On September 28, 2022, disaster struck Southwest Florida when Hurricane Ian came ashore in the Fort Myers area, causing tremendous damage and loss of life.  

Gail and JoEllen Crowe of Riverside joined in an effort to help people in the Harlem Heights neighborhood whose homes were inundated as a result of Ian.  With other volunteers from River City Church, they stepped up to travel down in January 2023 and worked for one week in the rebuilding process.  

Along with Tom Brase (Riverside), Rodney Gehman (Kalona), Jeff Kanagy (Kalona), Doug Koedam (Lone Tree), and Walt Stutzman (Washington), they spent that early trip fixing up their base camp and working in four homes in the multi-generational neighborhood of Harlem Heights.  But their goal was also to connect in a personal way with the people there who had endured so much.

Many homes had suffered an unexpected 8-foot storm surge from Ian and had been without electrical power or water for days.  The people living in Harlem Heights, many already living below poverty level, not only lost their homes, vehicles, and possessions, but also their jobs in the service industries there.  This left them traumatized, as well as without the money to repair and rebuild.  

The experiences shared by residents told the story:  One woman was floated out of her flooded home in an emptied-out refrigerator.  A local man used his dinghy to float 30 people out to safety, two or three at a time, as he waded back and forth through the murky   water.  

One family rode out the storm sitting on top of their van in the carport with their children sitting in the rafters over their heads.  Another woman’s son had to shoot two alligators inside her living room before she could get back in to clean. 

That’s when Pastor Terry Mobley of the Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church and Adventures in Missions went into action.  Mobley’s church is located in the center of Harlem Heights on higher ground, and his congregation immediately began providing relief by making water and food available to residents.  

He partnered with Adventures in Missions to start the rebuilding process with the goal of “making the community whole”.  This was the first long-term recovery mission that Adventures had taken on and their mission was stabilizing the neighborhood emotionally, spiritually, and physically. As River City Church prayed for those affected by the hurricane, and asked how they could help more tangibly, Rodney Gehman, pastor of River City Church, contacted friends at Summit Church in Fort Meyers and found out about Adventures, leading to the first trip.

During that trip in January, the Iowa group went as a “hands on” construction team.  The Adventures leadership team held daily morning prayer, as they planned for the day, and often needs for the program were listed on a board that later was called “the Rainbow Board” (for God’s Promises fulfilled).  

As the Adventures team would pray for these needs to be met, supplies, volunteers with the needed skills, and other resources, would arrive at just the right time.  When a dishwasher for the base was put on the list and prayed for, someone dropped one off at the entrance to the base camp.  When a team was going out to drywall a whole house in one day, and needed a drywall lift to do the ceilings, none were available for purchase, or even to be held for pick up.  However, as the crew arrived at the house ready to drywall, a neighbor called saying he had just bought one and they could use it as long as they needed it.

In June, Gail and JoEllen returned to be part of the Base Camp Operations team for three and a half weeks, with Gail as the “Construction and Team Manager” and JoEllen helping to keep the Base Camp running and cooking for 20-30 people, two meals/day.  The Base OP team held daily prayer before the 7:30 a.m. planning meeting, reviewed team assignments and ensured supplies needed, before sending teams out to the homes.

The elderly, disabled, veterans, and single parents with children are the top priorities.  

JoEllen remarked that, “In the situation they were in, God was the only Constant.  One of our values was the relational aspect—getting to know the people of the community even if it meant dropping our work for a while to listen to them.”

Over three hundred homes have needed repair or substantial remodeling.  For days and weeks after Ian some families had no one to stay with and nowhere to go, so they remained in their “unlivable” homes.  To date, 150 homes have been worked on by volunteers from around the US (MN, VA, TX, TN, IA, WV, MO, PA, MI, CO, and others), coordinated by Adventures in Mission.  

Many of the homes have had to be “mucked and gutted” before mold remediation could be done.  Then new flooring, drywall, roofs, and other needed repairs are being done to leave the house better than it was before, in some cases.  A local Tool Bank has loaned needed tools for volunteers to use, and to loan out to homeowners, and supplies are being purchased locally.  

The entire operation is run on volunteer labor, donated building materials, and donations to house and feed the volunteer crew which rotates through the main base where there are dormitory-style rooms that can accommodate 100, a kitchen, bathrooms, and the portable showers.  Individuals/groups who come for a short-term stay are also asked to contribute financially to help defray food and overhead costs.   

Gail noted that, “This experience gets you out of your day-to-day life and you see how God works.  In our regular lives we get into an automatic mode.  Seeing what these people went through and getting to know them makes you grateful for your own lives.”  

Gail and JoEllen are now planning to return in September.  The work of Adventures in Missions in this location will likely go on for at least another year.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can contact Adventures in Missions at Adventures.org.