You can never have too much HOPE!

Over the Holiday Break I had the wonderful opportunity to stay in Saint Bernard Parish, LA at Camp Hope. Camp Hope is an old school that is in need of repair before students can come back. In the meantime, the school is used as housing for volunteers. While staying, I met a lot of wonderful people and ate very good food. Camp Hope and the people I met will always have a special place in my heart.

NOLA

I do not even think I can begin to describe the heartbreaking destruction that is everywhere in the New Orleans area. You can drive for miles and see abandoned houses and shopping centers. Street signs are rare and so are working traffic lights. Really, you just have to be here to understand. The picture with the X: Each quadrant stands for something. One part is the organization that searched the house, the date it was looked at, and the number of bodies found. Fortunately no bodies were found in this building. Had bodies of people been found there would be a number where the zero is. If animal bodies are found it would also be written. The picture of the trailer park is one picture of many FEMA trailer parks. Some of the trailers have running water and electricity but many do not. Imagine having a family of four people living in those conditions for two years. The other pictures show the general destruction that can still be found. Some houses have special instructions written on the outside. Do not touch could be on the outside for many reasons. Most likely the house is toxic from mold. The remainder are pictures that I thought were interesting.

ISPs

In addition to our normal service hours, we have to do Individual Service Projects. One of our projects is volunteering at the Humane Society.

A LOT of FUN!

When we are not working, we are having fun. We love Dixie Dance Hall, but we can find fun anywhere!

A Little Work

Here are some pictures of us working. I do not think I can describe how great it is to be doing what we are doing. We are building houses for people who have been living in FEMA trailers for years. These houses will make great Christmas presents for the families that will be moving into the homes. The team has experienced nothing but great gratitude from the homeowners. The people we are building the houses for and with have truly made it a wonderful experience.

Things I See On The Drive To Work

Every morning, my team and I drive from Port Arthur to Sabine Pass to work on houses. This is what we see every morning. Lucky for you, you can't smell what we have to smell every morning. Several of these places are oil refineries, among other things.

In The Van

HOTEL rANdOMNESS