Outpouring of grace helps former Hiland teacher after flood
Jeff Pratt’s Vermont retirement home was nearly washed away by torrential flooding recently, where a once babbling brook turned into a raging river. While the storm created a dark night, Pratt said it revealed the light of the stars, and those stars have been the many who have already reached out to help him through this time.
For two decades Jeff Pratt was an institution at Hiland High School, where he taught English and humanities from 1983-2003. But for Pratt, that time was not just about the curriculum; it was about making a positive impact on the lives of his students.
Pratt’s genuine caring for the students and his overflowing sense of humor made him a favorite of many students, many of whom to this day continue to have a wonderful relationship with him via social media.
But when he retired, Pratt followed his dreams and moved to his perfect retirement home in Vermont.
“Those 20 years at Hiland were 20 of the best years of my life,” Pratt said. “Teaching there was a dream come true for me, and I have incredible memories of the people there that I’ll never forget.”
Pratt now lives in a little house in Northern Vermont, where he has chosen to spend his retirement days, raising vegetables to sell to local markets and restaurants and enjoying the nature around him.
Recently, that nature that had been such a fond source of peace became a raging tyrant, unleashing a wall of water on his home that nearly destroyed it.
Pratt has recently created a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/support-urgent-repairs-for-a-beloved-vermont-home, one that will help him recover from this ordeal, but doing so wasn’t an easy endeavor for the former Hiland teacher.
“I can see light at the end of the tunnel, but being in the midst of something this devastating is frightening and humbling,” Pratt said. “Things happen in life, things we can’t prevent, and I know it will take some time to get over this, but I will. You don’t realize how mentally devastating something like this is until it actually happens to you.”
Always a giver, it was difficult for Pratt to ask for help in recovering from the devastation. However, it would be the living words of his children, son Taylor and daughter Alyssa, that would give him the courage to reach out for help via the GoFundMe account.
Pratt said in his GoFundMe letter, “Asking for help right now is hard. I would much prefer to offer help than receive it. My father was a doctor who instilled in me that we are placed on this Earth to serve others, and I have tried my best to follow that path. But right now I am on the other side. No matter how hard it is for me to say it, the shoe is now on the other foot, and now I am the one in need of help.”
That became apparent to Pratt because his insurance doesn’t include flood insurance.
Pratt’s flood-damaged home in Passumpsic, Vermont needs major repairs including mold remediation, deep cleaning, debris removal, replacing the water heater and furnace, repairing the foundation and retaining wall, and replacing eroded soil.
“There is a mountain of work to do and much to be fixed, but it will get done,” Pratt said, noting he has already experienced the love and compassion of people, some of whom he knows and some he doesn’t.
A group from Team Rubicon aided in the start of his recovery process. The team of six poured over his home, working to restore some sense of order.
“They are six of the finest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Pratt said.
Friends and neighbors pitched in while financial donations began coming in through his GoFundMe page.
“It leaves me in awe,” Pratt said. “Sometimes when we think things are at their darkest, the darkness reveals the beauty of the stars. I’m seeing more and more stars as people continue to show support and compassion. I’ve always soldiered on through life on my own strength, but now I see the power and beauty of giving and receiving, and they’re the same thing. I just accept it all as grace.”
He said this time in his life has shown him everyone needs to cherish what they have and take nothing for granted, and that includes the people around who love and care for one another.
As Pratt scanned an enormous pile of his belongings that were now piled in his yard, waiting to be hauled away, he picked up a piece of paper. He said he was ready to wad it up and toss it on the ever-growing pile of rubbish, but something told him to take a second look.
“It was a poem I’d saved,” Pratt said. “I shivered when I read it. It’s a poem from the elders of the Hopi Nation.”
The poem reads, “There is a river flowing very fast. It is so great and swift that there will be those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water. See who is there with you and celebrate. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
Pratt said those words touched his heart because he was the one clinging to the shore, and he was the one who came to realize the power of people is as mighty as the powers of that water that changed his life that night.
If Mr. Pratt has touched your life as a teacher, mentor or friend or if you simply understand the suffering and would like to help, visit the aforementioned GoFundMe page, where you can read the entirety of his story and the steps into this new chapter in his life.