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Marie McKenna, a mental health volunteer with the Red Cross, chats with the Ballentine children. See more photos here.
Brian Ballentine is a man who has been tested: His home was flooded, the wind blew shingles off his roof and his ceiling collapsed, and to top it off, his home was looted and personal items belonging to his family were stolen. Still, he remains positive and thankful for the assistance he and his family received during this trying time.
“We’re still together and they’ve treated us very well, here,” he said. Ballentine and his wife, Iesha are parents to three children, Michael, 5, Jazmine, 11, and Desire, 9. Iesha’s late sister’s children, Jakia Rapka, 5, and Diamond Rapka, 4, round out this family of seven. They were evacuated from their flooded home by the Robbins police last weekend and ultimately were assigned to the Red Cross Shelter at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Midlothian.
Mr. Ballentine said the Red Cross workers and the people from the church, including Pastor Paul Ninnemann, were “the nicest people I ever met, in my whole life.” He said that a congregation meeting at the church Wednesday evening took up a collection and gave them $20 so they could buy gas to get the kids back in school.
Pastor Ninnemann said he was gratified his church had been chosen by the Red Cross as a shelter for the first time. The experience has allowed us to be “more than good neighbors. It is what (Christianity) is all about – doing for others at their time of need,” he said.
Marie McKenna, a Red Cross mental health volunteer at the Midlothian shelter worked with Catholic Charities in arranging funding for a week’s lodging for the family at the Crestwood Heritage Inn, which agreed to a substantially reduced rate for the stay. “I love our partners,” she said. “They help make everything we try to do at the Red Cross come true.” |
