Henry Paris

Henry Paris says he works at the intersection of poverty and disaster.

At the intersection of poverty and disaster, though, “the fringe benefits are priceless,” the Chattanoogan said.

Since April, Mr. Paris, 60, has been construction manager liaison in Gulfport, Miss., for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, an arm of the Presbyterian Church USA.

In his work, essentially, he connects volunteers from around the country with long-term recovery organizations in order to repair homes that were lost to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“This is a 10- to 15-year rebuilding process,” Mr. Paris said. “I will be here with certainty through next March. I hope I will stay longer — as long as they want me to be here.”

To accept the job, he gave up a comfortable home in the Chattanooga area, a job as vice president for research and development with Steward Environmental Solutions and a church full of friends at Northside Presbyterian, where he is an elder.

Today, Mr. Paris lives in a small trailer on the grounds of Orange Grove Presbyterian Church in Gulfport.

“This is probably what I should have been doing for a long time,” he said.

Mr. Paris first went on a short-term mission trip to work on relief efforts following the hurricane with members of Fountain City Presbyterian Church in Knoxville in October 2006.

“It kind of opened my eyes,” he said. “(The devastation) was almost impossible to describe. By the end of the first week, I had pretty much come to the conclusion to come down there full-time and help.”

Mr. Paris subsequently went on five other such trips before accepting a job with his denomination’s disaster assistance agency last winter.

The Rev. Joe B. Martin IV, senior pastor of Northside Presbyterian, said it was providential the job came along when it did.

“It was just what he was thinking about and just what I was thinking about for him,” he said.

Mr. Martin said he felt fortunate to have been able to talk to Mr. Paris at length about his desire and his calling to the relief work.

“Part of my job is to help people find their vocational calling,” he said. “Sometimes that translates into the job you do. Sometimes it’s just in the nature of being a Christian. Being a part of (his) decision was meaningful for me. It’s something the whole congregation is really proud of. He is the first (person in missionary work) in some time who has come from here.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance works with three or four long-term recovery organizations who make resident contacts and develop assistance application packages, Mr. Paris said.

Residents who fall at 80 percent of the median income and below are generally eligible, he said.

Once the residents to be assisted are identified, Mr. Paris said, the agencies turn to his organization, which coordinates the assistance of volunteers, houses them in temporary tent villages and organizes them into work crews.

By that point, he said, most of the supplies are already paid for, but his organization has some freedom to contribute — from money people have donated since the hurricane — if the additional need is there.

As important as any relief work, Mr. Paris said, is the human contact for the long-suffering residents.

“Listening is as important as the actual work on the house,” he said. “Our goal is to help the people. Part of that is the ability to sit down and ... have them share their frustrations and emotions.”

For his part, Mr. Paris has felt fulfilled by the work and plans to keep doing it as long as necessary.

“It’s difficult to describe,” he said. “I am unbelievably fortunate. (In Chattanooga), I worked with some of the best people in the world, had a good salary and a nice house. Down here, you see how difficult life is. You see a spirit and a willingness to survive. You don’t see bitterness or frustration.

“It makes me realize that it is so much more important to be helping somebody as worrying about the next car or the addition to the house. It opened my eyes to how people react to being helped. The gratitude is very fulfilling.”