Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?

Over the last two years, Global Hope has exhausted itself forming an organization that offers service to the underserved.  Planning events, recruiting volunteers, raising money and organizing service trips have been our primary focus. In our early stages, we repaired lives by replacing things: railings, fences, windows and walls, carports, sheds, roofs and entire homes.  Now, after two years of hard work and several service trips, I feel as though I am the one who has been rescued.

We live in a society that is driven by consumerism.  We spend much of our time collecting things hoping they will make us happy.  It seems like we identify who we are with what we have.

Here is what I’ve discovered: Katrina, so brutal, left behind only the spirit to carry on, and the willingness to  receive help from those who care.  When all that we know has been washed away, the soul emerges. Where you expect to find defeat, there lies aliveness; this ebb and flow is what brings us back to the nature of our existence.  When faced with nothing, we begin to draw from that which we’ve always known — compassion, sensitivity, ingenuity, determination, and the strength to carry on.  It is no longer so much about what the people of New Orleans have lost, or what we’ve come to replace, but more likely that man has something to give even when he has nothing left to give. This is how broken lives heal.  Those who suffered are my teachers.

Peace, Love & Po Boys,

– Naureen Loftus

 

“Your names and faces are engraved in our hearts” — Laura Patterson

I probably won’t see you before you leave town and I wanted to give you some idea of just what you, everyone else and Global Hope has done for us (not to mention Davida, wonderful Davida!).  I have never been comfortable around people.  I write pretty well but I tend to hang my head and shuffle my feet in person.  Pat grew up with a wonderful family (I compare them to the Walton’s); my life was a struggle until I met Pat.  My childhood was a horror but that’s as far as I’ll go with that.  The last 38 years have been happy ones and we’ve been blessed a lot.

I don’t trust easily and I am one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” people.  I never know what to say or do in person and I always worry that I didn’t say or do enough to let people know how I really felt.  Just like the folks that opened their home to us during Katrina, or the ones that helped us rebuild our kitchen and so many other things, our really good neighbors…its somewhat unreal to have people you don’t know spend four days with you, ask for nothing, fix everything that you have been struggling with for almost five years, be happy doing it, add to it things you only “wished” for and then leave as unceremoniously as they arrived.

It will take awhile for me to “believe” everything that has happened in the last four days.  I am sort of in shock.  When Pat asked me why I told him, “Because I am still not used to people being kind just for the sake of being kind” (except for him).  Though, since Katrina, I have gotten a little better at not being so proud and have learned that accepting help is not a “fault” in your character.

I keep looking out the back window at my new ramp and little porch because I keep expecting it not to be there…I am still stepping over the “missing flooring” because I have done so for so long.  I know I have new front steps but I can’t yet comprehend that they’re mine and I can keep them.  I can’t explain how frightening it is not to be surefooted and try to maneuver unsure steps but not want to have to be assisted.

You all have done in four days what it would have taken us a year or more to accomplish…not to mention saving us tons of Band-Aids and Tylenol because we are not as swift or surefooted as we once were and tend to “mess up” more than “get it right” these days.

I’m sure when Jerry fixed our wall sockets he was thinking of it as a “wall socket” and not that he was removing a fear I’ve taken to bed with me nightly…tell Jerry I haven’t slept that soundly in years.  Just not having an extension cord stretched across a room is such a pleasure to our eyes!  And to look up and not see ugly stains on a ceiling I have to look at daily!

