Nearly seven months after a tornado devastated Enterprise, a lot of blue tarp is still draped over houses and a lot of debris is still sitting in piles.
But not nearly as much as there used to be. And not any at all at Alberta Bass’ house.
When the storm ripped through town March 1, Bass was home alone. “The top blew off and trees hit the back and the windows blew out,” she recalled. “The house just shattered.”
Now her shattered house has been replaced with a new home — one Bass plans to move into by the end of the month, thanks to Coffee Baptist Association churches.
“They tore the broken one down and built a new one from the ground up. It’s a beautiful little house, and that’s just what I need, a little house. I’m getting old and I can’t do things like keep up a big house like I used to,” she said with a laugh.
The Lord knew what she needed, Bass explained, and sent help in the form of Pastor Cliff Quincey and others from New Home Baptist Church, Enterprise, as well as members of Bethany Baptist Church, New Brockton, and several other Alabama Baptist churches.
“I sure was glad God blessed me with them. It’s so wonderful,” Bass said.
Quincey led the effort as the volunteer contractor for the work, doing much of the work himself, according to Kaye Clark of Coffee Association who has coordinated much of the relief efforts after the tornado, including the work on Bass’ house.
Teams have constructed the house for less than $40,000, giving her a “nice two-bedroom home with a bath, nice den, kitchen and utility room,” Clark said. “It also has a nice front porch for her to enjoy.”
Quincey said the effort has been an “eye-opening experience” for his congregation. “Times like this cause us to pull together, and Mrs. Alberta provided a chance for us to reach out and help in a time of need,” he said. “It brings a sense of strength to your congregation to work on a project like that together.”
Tony Dye, pastor of Bethany Baptist, said his church learned of the project when he approached associational leaders to ask, “What can we do?”
“We were able to do little temporary things in the area, short-term projects, but this was the most significant,” Dye said. “The association kept providing us with ways to help.”
The months following the brutal storm have brought a surge of volunteer help to the area and a flood of job requests through the Coffee Association office and across Clark’s desk.
“For three months, she did disaster relief full time and was able to connect with hundreds of Baptist volunteers from everywhere,” Director of Missions John Granger said. “We’ve had volunteers come from Vermont to Washington state. March, April and May were really strong. There are still some coming, but it’s a lot less frequent now.”
The community is still working on projects, but Coffee Association is wrapping many up, like Bass’ home.
With the $50,000 donated to the associational office — an amount that worked “like the loaves and fishes,” Granger said — Coffee Baptists reconstructed two homes, built Bass’ new house and repaired some church staff members’ homes (such as Larry Doster’s — see story, this page). They also rebuilt a local business and provided numerous teams with food, materials and tools.
“I wouldn’t say things are back to normal around here — so many lives were shattered,” Clark said. “But things are looking better. It’s been wonderful to see how people have come together and helped meet needs. God’s people are busy.
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