Friday, September 27, was the first sunny day in Erwin, Tennessee, after several days of downpour from Hurricane Helene. Glenmary Brother Corey Soignier swiped away the flood warning notification that came up on his phone, thinking nothing of it.
It wasn’t until Father Tom Charters, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin, received a phone call from a parishioner that they began to realize that, this time, the Nolichucky River had indeed flooded in a big way. The parishioner had asked Father Tom to pray for her son, who was trapped on the rooftop of the county hospital awaiting evacuation after the river had risen more than 24 feet.
After four hours, the hospital employees, doctors, and patients were rescued by airlift—an image seen on national news outlets. Others, particularly at Impact Plastics, where several parishioners worked, were not saved. The flood resulted in six deaths, dozens missing at the time, and damaged bridges, roads, buildings, and houses.
Present to the people
The people of St. Michael quickly stepped into action. It was the Feast of St. Michael, the parish patron, in a few days, and festival preparations had started. A group of parishioners, says Brother Corey, had the idea to donate the food intended for that weekend to feed more than 200 people at the high school, which had turned into a shelter and central distribution center.
“That’s Glenmary’s charism,” says Brother Corey, “to be present with the people in their need.”
“God just put all the pieces, you know, where he needed to,” says Lorena Reynoso, director of religious education. “He knew what everybody’s strengths were and what our weaknesses are and where we can help the most.”
It was Lorena’s niece who approached her about having a fundraiser at the entrance of the department store she worked at, the day after the flood. Lorena didn’t expect much of it, but she went with a few other parishioners and Brother Corey, who posted it on St. Michael’s social media account. Soon after, the donations came pouring in.
“It’s amazing—the overwhelming support that we got from literally everybody,” says Lorena. “I mean, there were people coming in from California. We had a lot from Ohio, which makes sense. Virginia, Colorado, New York—I mean just everywhere.”
That support allowed them to serve. Father Tom focused on providing spiritual support at the high school. Two evenings in a row, they held a rosary in Spanish for those who were still missing from the flood.
“It wasn’t just Hispanics who showed up,” says Father Tom. “Some were parishioners, but then I looked around and thought, these aren’t even Catholics and they’re sitting here.” After the rosary was finished, a Baptist minister and a Methodist counselor came up to Father Tom. “It was just what I needed,” they told him.
With Father Tom focused on pastoral needs, Lorena and Brother Corey tackled the material support. On a day’s notice, they turned their four-room religious education building into a distribution center. When they were open from September to December, Brother Corey says, they saw anywhere from 50 to 196 people a day.
Love your neighbor
Even though the distribution center is no longer open in Erwin, Tennessee, they are still working to get essential supplies into the hands of people who need it. Parishioners are going out and finding those people in need, Brother Corey says, instead of the people coming to St. Michael’s like they were initially.
Three such parishioners, Ron Burrows and John and Darlene Riddle, are at St. Michael’s on this Saturday in mid-January, packing up coffee, canned beans, water, and generators.
While most of Erwin, Tennessee has gotten through the initial cleanup of removing debris, as of this writing, there are still parts of the county that have not. Bumpus Cove, where Ron plans to deliver these goods, is one such area.
A trip from Erwin, Tennessee to Bumpus Cove that used to take 5 minutes is now a 40-minute trip due to a destroyed bridge, says Brother Corey. Some residents there are still living in tents and borrowed trailers, where the generators donated by St. Michael have been of great use.
Blessed coincidence
Brother Corey spends most of his days now out in the community.
He happened to receive a new assignment from Glenmary and moved to Erwin a month before the flood. “I was still getting to know the parish community, and here I was thrown into this,” Brother Corey says, with his good humor.
“It’s like God said, ‘I know what you need when you need it,’” says Father Tom. “And he sent us Brother Corey at the right time in preparation for the crisis here.”
Brother Corey’s previous experience in management has come in handy for managing the distribution center and coordinating with different agencies and donors.
Growing up on a family farm made him comfortable renting a Bobcat to clear the sand and trees that piled up around town, first on land not far from the hospital and later on the grounds of a rafting company.
His previous side jobs in home repair gave him the tools to now fix up houses that have been damaged by the flood. In collaboration with local organizations, Brother Corey has worked on seven houses so far, repairing roofs, drywall, bathrooms, and driveways.
“Glenmary’s support has been unbelievable,” Brother Corey says. “Yes, I’m glad to help, but I’m able to help because of donations and donors. Any small or big level of helping I do. I can swing a hammer all day long, but I can’t pay for all the bills. It’s because of our donors that I’m able to do that.”
Moving forward
The parish is working its way back to normalcy. It’s Brother Corey’s goal to give away the rest of the donated goods—multiple pallets of bottled water in the pavilion; three storage containers full of cleaning supplies, diapers, food, and clothing; and the rest of the canned goods in the religious education building. He has churches and organizations in mind, like a local women’s shelter that could put the items to good use.
And after all the items are gone, Brother Corey will continue attending to individual needs. “Even if there’s nothing to distribute, I’m still going to get stuff to people who need it,” he says.
Regaining the full use of their religious education building is on the top of Lorena’s mind. Her focus is back to preparing the children of the parish to receive their sacraments after missing three months due to the flood, holidays, and winter weather. And then there’s the issue of immigration that is a real and immediate fear for the Hispanic community there.
Father Tom is aware that spiritual and emotional healing take time. “It’s still the emotion of getting over what they went through, at least the ones I’m aware of,” he says. Some of the donations are being used to pay for online counseling services for parishioners, set up through Catholic Charities.
Whatever the future holds, one thing is for certain: the people of Erwin, Tennessee know that St. Michael’s is a place that they can go to, in good times and in bad. Before the flood, “a lot of people didn’t know there was a Catholic church,” says Lorena. “Now it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, St. Michael’s, they’ll help you there.’ You know, they see us as compassionate people.”
-Theresa Nguyen-Gillen
This article first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of the Glenmary Challenge.
