in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, where clothing was given out to those in critical need.  On Nov. 4, he visited the battered St. Rose community in Belmar where he celebrated Mass and comforted throngs who overflowed the cold and darkened church.

At both stops, he encouraged all who were struggling with the effects of the storm, encouraging them to remain calm and pledging the ongoing support of the Catholic community. “God bless you,” he said. “We love you and whatever we can do to help you, we will.”

Missions of Mercy

At the bishop’s direction in the first few days, 16 distribution centers were established by the diocese with the number soon swelling to 26.

Among these hubs were: Catholic Charities Emergency Services in Lakewood and Delran; the St. Vincent de Paul Conference of St. Mary of the Lakes Parish, Medford; St. Barnabas Parish, Bayville and the badly affected St. Francis Community Center of Long Beach Island, operating out of St. Mary of the Pines Church, Manahawkin.

St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell, served as a sorting center and conduit for emergency goods to parishes along the shore collected by three collaborating parishes: St. Benedict, Holmdel; St. Clement, Matawan and St. Catherine, Holmdel whose parishioners contributed mightily to the “Beacon of Hope” distribution center set up in a former children’s wear store in Hazlet.

As the effort evolved, tons of supplies to feed and clothe individuals and keep them warm during the massive power outages that followed the storm were collected, sorted and distributed to 53 diocesan “help sites” operated under the aegis of St. Vincent de Paul conferences in parishes across the diocese.

Social concerns committees in a number of parishes including St. Theresa, Little Egg Harbor, Nativity, Fair Haven, St. Mary Parish, Colts Neck and St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Freehold, were also help sites in this massive undertaking.

“When the storm hit, the first response was from the parishes. Every parish responded, people all along the shore began helping immediately if they were able. There was a lot of help from parishes further inland,” Sister Joanne said.

Parishes, schools and Catholic organizations and nonprofits sprang into action and remained steadfastly involved throughout the early days of the recovery process and beyond.

Despite the fact that many of those volunteering for the effort had suffered storm damage themselves, scores pulled together to provide critically needed services and supplies to feed and clothe victims and help keep them warm in areas that were without heat and electricity for days and even weeks.

In  Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Agnes Parishes on the Bayshore, the faithful managed to work through their own loss, contributing, among a host of other items, cleaning supplies to help make houses habitable again and as much food for distribution as they could muster.

In Assumption Parish in New Egypt, volunteers bagged 700 lunches donated to evacuees sheltering in Central Regional High School, Berkeley Township, the litany of care and concern shown by the faithful for their suffering brothers and sisters was, as Sister Joanne said, extraordinary.

And in uninhabitable Seaside Heights, members of the Catholic community trekked in daily from the mainland to the old Quonset hut that has been the parish center of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish for more than half a century, to serve hundreds of emergency utility workers hot meals donated by local chefs.

Catholic school students did their share in many creative ways. In St. Mary School, Bordentown, for instance, there was a drive by students on a mission to help pets who had truly become orphans of the storm. By way of a Facebook post, Alexandra Dompier and Lucy Miles collected hundreds of pounds of pet food.

And the bustling religious education program in the former Holy Family School located just across Route 36 from Holy Family Parish in devastated Union Beach, gave ground to the National Guard, scores of other emergency workers and the State Police, who used it as a center of operations for weeks after the storm as they helped with disaster recovery.

Among the many challenges faced by volunteers in carrying out these relief efforts was not only damage to the overall infrastructure but to some of the mainstays of charitable assistance, most notably Project Paul, Keansburg, the venerable mainstay of help in the Bayshore, and St. Francis Center, its equivalent in Brant Beach on Long Beach Island.

While Project Paul’s large corps of volunteers struggled for weeks to get the building up and running again, operating as soon as they were able out of the building’s second floor, St. Francis Center shifted its operations to the parish Center of St. Mary of the Pines, Manahawkin, and brought  operations up just days after the storm made landfall.

Both agencies have since resumed normal operations in their regular facilities.

In summing up all these efforts, Sister Joanne said “whether it was a little family or an individual or a parish, whether it was local people contributing to the effort or people bringing truckloads of supplies from North Carolina and Virginia, everyone wanted to help.”

Recovery Continues

By mid-November, the true impact of the storm on the institutions of the diocese had emerged and parishes and schools were focusing on efforts to restore them.

Catholic social service agencies and parish organizations from around the diocese continued their efforts to help stabilize the situation. Catholic Charities reactivated the disaster team created in response to 9/11 and began organizing for the long haul.

