The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Jennifer (Leath) Scheaffer Moves 220 of Louisiana's Mentally Challenged To Safety
by Dessa Rodeffer, Publisher/Owner
"Right now I'm pretty much in shock," said 33-year-old Jennifer (Leath) Scheaffer, this Monday, after successfully evacuating 228 of Louisiana's mentally challenged to safety on Saturday.
Jennifer, a former Stronghurst native, and Executive Director of 64 group homes of ResCare: Community Alternatives Corp., answered questions of her ordeal, but wasn't ready to talk in depth about details that staff, their family members and others in the area had encountered.
On Friday evening, September 2nd, Jennifer found out on the ten o'clock news that Hurricane Katrina was heading toward New Orleans.
"At 8:00 a.m. the next morning, we had to get everyone evacuated by 5:00 p.m. There was just a small window of time."
Jennifer said she had evacuated several times during her 8 1/2 years with ResCare when threats of hurricanes were announced, but they usually had two or three days of warning.
"We have had test runs, but this was most taxing," she said. "This time we didn't have advance warning."
"Luckily, due to our disaster drills, we only had a few scares and it did go smoothly. There are always challenges, a couple vehicles that broke down. We had hurdles and we had some creative transportation," she said without going into detail.
"Basically we caravaned to 12 group homes in Alexandria, LA and two group homes on the other side of the state (Lafayette and Lake Charles)."
On Sunday morning, we realized Hurricane Katrina was going to be a "5". We usually aren't in harms way. Evacuating was new for many of them," Jennifer said.
Quite a few of the 270 had already went home with families, but 228 others remained to be moved.
"Most, really were calm," Jennifer said. "They were relaxed and kicked into emergency mode and swallowed their emotions for a time and knew this had to be done."
"At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the last of the residents were received at Lake Charles, LA. The storm hit around 7:00 p.m. I'm still pretty much in shock!"
Jennifer said the traffic was horrendous, what normally would take them 4 hours to drive, took them 12 hours, although gas wasn't a problem before the storm.
"Of the 42 homes that were evacuated, we think 15 will be habitable. The rest are completely gone or damaged beyond repair."
"We currently are on a 30-day plan to relocate residents in Texas or double up in other homes," Some are at a church retreat and Camp Fire Girls camp in Lake Charles.
"I have learned a lot watching my staff," Jennifer said. "I probably live in an area (Metairie) with the least amount of damage, but many of them evacuated their homes, too, and left their children with spouses. Yet they still pitched in and were strong and did everything they needed to do."
Jennifer said, "There was 12 foot flooding. Two levies broke, the Industrial Canal on the Eastern side and the 17th Street Canal on the border.
"We've had a lot of volunteers help us. A Methodist based retreat center and a local special education center brought in volunteers to give our staff some rest, as well as other volunteers who came in to help. The Camp Fire Girls volunteered cooking at their camp site.
"Our corporation has set up a Hurricane Assistant Fund to help our employees. The bulk of them lived in the worst flooding area. The fund is at ResCare.com.
As for Jennifer and her husband Joe, who was by her side throughout the ordeal, "In shock" is her best description for how she feels now. Yet it hasn't stopped her in doing what she has to do.
ResCare is offering counseling services to clients and staff, many of whom have lost their homes or are still unaware of the status of family members of their homes.
"ResCare families across the country are responding with offers of assistance and are keeping our Louisiana folks in our thoughts and in our prayers," the ResCare website reports.
ResCare was founded in 1974 by Jim Fornear with the idea of a better kind of business-one based on people. Its philosophy is built on entrepreneurial drive and a clear mission to give people opportunities to reach their fullest potential."
In the 1980s ResCare began to operate small community based group homes for persons with developmental and other disabilities and youth with special needs. This allowed the company to issue an initial public offering of stock in December of 1992 trading on the NASDAQ as RSCR.
Since "92, they have grown from serving 1,378 persons in six states and Puerto Rico to offering supports to more than 41,000 persons in 34 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and Canada.
It has been named four times as one of Forbes Magazine's 200 Best Small Companies in America. It's a leading provider of services to at risk and troubled youth and is America's largest private provider of services to people with developmental and other disabilities with 32,000 employees.
Jennifer is the daughter of David and Sherrill Leath of Stronghurst, and a 1995 Southern graduate.
Jennifer and Joe live in Metairie located below sea level where annual Mardi Gras celebrations are held as part of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. The World's longest bridge, the twin span, 24-miles long "Lake Pontchartrain Causeway" connects Metairie to the towns of Covington, Mandeville and Madisonville on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
I-10 Louisiana's busiest Interstate, runs through the heart of Metairie.
The wild affair of Hurricane Katrina, will make a permanent mark on the area but especially on the people and on caregivers like Jennifer and her staff.