[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PARK MANOR BEE CAVE AND GULF POINTE PLAZA RESIDENTS BAND TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2018

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, not far from the beach in Rockport, 
Texas, lies the Gulf Pointe Plaza, a community providing care for the 
elderly.
  Their serene world was overturned when Hurricane Harvey bore down on 
the southeastern coast of Texas. Mobilizing quickly, the care center 
successfully evacuated all of the 90-plus residents and transported 
them to sister facilities, out of harm's way, before the storm hit. The 
fire departments of both Rockport and Travis County played a 
significant role in their successful evacuation.
  Since September, the residents of Park Manor in Bee Cave have 
graciously played host to their displaced visitors, heartily welcoming 
them into their communities while the future of the facilities in 
Rockport remained up in the air. Current residents doubled up in rooms, 
and the staff converted the physical therapy room into a makeshift 
dormitory that slept 14 people.
  The Rockport crew received support from well-wishers outside of 
Texas. Residents of the South Shore Care Center in Worthington, 
Minnesota, gathered together and painted signs with messages of 
support, including ``Stay Strong Texas'' and ``God Bless You,'' that 
they mailed to Texas to bolster the spirits of the uprooted Gulf Coast 
residents.
  Just recently, the Gulf Pointe Plaza residents and employees, who 
relocated with their patients, received the good news that renovations 
on their new facility have been completed and that they will soon 
return home. In addition to those returning from Bee Cave, the facility 
will also take in new residents once it is reopened.
  To celebrate their return to their original home, the residents and 
staff at Park Manor threw their visitors a Texas-themed goodbye party, 
complete with food, drinks, and, naturally, country music. While the 
folks from Rockport will be glad to return home, their farewell to 
their hosts was bittersweet. Despite the stress of being displaced from 
their home, they take fond memories from their eight months spent in 
Bee Cave with them.
  Mr. Speaker, the generosity, support, and helping hand provided by 
the Rockport and Travis County Fire Departments, the South Shore Care 
Center, and of course the Park Manor in Bee Cave are yet another 
example of the tremendous benevolence shown to the victims of Hurricane 
Harvey, and they represent everything that is good about America. This 
is truly a country whose citizens will provide for each other in a time 
of need, even if it does mean going without a fitness area for eight 
months.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________