Something Special - Valuable Lessons from our Trip to New Orleans

I knew when I saw the notice in the Vanderbilt church bulletin about the work trip to New Orleans that this sounded like something special, and it was. This was my first trip to New Orleans. The leaders from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance made sure we got a taste of everything: Descriptions of little known Mardi Gras traditions, the French Quarter, the levy systems, the poor devastated neighborhoods where the homes look like Katrina hit yesterday, the new and very different looking Brad Pitt "green building" homes, the Caribbean looking Habitat homes where only musicians live, the beautiful garden district of the well to do. The education put into context what we were doing for the individual families we were helping and how it fit into the greater rebuilding process. My 17 year old son, Alex, was not too happy at the thought of working in the summer conditions. I think all of us perspired and drank more water than we ever had, but, Alex saw the difference we were making. He knows how much the families appreciate that we did a better job for them for free, than the fraudulent paid contractors did. It was also a demonstration of "let the buyer beware." Valuable lessons for anyone, but especially a teenager. Thanks to Katie and Matt for organizing the trip and to the eight other volunteers who made this the highlight of my summer. ~Laura Marzano

Wed. in New Orleans

Tuesday night we drove in to the city for dessert and a quick walk around. Tap dancers made a backdrop to an interesting walk along the busy streets.
Wednesday, a very hot day, heat index at 115, was taken in stride with constant reminders to drink plenty of water.
The Spain house group , waiting on building supplies, took a short city tour with guide Alex. Starting in the Lower Ninth Ward, we visited the Musicians village,The Brad Pitt housing area, and several levies. the Brad Pitt houses are really different . Back to the house by 10:00, we cleared trash,unloaded building supplies, finished building the garage door, started the shelving project and washed the dog!(thanks to Skip and Mary Beth for taking on that project) Our house owner was joyful that after 3 years she slept in her bed in her house for the first time last night, thanks to our work on Monday and Tuesday. We talked about the hole in the roof where people cut a hole to get her out after 3 days in the attic.She made us bags of ice to hold on our heads as we worked, and each day shares a bit more of her Katrina story. To say she is a survivor is putting it mildly.
Our other group continued to measure, cut, and put up dry wall in a house with crooked walls. They are doing the entire home.
Tonight we are excited about an authentic New Orleans Gumbo supper prepared by a friend of the Olive Tree Camp. We all take turns cooking all the meals here so it is a treat to have the night off.

Thanks for reading,
Francie Stephan

Cafe Du Monde

Photos of DownTown New Orleans

The Work on Claiborne Ave.......

Margaret has owned her 95 year old home in New Orleans for 21 years. She was at home when Hurricane Katrina blew through. She lost part of her roof in the storm and the flood filled her basement with 7 feet of water. She had to leave New Orleans for a time but returned with the hope of fixing the problems and getting life back to normal. Almost 5 years after Katrina, she still lives in a FEMA Katrina Trailer parked in her front yard. The contractor hired (and paid) to repair her roof did not properly do the work and only last week were the leaks finally stopped.



Project Homecoming is a project of South Louisiana Presbytery. http://www.projecthomecoming.net. Together with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, they are working with the poor, disabled and elderly to repair storm damaged houses and help people move home again. At Margaret’s home, Project Homecoming volunteers have torn out damaged plaster ceilings and repaired ceiling joists. This week, we are hanging sheet rock for the new ceilings.

Robin, Dave, Nancy, Alex

A Great Beginning

The group from Moorings/Vanderbilt/First Pres. Ft Myers had a safe 13 hour trip to New Orleans. We had a change to reconnect with old friends and to make some new friends. Sunday night we met up with new friends Laura and Alex at a local restaurant where 'po boys' were the fare of the night.
At Olive Tree we joined a group from Virginia and were given our work and camp duties.
After breakfast at 7:00 am we (Paul and Francie Stephan, Skip, Laura and I)were off to our worksite where we tore down drywall in a bathroom and did some cleaning and building for a women who was a victim of contractor fraud.
The other group from FL (Robin Doyle, David Granfield, Alex and Nancy) hung drywall on the ceiling.
We were all joined at camp by Jim Kirk where we cooked dinner, ate and enjoyed singing and a devotion.
After a long hot day working in the "Big Easy" a great nights sleep will make a great ending to a terrific first day.
Thank you all for your prayers and support,
Mary Beth and crew!

We are here................

We made it, just over 12 hours on the road 4 drivers and 2 gas stops and two food stops. Marybeth drove through the worst of the rain and traffic. We arrived at 5:30. Checked into our rooms and got some dinner and are getting ready to meet.