First Christian Church of Carthage

On our third trip to the New Orleans Area in response to the Hurricane Katrina, we had hoped
to see a marked improvement in the area. We worked our first two trips in Slidell and were
going further south into New Orleans this trip. Our previous groups had toured thru the area of
St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9^th Ward on both earlier trips and would be working in the
parish on this trip. The St. Bernard project, www.stbernardproject.org , which we worked for on
this trip, is a non-faith based non-profit organization which has built over 100 homes with nearly
5000 volunteers in the last 18 months. Unfortunately, there are 27,000 homes in the St. Bernard
parish, nearly all of which were damaged during the storm. The communities were close-knit,
blue collar families with deep roots in the area. Most homes are brick, one story middle class
dwellings. The estimate is 5 to 10% of the homes have been rebuilt so far and 10 to 15 years
more work will be needed if the groups keep coming. Faith based work groups have moved the
recovery process ahead at least 5 years according to one FEMA report widely discussed in the
area.

Our group of 8, 5 returning and 3 first timers, stayed at the Disciples church in Metairie, La. ,
about 20 miles across town from the work site in Meraux, LA. The church facility was wonderful.
It included a gym area, several classrooms that could be used for sleeping, a kitchen, and two
bathroom/shower rooms off the gym. There was a washer and dryer available if needed. The
church members hosted a pot luck dinner on Tuesday evening with about 30 of the members
sharing the evening discussion with our group. They were all vocally appreciative of our willing-
ness to come and help out in their community, a feeling received from nearly everyone we met
on the street, in restaurants, and in stores. Our group spent one evening shopping in the French
Quarter, celebrating a birthday with a wonderful meal beside the Mississippi river.

We worked on the home of Robert DeShazo putting up drywall on the ceiling and walls. The two
AMCOR volunteers who work for the St. Bernard Project and directed our work were a delight.
Kathleen and Alexis were humorous and hard working, helping to keep everyone active as the
work progressed. More material arrived nearly every day as our group put up ceilings and walls
in several rooms at the same time. We even got to start mudding and taping joints the last day
we worked. The home owner was kind enough to cook us lunch two days to show his appreciation
of what we were doing for him.

For those returning members of our group, we could pick up isolated areas of improvement –
2 or 3 rebuilt houses in the barren Lower 9^th ward, more businesses starting to open, the faint
sounds of some children. Yet a place setting of dishes still sits on the front step of an empty church,
unmoved in over a year. The block after block of swept bare land in the lower 9^th wars and the empty
shells in the St Bernard Parish are a shocking reminder of lives still disrupted, of people displaced,
and of our need to respond with God’s love to the continuing need of our sisters and brothers.

Mark Rupe, Carthage FCC

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