E-Mails Sent M. Gilsenan 2001-2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Regarding the closing of St. Paul’s Chapel, New York City

’’YOU CAN’T CLOSE, WE’RE NOT FINISHED YET.”

Trinity Church announced this week that St. Paul’s Chapel will be bringing its special ministry to the rescue workers at Ground Zero to a close as of March 31, 2002.

Within each 24 hour period, since the week following the tragedy, more than 1,300 uniformed men and women enter St. Paul’s. They go there not just for a hot meal or cup of coffee, which are also offered for free at the well-organized Salvation Army operation located around the comer. They go to St. Paul’s for solace, for a respite from the inhumanity of their tasks, for a chance to sit quietly in a safe and sacred space. The volunteers regularly report hearing from workers that they do not know how they would have faced the ordeal of their roles in the clean-up without the emotional support provided at St. Paul’s.

The decision to close comes even as workers continue to find bodies of police officers, firefighters and civilians. This horrific process of cleaning up the remains that were once the World Trade Centers is predicted to be completed by early this summer. Why, then, is it necessary to abruptly end the vital and unique support offered by the round-the-clock volunteer operations at St. Paul, rather than seeing the cleanup through to the end?

The volunteer operation at St. Paul’s, directed by Reverend Lyndon Harris along with a staff of five, is a remarkable one. Volunteers have poured in from churches, synagogues, and corporations from all over America to help give back to the rescue workers. One of their most essential functions is simply to lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on. hi addition, clergy, chiropractors, massage therapists, counselors and musicians all offer their skills to help workers relieve the stress of their painstaking work. Money, food, clothing, over the counter drugs and loving, heartfelt messages from children have been donated from around the world. The sum of all these efforts, which is so much greater than its spectacular parts, is the true magic of the volunteer operation at St. Paul’s..

Much has been said recently in the media about the toll the inhuman job of clean-up at Ground Zero has taken on the lives of the men and women performing the work. That work and the volunteer support efforts along with it, will all come to an end in a matter of months. Trinity Church should reconsider its decision to close down St. Paul’s until the work is fully completed. We must also consider what we are planning to do as a city, state and nation to address the long term emotional and psychological effect of the WTC attacks on our uniformed men and women.

I am not sure iff will ever forget speaking with Steve (name changed,) a machine operator who has been at the attack sites since 9/11 with a scant five days off. He is a big, burly man whose large presence is always somewhat intimidating to those around him. Steve shed tears in front of six volimteers when he heard the news of the closing of St. Paul’s to rescue workers. “You can 7 close, we’re not finished yet!” he said. Amen.

Lila Meade St. Paul’s Chapel Volunteer

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