Be Still
“Be Still” is tattooed on Melissa Chowaniec’s left wrist.
Her daughters, Jewell, 23, Chloe, 19, and Liberty, 17, have the same tattoo.
It’s a reference to Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
But after Hurricane Sally, the Chowaniecs could not be still.
“The trees fell away from our house in the Marlow area,” Melissa said. “Every other home in our neighborhood was damaged. We knew it was a sign from God that it was time to help our neighbors.”
Starting with ice bagged from a friend's ice maker and their last three cases of water, the women started helping folks around Fish River, an area that Melissa said most people don’t know about and no city or agency was coming to help anytime soon.
Each day their distribution grew as they gave out bug spray, baby wipes and snacks.
“A friend emptied out her house and her baby supplies,” Melissa said. “People are on well water out here, and those wells don’t run without power. They use baby wipes for bathing.”
Amazon boxes were delivered daily, filled with donations from friends of friends from Iowa, Texas and Florida. Packages were filled with flashlights, batteries and portable fans that run on USB chargers.
“Last night we went to a little girl's house, and she yelled ‘the big blue truck is here,’” Melissa said. “That truck is my husband’s pride and joy, but he is working on a power job in Miami for a couple of years. He may not get his truck back.”
Two weeks ago the family was on a beach trip with Melissa’s father.
“None of this was on our radar, and now I’m baking enough spaghetti to feed the new friends we are making,” Melissa said. “We are gathering supplies because we're going to have church, crafts and lunch on Saturday. This has become our place to serve, and we want to keep talking to the parents about what they need.”
A part of that community is Annie Cooper Road, where Timothy Reed grew up and is now raising his own family. His great grandmother, Mama Jesse, bought the land, and it’s been split up as it passed through the generations.
Melissa gave the boys and girls snacks and suckers. The children said, “Thank you” long before Reed reminded them to say it.
Reed asked Melissa if he could pay her.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “Pray that people keep giving. This isn't us. This is God working through many people.”
Pulling away, Melissa said, “We will be back tomorrow night with dinner from Fairhope First Baptist Church.”
Melissa said there were different classes of folks in the area, from rich to poor. Most homes were hidden behind trees, and some of them were unlivable even before Sally.
“Not everyone can get to food right now,” she said. “These are working people trying to survive. I have one friend we’re helping who had a stroke and is paralyzed on his entire right side. He receives $1,000 a month for disability and $16 for food stamps for himself and his teenage son.”
The Chowaniecs saw trailers cut in half by pine trees. The families were still living inside because they had nowhere else to go.
Some cooked tortillas on sticks or didn’t eat for days before help came.
Melissa and her daughters are helping two pregnant girls living in a trailer that was picked up by the wind before the roof was ripped away.
“We had nowhere to go,” one of the expecting women said. “I thought I was going to die. I haven't lived seven months of my pregnancy for this.”
Melissa delivered an inflatable mattress to a mother who ran with her husband, baby and 2-year-old to a home across the street, minutes before a tree destroyed their trailer in Fairhope.
“We were lucky we had enough for a down payment and moved to another trailer,” the mother said while standing in the middle of the living room of her new trailer, with a baby bed in the bedroom and toys and cans of soup on the kitchen counter.
Originally from New York, the woman sold her car and left her job and apartment almost three years ago to get away from a husband who abused her, even while she was pregnant. She moved close to her mother for a more peaceful life in Alabama and found a man who was good to her.
“We will get through this,” she said. “I have survived much worse. God has got my back.”
Melissa said her own family moved from Ohio four years ago after her parents moved to Fairhope.
“We never thought this would become our home,” she said. “But we learned to live tiny with no debt, so we can help others.”
Melissa said one of the hardest cases they have found is a family of 14 living in one trailer. The roof was blown off, and “you could see straight through the trailer before they put up the tarps.” The family's furniture, carpet and an electric wheelchair were piled by the street.
“The parents work during the day, and one adult or the teenagers take care of the kids,” Melissa said. “It is sweet to see those kids taking good care of each other.”
She and her daughters are also helping some families who lost income because of the Coronavirus and have no money for repairs.
“One man ran out of gas because he was helping everyone else, so we gave him what we had,” Melissa said. “Before the hurricane, he was out of work for two weeks because someone got the virus, and they had to shut down. He didn’t have enough money to care for himself, but he was helping others. We see that all of the time.”
This was not the first time Melissa’s family has helped others. They have opened their home to strangers before.
“With mom, you never knew who was going to be sleeping on our couch,” said the yountest daughter, Liberty, who was born right after Sept. 11, 2001. “She picks people up and gives them a place to stay for a few days.”
“We should all help any way we can,” Melissa said. “If I have something, I will share it.”
The sisters pointed out others also sharing what they had. There was a “Free Water” sign next to a faucet and hose on Baldwin County 9, for example. Close by, they said, an older lady stood at the road for two days holding up the wires of a downed powerline with a broom and directing traffic so people could get through.
“She was the sheriff of Marlow,” Melissa’s oldest, Chloe, said.
Down the road, Alex and Miley, age 13, and Jack, age 12, held a sign at their lemonade stand that read: “Buy a cup and help save homes.”
They said they met a woman at the Marlow fire station who hadn’t eaten in days. The friends agreed they had to do something.
“The lemonade is 50 percent fresh, and we finally figured out how to make it taste good,” Alex said. “We have raised $40. A lot of people stopped by and just made a donation.
Melissa handed them $20 for a cup of lemonade. It was a donation from a man who refused to accept free help and asked them to give the money to someone else who needed it.
The last stop for the Chowaniecs was a delivery of spaghetti to Sandy McCormick’s family. After five days of wiping down with baby wipes, McCormick said she poured jugs of water into the tub for her first real bath since the hurricane.
“There is a tree leaning over our house that may fall any time,” McCormick said as her granddaughters ate suckers and hugged her legs. “Another tree hit my car. I am trying to find something to drive to work. I have to go back to my security guard job tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss another day.”
Melissa and her girls reassured the family they’ll keep coming back. Walking to the truck, Melissa said she had been through her own dark times when she wanted to drive her car off the bridge. She said God told her it “wasn’t an option.”
“Four years ago we were atheists,” she said “That changed when a friend's son died in a drowning accident. He was 14 and all about Jesus. His death changed our lives, and our whole family has been baptized.”
Melissa showed the tattoos on her hands that said “Blessed” above the cross on her finger and “Wayward” above forget-me-nots, her grandmother’s favorite flower.
“These tattoos show who I am.”
Melissa’s dream is to own land with tiny homes, creating an affordable community for families with lower incomes.
“We are just neighbors helping out and showing the love of Jesus,” she said. “This has been the most amazing and eye-opening week of my life. I am grateful for the new friends we have made.
“Be still or take action to love others. I know I am exactly where God wants me to be.”
