Edmundite Missions feeds, clothes, houses thousands after Selma tornado with BBCF grant

Edmundite Missions began in Selma with the simple act of handing out sandwiches from the back door of the mission house in 1937.

For 86 years, the ministry has met immediate needs of food, clothing and shelter to thousands of Selma’s most at-risk individuals and families. That ministry was needed more than ever when an EF2 tornado rip through Selma’s core on Jan. 12.

Edmundite Mission used their vast resources and a $150,000 grant from the Black Belt Community Foundation to multiply their efforts and help a record number of Selmians in need.

Since the storm hit, the Mission’s Bosco Nutrition Center has served almost 120,000 meals, with demand up 32%. In fact, when the tornado hit on Jan. 12, the Missions closed for only three hours before reopening for dinner service. 

Edmundite Missions was one of five agencies in Dallas County to receive a tornado relief grant from the Black Belt Community Foundation that collected about $1 million in donations after the storm. 

Edmundite Missions President and CEO Chad McEachern said he is grateful for the support and proud of his organization’s response during the storm and aftermath.

“Seeing our friends and neighbors slowly walk to Bosco while surveying for the first time all the damage around them, I was proud that they could count on Bosco not only for a warm meal, but for a safe place to congregate and check on loved ones,” McEachern said. “I watched so many reunions of family members as we served those dinners, as people hugged family members they were unsure they’d ever see again.

“The Black Belt Community Foundation’s support helped make moments like that possible,” McEachern said.

Edmundite Missions has done more than feed clients, McEachern said. “Our Catholic Social Ministries Office saw huge increased demand, often seeing more than 50 clients a day after the storm,” he said. “They provided counseling and case management to nearly 1,000 households and had 5,425 client interactions since the storm, including utility assistance, housing assistance and case management.”

Since the tornado the Missions has served 146 families with temporary shelter, for an average of 20 nights of shelter for each family.

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They also completed dozens of housing repair projects with an average cost of $12,000, but some costing much more.

Over 4,000 households have come to the Missions to replace clothing, housewares, furniture, and other items lost in the storm.

McEachern told a story that puts the statistics in perspective. 

“My friend Mr. Walker lived in a small shack just west of Selma. Several years ago, the Missions helped install a power pole for him so he and his granddaughter would have power. He was so excited that they could listen to church together on the radio, as his house is in too remote an area to regularly attend service. I’ll never forget the way we laughed and cried together the day the power went on in his house.

“Mr. Walker came in right after the storm and reported that his small shack had been destroyed. Luckily, his granddaughter was with family in another part of the state, but the storm threw Mr. Walker into a tree where he held on for dear life until the storm passed.

“When someone found him walking the road to Selma, they asked where he wanted to go. He responded simply, ‘Take me to the Edmundites. They are my friends.’

“While his story is horrific, I’m so glad the Missions continues to build these sorts of deep relationships with those entrusted to our care.

“With the help of partners like the Black Belt Community Foundation, we were able to furnish new housing for folks like Mr. Walker, returning him and his granddaughter to their Sunday afternoons listening to church service together.” 

McEachern said the Mission’s work in the wake of the tornado shows that the Edmundite motto, instilled by founder the late Father Frank Casey, S.S.E., resonates today: “Do the best we can, with what little we have, to serve those most in need.”