GLASGOW —



Stevie and Sandra Leavell are glad to be in Kentucky.

The couple recently relocated to Fountain Run after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

The Leavells lived in Mississippi, but were working in New Orleans when they learned the hurricane was headed in their direction. They decided to head home, but the storm caught up with them. High winds ranging from 165 to 175 mph were causing the Seven Mile Bridge on Interstate 10 to sway. The couple drove across the bridge in the blinding rain and wind, and shortly after crossing it a section of the bridge collapsed.

“That was so scary,” Sandra said. “You couldn’t even see the person in front of you.”

The Leavells lost everything to the hurricane. They lived in a shelter for five days before a group of people from south central Kentucky and northern Tennessee came to their aid.

The group, which was composed of people from various churches in the Lafayette, Tenn. area, traveled to Mississippi and brought several hurricane victims back with them.

When Jeff and Melinda Downing of Fountain Run learned hurricane victims would be coming to the area, they, too, decided they also wanted to help and agreed to donate housing.

“Jeff had just decided that we had a house empty and he had heard them talking about it on the radio, so he called my friend, who is a preacher in Lafayette, about the house and asked if they wanted to stay there,” she said.

Among the 12 families who came back with the church group were the Leavells, who accepted the Downing’s offer and moved to Fountain Run.

It didn’t take them long to decide they wanted to make south central Kentucky their new home.

“I love it here,” Sandra said. “It’s so beautiful.”

Shortly after arriving in south central Kentucky, the Leavells, who are in their early 40s, began looking for work in the Allen County area, as well as in Franklin and Bowling Green.

Stevie had worked in construction and Sandra had sat with the elderly before the hurricane, but after witnessing Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath they’ve decided to seek medical careers.

“I wanted to get into a new line of work,” Stevie said. “At my age, I needed to get into something less physically demanding and something with a cleaner work environment. We both wanted to get into jobs helping others. If you’ve seen the disaster we’ve seen, you’d want to help others, too.”

It was during his search for work that Stevie learned about Bowling Green Technical College’s nurse aid training program in Glasgow. He eventually spoke with Dr. James Isenberg, who told him about Bowling Green Technical College’s Operation Rebuilding Lives Program.

Operation Rebuilding Lives was created shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Through the program, Hurricane Katrina victims can receive training, Isenberg said.

After learning about the Leavells’ situation, Bowling Green Technical College waived tuition for the couple to attend nurse aid training. The Salvation Army in Bowling Green joined in and issued a voucher to cover the cost of the couple’s textbooks and their state nurse aid testing fee.

“They came the first night of class and we signed them up,” Isenberg said.

After becoming nurse aids, the Leavells hope to further their education. Stevie is considering a career as a either a licensed practical nurse or an X-ray technical, while Sandra is looking into becoming a registered nurse. The couple plans to eventually relocate to Bowling Green and will send for their children once they are settled.

“We pray that we will never have to go through a storm like that again,” Sandra said. “We are on our way to a new life.”