Putting a Face to the Pictures

Thought of the Day:

Today while we were working at our resident's house, their neighbors came by to introduce themselves and thank us for coming down. At that moment I went from just pulling nails out of the wood to helping someone take a step closer towards moving back into their home.

March 12th and 13th:

We left Gann at 3pm and finally arrived to the Marquette House at 2am local time. Despite the time, everyone was in high spirits and the energy level was not what you would expect for the time of day.

It was a short night’s rest as the group needed to be to Lowernine’s volunteer center by 8:30am. So with around 5 hours of sleep, the group was up and ready to get to work. Our first day of volunteering took us to New Orlean’s Lower 9^th Ward. The area was completely devastated by the flooding and 4 years late only 15%-20% of the residents have moved back into their homes. With many of the residents lacking the necessary funds to buy supplies or pay contractors, it has become the responsibility of long-term volunteers, short term volunteers, and numerous non-profit organizations to help the residents return to their home.

Today’s work had Gann students do demolition, prepare a house for mold remediation, and lay and grout tile. Due to Shabbat it was a short work day, but we are excited to spend Shabbat with the Jewish community in Metairie. We are thankful for the community inviting us into their homes for Shabbat and for putting together a special program with their youth group.

Shabbat Shalom from balmy New Orleans!