Eyes on Gary, Still.

Community Renewal Society (CRS) continues to marshal resources for our brothers and sisters in Gary, Indiana. We are coordinating directly with Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson Sr. of Trinity United Church of Christ–Gary as the community moves from immediate recovery toward organizing, accountability, and rebuilding.

Following a recent strategy session with Pastor Jackson, CRS Community Impact and Special Projects Consultant Keron Blair shared what he heard:

I left the conversation both saddened and encouraged.

I was saddened because listening to Pastor Jackson was another reminder of the ways the people of Gary and Northwest Indiana were failed.

At one point, he said to me, “This is Katrina 2.0.”

I was in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, so I knew immediately what he meant. The storm itself was devastating, but what made Katrina a catastrophe was more than the storm. It exposed the consequences of failed infrastructure, failed systems, and failed leadership—and whose suffering we were prepared to tolerate.

The August 11 storm that struck Northwest Indiana was severe. Winds approached 100 miles per hour, more than half of Gary lost power, and some residents and businesses waited nearly two weeks for electricity to be restored.

The storm was real. The damage was real.

But so were the questions it exposed about infrastructure, preparedness, response, and accountability. Once again, a storm exposed vulnerabilities that were already there, and ordinary people were left to bear the consequences.

But I also left encouraged.

Pastor Jackson told me about organizing, coalition building, community meetings, and neighbors coming together. I heard about faith-rooted efforts to hold the power company accountable—and to ensure that what happened in Gary is not forgotten simply because most of the lights are back on.

That is happening in Gary. And CRS is committed to standing with the community.

We invite you to stand with Gary, too.

Will you give to our campaign to support ongoing recovery efforts?

Can you join us on our journey to Gary?

There is work that requires boots on the ground: talking with residents, assessing ongoing needs, collecting people’s stories, and supporting the organizing and accountability efforts already being led by people in the community. 

The lights coming back on cannot be the end of this story. 

Because recovery is not simply restoring electricity. 

Recovery must also mean listening to the people who were failed. 

It must mean asking hard questions about how this happened. 

It must mean accountability. 

And it must mean building the power necessary to make sure that the people of Gary never have to endure something like this again. 

We will keep our eyes on Gary. And more importantly, we will stand with the people who call Gary home.

Toward Recovery,

Keron Blair
Community Impact and Special Projects Consultant

And the staff of Community Renewal Society