Gloria Rose

Gloria Rose has lived in Houston since September of 2005. Before that, she lived in New Orleans but left after Hurricane Katrina. Rose recounts some of her experiences during Katrina, including how the water got to the seventh floor of her building, and how her family stayed at a hotel for days before leaving for Houston.

Rose became the director of Wheeler Avenue Christian Academy a few years after she came to Houston. During Hurricane Harvey, Rose remembers praying that the storm would not be as bad as Katrina. Rose says that church has always been a part of her life, and that she quickly became involved at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. As a part of the recovery efforts from Harvey, Wheeler became a center that distributed material goods to those in need, and Rose greeted those coming to the center. At the church distribution center, a volunteer would go around and collect the requested items. Rose was in charge of making sure everything was in its place. She says that she did not want people coming to the center to feel as if they were refugees, something she felt after Katrina, and that she worked to make sure people knew they were loved by God. Rose received much love and appreciation from her church community, as she was recovering from transplant surgery. She was never without a caretaker during her recovery. The center at Wheeler helped anyone who needed it, not just those affected by Harvey. Rose was at the distribution center from the day it opened to the day it closed, just before Thanksgiving. Rose comments on how caring and hospitable the people of Houston have been to her, and that she never expected Houston to be home. To end the conversation, Rose explains how she received a liver transplant and how her church community supported her during the recovery.