Groups from Albuquerque and Livermore donate months of work.
SLFCU members have responded to the four storms that devastated the Gulf Region during the past four years by making long term commitments to rebuild homes and give hope to the citizens of the area. The retired Sandians belong to teams from many faith communities that are donating their time and talents in multi-year commitments.
B. D. and Lou Ann Shafer work on a tiling project in New Orleans.
Members B.D. and Lou Ann Shafer worked in New Orleans for one week of each of the last three years with teams from Church of the Good Shepherd, United Church of Christ, Albuquerque. Member Shirley Coppage went to New Orleans with them in April 2010. Two other church members spent the entire summer of 2009 rebuilding homes in Mississippi. Good Shepherd raises money for volunteers to pay for some expenses if needed.
Lou Ann says that the experience is especially gratifying because volunteers are able to meet the people whose homes they rebuild. “This year we worked on a house for a mother with two children. We hung doors, installed trim, painted and laid hardy board for tiling. And, unlike some years, the weather in April was a cool 75 degrees… really perfect.”
SLFCU Members John Van Scyoc, Roger Everett,
Anton West, Bill Hoover, Alec Willis, and Tim Evans
traveled from Livermore to New Orleans in April 2010.
The American flag behind them weathered Hurricane
Katrina.
Alec Willis, a former SLFCU board member from Livermore, CA, joined a team of 13 volunteers, six of whom are retired Sandians. The six have donated a total of 24 weeks during the past four years. Alec has worked in New Orleans five times while Roger Everett, also a retired Sandian, has made eight trips. The team is comprised of members of four different churches but works through United Methodist Church Disaster Response, Inc. “Our per person expenses including airfare from Oakland usually total $500 to $600 per trip,” says Alec.
“During our last trip, we rebuilt homes in Slidell, to the northeast of New Orleans. We installed countertops, toilets, water heaters and siding and painted doors. People have the impression that New Orleans is rebuilt. That is absolutely untrue. The lower ninth ward is still a mass of crumpled sidewalks and empty lots. Elsewhere, there are blue tarps on houses that haven’t been touched. There’s a great deal of work still to do and we intend to keep returning. New Orleans needs all the help it can get.”
Teams come from all over the United States. Coordinating groups receive no federal funding. Volunteers pay for their airfares to New Orleans and for their own food. They stay in dormitory-like accommodations in local churches and often cook their own meals in church kitchens. Tools and materials are provided by the organizing church group. Coordinators meet every morning with each team to give them their assignments, which vary from day to day.
Volunteer opportunities continue to grow. If you want to help in the re-building effort, please contact the volunteer coordinator at your local faith community or one of the disaster reconstruction ministries listed below. Clean-up of the recent oil spill is also already under way. If you would like to help clean up the oil spill, please visit
www.volunteerlouisiana.gov.
New Orleans Reconstruction Web LinksUnited Church of Christ Rebuilding New Orleans
http://www.ucc.org/volunteer/disaster-recovery-volunteerThe Louisiana Methodist Disaster Response Ministry funded by UMCOR
http://www.laumcstormrelief.comLouisiana Baptist Convention: Louisiana Katrina Rebuild Volunteers:
http://www.lbc.org/BaptistBuilders/Default.aspx?id=4284
