Carter Low, 19, a 2016 graduate of Springs’ KEYS program, is in Houston helping residents recover from Hurricane Harvey, which devastated the region. Carter went to Houston on a Mormon mission, and joined with his fellow missionaries to help with the cleanup.
He said, “The missionaries help with the following: they remove all furniture, carpets, and all household goods. They then remove the carpet, cut the dry wall approximately 1-2 inches above the flood line, remove the insulation, and prepare the home to be restored. It is hot, smelly, arduous work, but the missionaries are happy to do it and do it with energy.”
Carter is originally from Los Alamitos. He enjoyed attending Springs: “I really loved the program. I got to meet so many great people and had the ability to do a lot of different activities.”
He’s more than a year into his two-year Mormon mission to Chinese people in the Houston area. Since the hurricane struck, Carter and his fellow missionaries have helped distribute food and clothing to hurricane victims as well as helping with cleanup. He said of his experience with the cleanup: “It was crazy to see how a large majority of people’s stuff had been destroyed because of the water. Years of these people’s lives were being thrown away. Things that were priceless and you can never get back had to go. Also, everyone on this street was going through the same process and had heaps of garbage on their front lawns. As this is a very emotional thing for them we tried to help and not make them feel overwhelmed. So we took it at their pace. It was also amazing to see all the people giving out water and food to those who are mucking out houses. It was amazing to see all the love that Houston has. There have been so many homes that I have entered into and each person has their own story. It truly amazes me how something like this storm can truly unite us and bring us all closer together.”
Once he returned from his mission, he plans to get a college degree in foreign relations or foreign business.