Joyce Campbell, associate executive director for external affairs, said the long range effort would include financial assistance for those needing help with temporary housing, advocacy, disaster case management, counseling and financial assistance.

Across the diocese, damage assessment was underway as clean-up and repairs progressed at 59 parish and school facilities that reported damage.

As inspections continued and the diocese gained access to parishes in hard hit areas of Ocean County’s barrier island, damage estimates overall came in at $17 million said Joseph Bianchi, diocesan director of administrative services and Deacon William Wilson, director of the Department of Construction and Property.

Chancery officials and insurance company representatives said the destruction ran the gamut from major structural flooding at places such as St. Rose Parish, where the high school was submerged in nine feet of water and the grade school lost its roof, and St. Denis Parish and School, Manasquan, which suffered extensive damage to missing windows and minor damage in other parishes.

Deacon Wilson said that the “The flood damage was really considerable,” Wilson said. But, he said, work commenced immediately on getting the damage restored. He noted that as of early February, only St. Pio of Pietrelcina and its Normandy Beach worship site, Our Lady of Peace, remained totally closed.

JoAnn Tier, diocesan superintendent of schools, said that while all affected schools had re-opened by Nov. 19, an initial assessment revealed 12 grade schools and St. Rose High School, sustained damage to their buildings. Repairing the damage and restoring the facilities to full use was the focus of a sustained and successful effort.

St. Rose Grammar School welcomed students back Nov. 15. Both the heavily damaged St. Denis School  and St. Rose High School re-opened full time while still undergoing repairs.

As of this writing, of the 140 buildings damaged in 59 parishes, all but St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Lavallette, and its Normandy Beach worship site, Our Lady of Peace, remain closed. The heavily damaged St. Denis School is 99 percent operational. In Sacred Heart Parish, Bayhead, faithful continue to worship in the parish center while the church floor awaits replacement.

As Advent approached, outreach efforts continued to evolve according to people’s needs.

In order to help faithful attend Mass and other worship services during this precious period of time and regain a sense of connection to their communities, The Monitor published a list on its website of alternate worship sites on the mainland.

St. Robert Bellarmine embarked on an ongoing “Let’s Shower the Shore” hurricane survivor housewarming campaign seeking items ranging from beds to toasters to grills, gadgets and pots and pans to help people set up housekeeping all over again.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, in collaboration with the RAINE (Reaching All In Need Everyday) Foundation, a local outreach to families in need, was actively engaged in a major Christmas outreach at the ‘Beacon of Hope’ repurposed from a distribution center into Santa’s workshop.

Scores of volunteers – including many St. Benedict parishioners and students enrolled in the parish school and religious education program – gathered at Beacon of Hope and sorted, wrapped and labeled gifts that were distributed to more than 500 families. 

In for the Long Haul

Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic USA, who visited Catholic Charities Emergency Services in Lakewood, during the first days after the storm, said it will likely take half a decade to repair the structural damage caused by Sandy and even longer to heal the emotional damage.

In recognition of such expectations, the Diocese of Trenton Long Term Recovery Plan went into effect Dec. 1.

Financial assistance is being handled by Catholic social service agencies including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities, the St. Francis Community Center and Project Paul, all of which have protocols in place for responding to requests for assistance, said Sister Joanne.

Families and individuals will continue to be able to access the services already extended by these organizations and agencies, she noted, which include help with basic needs, and rent and utility assistance.

And in each of the affected counties, long-term recovery planning groups are gearing up as FEMA prepares to leave the area. Among those serving on Monmouth County’s long-term recovery planning group is Father Daniel Swift, pastor of St. Benedict Parish, who is serving as secretary.

Working with relief efforts in the stricken Bayshore since the storm hit, Father Swift explained the stages of assistance. “When disaster hits,” he said, “locals step up to the plate until the 24-7 people such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army arrive. That’s what we did at first, we set up immediate relief.”

Next came the interim phase led by FEMA which is now winding down, he said. “We’re getting ready to transition over. (FEMA) has been training us to take the reins. It is a long, wide, slow learning curve.”

Parishes, charitable organizations such as St. Vincent de Paul conferences and scores of volunteers were the “first line of defense. When it’s happening to people in the next parishes over, Keansburg, Union Beach, Atlantic Highlands, when you see those folks going under and you see the devastation, you have to help.”

The need for a level of commitment from the faithful of the diocese will continue for years, he said. “There is still so much to be done,” Swift said. “We need help, prayers and funds.”