{"id":8967,"date":"2020-08-31T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salarmyeds.org\/?p=8967"},"modified":"2025-09-03T17:36:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:36:13","slug":"when-neighbors-become-family-in-lake-charles-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salarmyeds.org\/index.php\/2020\/08\/31\/when-neighbors-become-family-in-lake-charles-la\/","title":{"rendered":"When Neighbors Become Family in Lake Charles, LA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Lake Charles, LA<\/strong> &#8211;\u00a0Linda Drounette remembers vividly the fear of riding out Hurricane Laura in her apartment. \u201cI just sat there listening to the wind whistling, trees falling, so many things crashing.\u201d When it was over, Linda and her neighbors were left with no resources. The manager of the complex had left before the storm and has not returned. With no cell service and no options for charging cell phones, there was no way to call for help.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Linda cried when relaying her experience. \u201cWe are just so happy to see The Salvation Army here. We were so scared, and we don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d Linda\u2019s daughter, Jayla August, and her granddaughter, Lachaunte August, have been checking in to make sure Linda is ok.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jayla has become the de facto leader of this group of residents, banding together to survive.&nbsp;She has a car that is too damaged to drive, but it will still crank. She has been sharing with her neighbors to give them a place to charge phones and other necessary devices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite a large Haitian population that does not speak English and several deaf families with limited abilities to communicate, the neighbors have become a family of sorts. As the canteens pulled in, residents were quick to tell Salvation Army staff where other neighbors who could not walk far lived and where quick to take&nbsp;only what they needed to ensure there was enough for others.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMuch of the property is unlivable,\u201d said Jayla. \u201cWe have all moved in with each other and combined as much as possible.\u201d The residents grilled all of the food out of their kitchens the first few days and shared the little they had to make enough for everyone. \u201cWe have been finding most of what we need,\u201d Jayla continued, \u201cBut food is getting impossible to find now. Stores aren\u2019t open even for those who have money. Having hot meals brought to us was such a blessing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"credits-overlay\" data-target=\".wp-image-8968\">Michelle Hartfield<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lake Charles, LA &#8211;\u00a0Linda Drounette remembers vividly the fear of riding out Hurricane Laura in her apartment. \u201cI just sat there listening to the wind whistling, trees falling, so many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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