[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 68 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF NORMAN BERMES' OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE EVACUEES OF 
                           HURRICANE KATRINA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2006

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Norman 
Bermes and his wife Frances. Mr. Bermes immediately mobilized private 
resources in East Fort Worth to respond to the desperate needs of the 
evacuees who arrived in the city, escaping the ravages of Hurricane 
Katrina when it impacted the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005.
  As the first evacuees began to enter the city, utilizing whatever 
means they could access and utilizing what limited resources they could 
carry, Mr. Bermes read the reports and newscasts and was not only early 
to understand the plight these individuals faced, but was quick to turn 
a compassionate concern into action.
  With the assistance of his wife, Frances, and other friends and 
associates from East Fort Worth, Mr. Bermes quickly organized a 
community effort to coordinate volunteers, space and donations to 
provide for the deep needs of the visitors arriving in the city in a 
steady stream from the Gulf Coast.
  By working through area churches and his network in the East Fort 
Worth Business Association, Mr. Bermes addressed the immediate need for 
food, clothing and housing for the evacuees.
  His efforts secured access to several unoccupied individual 
apartments in the Woodhaven community. Regular communication through 
email, the Greater Meadowbrook News and fliers distributed through the 
community assisted in providing toiletries, paper, canned goods, 
clothing and kitchen necessities to allow the evacuees to reestablish 
daily lives after arriving, frequently, with only the clothes on their 
backs.
  Mr. Bermes quickly recognized that beyond this need the evacuees 
would quickly need employment and other long-term solutions to enable 
them to regain their self-sufficiency. Continued efforts on his part 
and with volunteers established a Jobs Resource Center in one of the 
apartment units, equipped with internet access for email and online 
searches. Additionally, they were able to provide resume creation 
assistance, counseling for interview skills and a jobs posting effort 
to match local employers with a new and anxious labor pool.
  Practical creativity allowed Mr. Bermes and his volunteer assistance 
to press through the systemic challenges and surprises, including 
warehousing and distributing a truckload of donated mattresses and the 
thousands of other donations where they could be utilized by those in 
need.
  By Thanksgiving, when they held the Cajun Thanksgiving Party for all 
of the evacuees, Mr. Bermes had mobilized resources and individuals to 
provide for over 50 families and 140 individuals. In doing so he 
touched engendered a sense of community among the newest residents of 
East Fort Worth and showed the warmth and compassion of North Texas.
  I am honored to represent Mr. Bermes and the family and friends who 
know him and his compassion that made such a difference in providing 
hope, dignity and encouragement in the aftermath of such a tragedy on a 
scale our country has never before experienced.

                          ____________________