Jennifer O’Connor sits on a cot at the Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock. Her dog, Lady Bug, right there by her side. In a box next to her cot, all the material possession that’s left after a devastating tornado destroyed her Jacksonville apartment.

“I actually saw the tornado in front of me as it crossed over the highway, into Little Rock and right over Jacksonville,” said Jennifer. “I found out the next day that the apartments were destroyed.”

Jennifer moved to Jacksonville from Texas last year. She doesn’t have family in the area and didn’t have anywhere to go. So, she sought refuge at a Red Cross shelter. It was there, she says, she met people that feel like family.

“When I first got here, the shelter workers came and gave me a hug,” said Jennifer. “Before they even asked me my name, I was welcomed with a hug, and it was just comforting and beautiful.”

After the storms, the Red Cross set up a shelter in Little Rock and supported community shelters in Wynne and Jacksonville. The shelters were not only a warm place for people to stay, but where they could get a hot meal, water, and snacks.

For Jennifer, she was welcomed in with open arms and found friends that have become family.

“It actually feels like these people are my family, they are the most beautiful Christian people that I think I’ve ever met,” said Jennifer.  “They’re true living saints, all of them, role models as to how everyone should live. I love them all.”