I’m sure John thinks he’s  just a good carpenter (he is an amazing carpenter!  And he has so many amazing years ahead of him!), and Teddy and Dickie are just “doing what they’re supposed to be doing” and think they “just built a nice ramp” they don’t see themselves as Angels that have given me access to a washer and dryer and a yard I really haven’t seen without help for years and a place to sit where, I am sure, Pat and I will spend many happy hours.  I can sit in the evening once again and smell my lillies when they open after the sun sets…its an amazing scent!  And watching Lola rip out those nails and work her (rather small) butt off…I wanted to grab her and hug her but I couldn’t.  It was frustrating…I wanted a brass band or something to be playing!  You probably don’t think of yourself as an Angel either (Davida has a problem with that too) but you are because it’s the so called “small things” that become so dear when you can either no longer do them, afford them or have to watch someone you love struggle to do them for you and you, Angel that you are, granted our “small things” and have given me back a large part of my life and self respect and taken a huge burden off of Pat.  Our home is a “home” again instead of a constant reminder of our limitations.  “Thank you” is not enough…all I can say is when I go to heaven someday (hopefully) I am going to bend God’s ear about each and every one of you.  You are all Angels, every one.  We’ll never forget any of you…your names and faces are engraved in our hearts and we will smile widely when we think of you.  Please…come visit whenever you all are here doing your heavenly work…and forgive me if I hang my head and shuffle…I really will be glad to see you.

Thank you, bless you and thank you.

Laura, Pat & Birdie

 

Give, Live, Love

All the Global Hope volunteers have returned safe and sound; despite the crippling ice storms that blew through the middle of the country.  We thank all of you for your contributions that ranged from ace roofing skills to helping with laundry at the firehouse and everything in between.  Because of your big hearts, can-do attitudes and great skills, here’s what we accomplished:

1.  Installed a handicap ramp and front steps, repaired drywall, flooring and electric at Laura & Pat Patterson’s home.

2.  Painted a living & dining room, repaired a door, installed & painted exterior trim, repaired interior trim, repaired three gates and painted a chain link fence, planted a garden and flower boxes at Reverend & Julia Adam’s home.

3.  Assessed the St. Claude house and determine it was not fit to roof

4.  Repaired a flat roof, roof on shed, flashing, painted fence and ramp at the Gettridge’s home

5.  Replaced the shingles on the Common Ground Volunteer house

6.  Provided 1200 sq. ft. of attic insulation and paint for the Tolliver’s home

7.  Built a new attic hatch and bathroom window trim for Dolores’s home

8.  Repaired roof and cleaned out and boarded up the William’s home

9.  Repaired gutter and flashing at Wes & Anne’s house.

Some of you had more homeowner contact than others.  Often you were working at homes of people you will never get a chance to talk to or meet (especially you roofers) and it is hard to know the immeasurable impact of your service.

What you do feeds people physically, financially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Mary Lothrop

Courtesy of Porche West Studios

 

Don’t Shoot the Messenger!

Global Hope has mainly recruited volunteers to help with the physical rebuilding of homes in New Orleans.  We have focused on forming teams that would contribute to the area by offering skills in various types of labor.  Due to our success, Global Hope has developed a reputation for getting things done and continues to come up with new and improved ways to serve.

We have recently recruited Jen Williams to assist with our new blog.  As a writer and a designer, she brings with her the passion to bring the rebuild story of New Orleans to our viewers.  With her natural eye for a good photo, Jen has the ability to arrange images in such a way that they tell their own story.  Thanks To Jen for all of her behind-the-scenes-hard work and her dedication to Global Hope.

 

Chuck Perkins

As our dedicated volunteers gave their time and resources to the people of New Orleans, the people of New Orleans opened their hearts back to us.  Chuck Perkins, poet and musician, helped Naureen create a special evening on our last night — delivering the message of Katrina to those that have not lived it.  Speaking emotion with music and inspiring hearts with prose, Chuck gave us a thought provoking night of celebration, truth and hope.  By reciting poetry (and encouraging us to participate), telling jokes and singing songs, Chuck Perkins blurred the division between a performer and his audience: by the end of the night, we all felt like family.

We Ain’t Dead Yet, written and performed by Chuck Perkins

 

Julia’s Creole Kitchen

A mother of six, Julia Adams is no stranger to giving. She has spent much of her life forming a family and raising a church. Two years prior to Katrina, she and her neighbors spent their weekends delivering boxed sandwiches and cakes to the homeless under bridges. Although Hurricane Katrina left Reverend and Julia Adams without a church and extremely limited resources, she continues to give. During our service trip, Julia fed 25 of our volunteers for two days with gumbo, baked chicken, catfish, cornbread quiche, po’boys, rice and beans, pralines, bread pudding, sweet tea, and above all, down-home southern hospitality.

