What would you do if you could not fail?

By Amy Hanavan

HappyNews Citizen Journalist

I was picking out a card for a friend of mine when I found one that asked this question in big bold letters. "What would you attempt to do, if you knew that you could not fail?"

If I was sure that I wouldn't fail, why would I worry about the things I use as an excuse for not doing something? Who cares where the money, people, time and resources will come from? If I am guaranteed success, I should just go for it and everything will fall into place.

So what do you think? How would you answer that question? What would you attempt to do, if you knew that you could not fail? This is what Lavon Bracy, Ed.D did when she was posed with that question. She decided to act.

In the days after Hurricane Katrina, many of us felt an urgent desire to help the people whose lives had been so devastated by this powerful storm. Many gave generously and donated in whatever way they could. But Lavon Bracy went one step further.

As the cofounder and wife of the Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church in Orlando, she went before her congregation and asked for volunteers to help her accomplish something truly remarkable. She never stopped to consider that her plan would not work, or that the resources would not be revealed to her. She felt it would be a personal indictment against her, if she did not succeed in the vision that came into her mind. She was going to do more than send money and failure was not an option.

What transpired in the next few days was nothing short of miraculous and it came about as a result of her resolve to follow through on a really good idea. She called for volunteers and on Sept 7th, 80 of them arrived to learn about her Hurricane Katrina Action Plan for Relief.

Bracy planned to fly to Houston, go to the Astrodome and bring 50 people who had lost their homes in New Orleans back to the Orlando area. She then planned to provide them with free housing for six months, job training, counseling, fellowship and most of all, a place to start over where they would feel the goodness of humanity surrounding them. She had arranged to have three buses meet her in Houston, to drive these residents back to Orlando. But first she needed to organize her volunteers.

Within a few hours, she had 13 groups of volunteers who were tasked with meeting any potential needs for Housing, Home/Apartment Assessment, Transportation, Legal Services, Relief, Welcome Packets, and Orientation. You might assume that this congregation may have had the money to take on such an ambitious agenda. But that was not the case. At that point, there were no financial resources allocated for this action plan, but it never occurred to Lavon Bracy to doubt that they would be revealed. She just continued with her plan.

The Assessment team that was to travel to Houston was filled with attorneys, nurses, and individuals with psychological and medical training, pharmacologists, and travel agents. So any legal, financial, medical, emotional or transportation issue that emerged, could be addressed by the appropriate professional immediately. In addition, there was a member of Orlando's city council, an Orlando Policewoman, and two employees from the Orlando Housing Authority.

Their first challenge arose, when they realized that there was only enough money raised to send seven of the 13 volunteers on the Assessment team to Houston. One team member, a Sr. manager at a health care company made a call. In thirty minutes, his clients had donated frequent flier miles and the entire assessment team had tickets to fly to Houston.

Shortly thereafter another challenge arose. Despite the untiring assistance from the Orlando Homeland Security Coordinator, the team was unable to make contact with the necessary officials in Houston. They were looking for the right person to meet them and escort them through the bureaucratic red tape required to gain access to the Houston Astrodome.

Even though they had not made contact with any of these officials, Bracy decided to go anyway, confident that the right people would show up to assist them when they got there. Just before their plane departed, the Chaplain of the Houston Police Department returned her call and arranged to meet them when they landed.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ophelia blew up the eastern coast of the country and put another snag in the travel plans. Due to the pending storm, the busses that were to drive both the Louisiana residents and volunteers back to Orlando, were recalled. Bracy was certain that a new source of transportation could and would be supplied and so this core of volunteers persevered and continued on with their plan.

However, when they arrived at the Astrodome, the National Guard and other state police forces stopped them from gaining access. But as fate would have it, a member of the Houston police force happened to be in the parking lot, and recognized the chaplain escorting Bracy and her volunteers. He instructed the guards to let their team go through and so once again, they were on their way.

After meeting with the appropriate officials, the team was asked how they planned to transport people back to Orlando. With no busses available, it seemed a difficult question to answer. But a few minutes later, they received the call with the answer they were looking for.

Continental Airlines would provide free one-way tickets to any person displaced by Hurricane Katrina and fly them to any city Continental flew to. Amazed and filled with gratitude, this determined group of volunteers started to feel more confident that they would be given anything they needed to get this job done.

What they hadn't planned on was so many people being reluctant to move to another place that had the possible threat of hurricanes. Having been through such horrific trauma and loss, and feeling abandoned by the very people entrusted to protect them, most of the evacuees were wary of trusting anyone with such a momentous decision and commitment.

The assessment team prayed for guidance and came up with their next idea. They passed out fliers with this message HOUSING RELOCATION AVAILABLE IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA. WE ARE OFFERING SIX MONTHS FREE RENT, TRANSPORTATION FROM HOUSTON, EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE AND SECTION 8 PORTABILITY. Then they set about connecting with anyone who needed their assistance.

Slowly but surely they were able to connect with individuals and families that were seeking what they could provide. When Bracy looked into the eyes of these children, with their exhausted but determined parents struggling to keep their families safe and intact, she felt the awesome responsibility that lay before her. She literally held their lives in her hands. She and her team arranged for the transportation of nine families, eight singles, and a total of twenty children.

One by one, family by family, they took the courageous journey to Orlando. Another team of volunteers worked together to welcome these new Florida residents when they arrived, and had raised the money to house them in an extended stay hotel, until their new housing arrangements had been made.

It was at this phase of her journey, that I had the honor of meeting Lavon Bracy. I had heard about her commitment to find eighteen units of housing that would provide free rent for six months. In addition, she plans to provide each unit with the necessary furnishings and supplies to start life over in a new home.

She allotted a $1000.00 a month for living expenses for each household and is providing transportation to help in daily trips to various agencies to get new identification, open bank accounts, enroll children in school, provide job training and counseling, and simply be there as a friend and mentor. She also requires mandatory participation in weekly classes in financial literacy and empowerment.

Her goal is to help people find permanent housing and eventually be able to purchase their own home.

As I listened to her story with awe, I wondered if I too was a small link in this chain of resources provided to help these survivors. I knew I had access to readers who would be moved by this powerful story and would perhaps be inspired to help her achieve this amazing vision that she held.

Each Saturday beginning October 8th, one family will move to their new household after a volunteer crew has painted and cleaned the residence and stocked it with food and supplies to welcome its new occupants home.

Meanwhile her core of volunteers continues with its efforts to find the resources needed. In addition to financial support, they are looking for furniture, movers, and employers who are willing to provide job training and serve as mentors for those seeking new forms of work. In particular they need beds for each home and have a group of volunteers in charge of finding bed and furniture that can be donated.

If you would like to donate or learn more about how you can help, log onto www.thecovenant.org, or call 407.425.3001. Contributions can be made payable to Covenant Charities, 501 (c) (3) a non-profit organization. You can also read Bracy's own personal account of this experience on the website.

When I finished my interview with Bracy, I pressed her about her wish list, and asked if there was anything else she wanted for these new members of our community. She smiled and said that it would be wonderful if she could get 50 tickets to go to Disney World. I smiled back at the image of those children enjoying the wonder and joy of the Magic Kingdom after the incredible ordeal that they had survived. I left feeling pretty confident that the resources would reveal themselves just as they had before. Some way, some how, I know this plan will succeed. After all, look at what can happen when you are sure that you cannot fail.