"If we couldn't get there, who would?"
Shirley Campbell has served Parkway Place for 33 years. The Houston senior living community, she says, is her second home and the residents she serves there are like family.
On Friday afternoon, August 25, Campbell, a certified nursing assistant in assisted living, drove to her normal evening shift. When she left Parkway Place later that night, she had no idea she would be unable to return to the residents in her care for four full days.
During those four days, Campbell and her husband became stranded inside their Houston home. They had no power and no air conditioning. Their neighborhood was surrounded by overflowing creek waters. Police barricades blocked cars from getting in or out. Helicopters circled the area monitoring the rising waters.
By Wednesday, Campbell couldn’t take it anymore. She had to get back to Parkway Place and the residents there. She was willing to do whatever it took—even putting herself in danger— to get back to Parkway Place.
"You've got to do what you've got to do," she said.
She and her husband loaded their vehicle onto a stranger’s trailer hitch, crossed the flooded streets to dry ground, and carefully drove around backstreets until, three hours later, they finally make it Parkway Place.
“My heart was there with the residents,” Campbell said tearfully. “If we couldn’t get there, who would be there for them?”
This is the heart of Buckner. Consider donating to help Buckner team members like Shirley recover from Hurricane Harvey’s devastation.
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