Thank you Julia Adams; whenever we eat gumbo, we will think of you!

Julia takes nurturing to another level

Julia’s Pralines

16 oz pecans or walnuts

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon of butter

Brown wax paper

Toast pecans and set aside. In a heavy pot, using a wooden spoon, stir together the sugars and cream for about 15 minutes. Stay with it – do not burn. When the sugar comes away from the pot, drop in a tablespoon of butter. Test a little bit of the mixture in a cup of cold water and make a ball with it. If it forms, it’s ready. If it’s runny, it’s not. After you determine the right consistency, dump pecans into the mixture, stirring to coat the pecans. Form the pecans into small, teaspoon sized balls and drop them on the wax paper. Makes 24 servings.

 

Light At the End of the Tunnel

Deloris lives in a small shotgun house in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward.  Like many folks, she paid into her insurance premiums for 25 years, but was unprepared for the sheer volume of destruction that she encountered after Hurricane Katrina.  She was even more unprepared when she discovered, like many homeowners in the area, that her payout was next to nothing.   Where do you begin?  Her brand new deck had been slammed into a neighbor’s house a block away.  Her home had four feet of water above the first floor — she lost everything.

Deloris has been depending on the help of others to rebuild her home.  She has spent countless hours and much of her own money to make her house a home again.   Three and a half years later she is finally nearing completion.  As one of the finishing touches, Pat and Ed L. designed, built and installed a new attic hatch with trim.  They also installed new trim surrounding the bathroom window.

“They did such a good job, I was really pleased.  I am so grateful to all of you; and especially to Pat and Ed.  I appreciate all of the work you do, but it is especially nice when it is done for me.  I cannot thank them enough.”  — Deloris

 

Humanity Among the Rubble

Since Katrina, the owner of this house on St. Claude has been relocated to another state.  Earlier in January, Dickie met with him and they spoke about their concerns regarding the condition of his home.  The home looked abandoned, and as a result, became a target for squatters and thieves in the area.  Dickie, our project manager, and his team cleared out the rubble that had washed in and sealed off the living quarters to prevent further theft and destruction.

Pat, Cindy, Ed L., Mary, Frank and Jen spent the day clearing out the rubble and securing the home

Knickerbocker Roofing and Paving Company went to work patching and repairing the roof.  This two-story house had a very steep roof and was difficult to navigate, however Mark, Norm and Steve met Naureen with big grins and warm greetings.

 

Love Is Also in the Little Things

Sometimes even the smallest things add up and can improve the day to day
living in someone’s life.  Due to the recent health problems that are slowing Reverend Adams down, he and his wife Julia have had trouble keeping up with their family home.  Global Hope was there to lend a helping hand.

Thanks to Pat Murphy and his crew; Ed L., Jack, Kristin, Ryan, Kyle, Kara, Mary L., Mary H., John D., Connie, Jen, Frank and Cindy, they were able to repair and repaint the entire cyclone fence in the back yard and the dining room ceiling.  Also, the screen door and three fence gates were repaired, a garden was planted in the yard and the planters outside were filled with fresh flowers.

 

Self Worth Is Built By Belief

Another important part of Global Hope’s effort is to continue to go out into the community and build bridges with others.  Naureen, Anna and Jen met with Caroline Heldman, who is the director of the New Orleans Women’s Shelter in the Lower 9th Ward.  Caroline’s primary focus is to empower homeless/battered women through education so that they can eventually support and take care of themselves.  The New Orleans Women’s Shelter provides counseling, financial training and child care support for residents and sports an independence rate that is twice as high as the city average.

When trying to put together the broken pieces of a shattered neighborhood, collaborating with other groups such as Caroline’s widens our reach and makes us stronger.  At our meeting, we discussed how to help people, in this case women, get out out of an abusive or unstable environment.  Through this discussion, we realized that although our volunteer efforts vary, we are not that different.  It is our mutual passion to give back and empower the people in New Orleans.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi