• Christine Rogers

Tough Times Bring People Together: From Disaster to Recovery

Valdosta, G.A. (October 9, 2024)— With more than 32,000 meals served in Valdosta, Georgia along with the delivery of thousands of snacks, drinks, meal boxes and cleanup kits, The Salvation Army emergency response has concluded, but the work here is far from over. Now, the long-term recovery begins.

“We’ve seen an uptick in people needing rent and utility assistance,” said Captain Judy Chung with the Valdosta Salvation Army Corps. “People are also needing to replenish the food they lost so we are seeing more need at our food pantry.”

For Captain Judy and her husband Captain Hoon, since Hurricane Helene hit, they’ve been going nonstop.

“We’ve just been pulled in every direction. We need this, we need that. Everyone is in need of something,” said Capt. Judy.

“It’s been rough,” added Capt. Hoon. “But my brothers and sisters coming to help the community has been great.”

Asked what has got them through this disaster, the answer is simple, Jesus.

“I don’t know how people do it without Jesus,” said Capt. Judy.

Hope is the message they continue to share with their community. They say with breath in their lungs, there is purpose.

“I’ve tried to let people know that it’s not hopeless, that this was just a season,” said Capt. Judy. “This period is only building callouses. Building that tough skin so it allows us to get through the next season because the next season is coming. It may not be a hurricane or a storm, but it may be a personal storm in our lives so what we want to give people is hope.”

“The community came together,” added Capt. Hoon. “Everyone was willing to pitch in and help even when they were facing their own hardships.”

For Capt. Judy this outpouring of support was a display of compassion and resiliency.

“It renews my hope in humanity because it shows what happens in tough times. We can come together. The things that divide us, at this time doesn’t matter because we are all going through the same thing together and we can get through it.”