What does the creation story mean to the people who believe in it?

Assuming you are talking about The Bible creation story fround in the first 2 chapters of Genesis: It may mean a number of different things.

One thing it often means is ridicule - "You don't believe that do you?" And it may be less obvious, in that people will automatically discount the intelligence of a person who believes that stuff, since 'we know' and 'science has proved' that the creation story didn't happen.

Secondly, it may mean that an intimidated person will seek to re-interpret the creation account to make it fit with modern science. This will of course make it mean something different than what it clearly says, in context.

Thirdly, it may lead to confidence that the Bible is true from the very first verse. This is so because of the large amount of hard scientific evidence on this very issue, which favours belief in creation. Of course belief preceded the evidence and it is generally the very same evidence which evolutionists use to support their theory. The difference is the way the evidence is interpreted.