I am not much of a writer but everyone seems to want to know what is going on so I will make an attempt. I tried to send this on Wednesday but my battery went dead before it was sent. Welcome to Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans, LA. The housing site of the Brethren Disaster Ministries site is a few hundred yards from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans but is in St. Bernard Parish, outside of the city. The area was under 14 feet of water for about two weeks from Hurricane Katrina and had every building destroyed. I heard that this is the first time that an entire county, or Parish, had been devastated by a natural disaster. There was not a single business, church, or home that was not affected, although I heard that there were three houses that were built on pilings high enough that they were livable after the hurricane, although there was no electricity, sewer or water. The city is finally making some noticeable gains on what is an almost complete devastation. Daily you can see new building and people working to bring things back. St. Bernard parish is a little more affluent than the 9th ward so more houses were structurally intact after the flood. The ninth ward is starting to come back too but less so than here where probably 10% of the homes are at a point nearing habitation. New signs of infrastructure are showing all around, now 2 1/2 years after the storm. In the last couple of days the street department has been putting up street signs, for the first time. The sewers have finally been cleaned out. All the silt from the flood ended up in the sewers and they were completely clogged. It is amazing that nature seems to have bounced back faster. Grass survived, trees, bushes, birds, worms, bugs, all seem to be as they were before, going on with life.

We are working on several houses, basically rebuilding them from the inside out. Outside walls, siding, brickwork, tile floors, all seem to have survived but everything else had to be replaced: drywall, electrical wiring, insulation, flooring (other than ceramic tile), appliances, furniture, telephone. People are eager to get back into their houses but there is a waiting list for things like windows, etc. With the recent money crunch many who have finally received the building permits to rebuild are finding themselves unable to get a loan to actually build. The drywall down here is 50% more expensive than up north (down from 200%) and comes from China. It is a very poor quality material and hard to work with. People are being ripped off by unscrupulous con artists and there is a real lack of volunteer labor to help those that simply cannot afford to hire people to rebuild their homes and lives.

We are housed in trailers on the parking lot of what was once a park office. We have been fixing a kitchen in a nearby Presbyterian church so we will finally have a place to cook suppers rather than drive 30 miles to Camp Hope, a housing location for Habitat that feeds several hundred volunteers a night (definitely sub-par). They are supposed to bring down a semi trailer next week that has been converted into a dormitory and a shower trailer and hopes are to eventually be able to take up to 40 volunteers here. The work is here but housing has limited what can be done. There are thousands of volunteers here in the area but many more are needed. Right now the Church of the Brethren Disaster Ministries seems to be having a hard time getting enough volunteers on a weekly basis. We have 8 this week of the 15 we can handle now. Next week we have a full group coming. Our business is getting people back into their homes. New update, the kitchen is complete and we have had our last two evening meals there. It is a great change to be able to fellowship over the meal rather than share that time with hundreds of other volunteers at Camp Hope.

I am attaching a couple shots of the area around the housing site. It gives you an idea of how much is still to be done. Estimates are that there are 20-25,000 people here of the 66,000 that were here before Katrina. Many businesses have not returned. Walmart says they will come back when they reach 30,000. Only 5 of 16 schools are open. The Pepsico group (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken) have left and do not plan on returning. The only building supply is Home Depot and it is only stocked with basic building materials, nothing high end and often they are out of essential materials. It is hard for people to rebuild when they may be the only ones on their block that are there (The rest are vacant lots)but building is continuing and even though probably only 2 percent of the people are actually back in their homes, more are going up every day. Most of the delays have been government and material problems.

Another project that we have been working on is preparing the infrastructure for the new housing. In addition to that we are taking on three trailers from the St. Bernard Project workers and a Trailer that has been sent to us from the Parish office for one of their workers. Since there was only one empty site where we are, we have been working on running new electricity, water, and sewer to spaces so that we can squeeze the four more trailers in. In three or four weeks we will have the dorm and shower trailers as well. I have been working on this project along with my training and I think that tomorrow (Saturday) I will be running new sewer lines to 5 or 6 trailers and figuring out how to get water to 16 trailers and a shower trailer on a 3/4 inch line. Today we ran the electricity for new 30 amp trailer circuits and the conduit for the shower trailer.

Next week I think they are going to have me do orientation, the financial books, and maybe negotiate some additional utilities and other compensation from the Parish. Things are going full steam. On a personal note, Cassie is enjoying the warm weather, daily walks, and doggy bags. She has been at the top of her form.

Tomorrow is a very busy day so I had better sign off. I hope to be shorter and maybe more often as time goes on. I really need a phone card for the computer so I can get on line from the park but that will have to wait for another time.

Continue to keep the people here in your prayers as they struggle to rebuild after such total destruction of such a large area. Also keep in prayers, the people who take the time to come and help those who try to go on with their lives in spite of having lost everything.

Yours in Peace

Steve

Hello to all again,

Well, we are making the news. Last weeks volunteers got in a shot that USA Today did of the volunteer effort down here and John and Mary Mueller, who are training me, were part of the lead. The link to the article is (click here). The photographer spent the morning with us but I kept a low profile, continuing the work while John posed for the camera. It is amazing to see all of the work that is going on down here. One of the problems is that the rebuilding needs to be done so that there is quality in the neighborhoods, not just places to live. There are a number of companies that are manufacturing modular homes that can be brought in and placed on a foundation or pilings in one day and are ready to move in with in a couple of days. They are fairly affordable and I think look nice but there is an objection to them because some think they bring property values of the historic and traditional houses down. At the same time I think that a full city block with nothing but slabs and driveways and FEMA trailers on them cannot be too good for property values either, but many people are looking at the long range values.

Odds and ends.

In St. Bernard Parish alone, if one house were to be rebuilt every day, it would take 74 years to rebuild all of the houses that were destroyed. Imagine that all of Allen County (and parts of the surrounding counties) was under water with every house, every hotel, every building, every store, damaged or destroyed. For a month there was no electricity, no water, no sewer. All of your things were destroyed and so were all of those of your friends and neighbors and two and a half years later you were living in a travel trailer (not a double wide or a mobile home) with your spouse, thee kids and pets. Only one in 20 businesses (or less) were open. The nearest big box store was thirty miles away (remember, you are living in a city not in the country). There are only two grocery stores open. Only one home supply store that only stocked a limited line of the basics and often was out of what you needed. You were put on a list for rebuilding but told it could be another two or three or four years before the people would get to your house. Jobs were scarce and paid poorly. But this is where home had been for you and your family for the past 10 generations. Some might leave, but go where? Picking up and moving to another city or another state is not that easy unless you have skills to market or know someone there. Many people here have neither or are disabled or elderly.

We are working on a man's house who was only flooded in the downstairs so his upstairs is still livable. His ancestors came here via the Caribbean islands on a grant from Spain in the 1700's. He was disabled before Katrina when he fell off his roof while working on his house and crushed his hip. Two of his children who had lived near him have moved to other cities, and a third is in the closest Hospital which is a 45 minute drive away. He is so very thankful to have someone help put his house and his life back together but so sad that his family is no longer near him. A gracious old man but part of the spirit of the people here. They are not bitter and for the most part not depressed. They are just working to rebuild their lives and their community.

Another lady is living with her young son and her parents and supporting them. Her house was in the path of the oil spill from the tank at Murphy Oil that was pushed off it's foundation by the levy break and ruptured, contaminating many homes and businesses. She has bought another house that was destroyed by water but not by oil and we are getting her back into it. Another man who we are working on his house buys Wendy's cards for each volunteer to treat them to lunch. There is not much else he can do to say thanks. He and his son spent two days on their roof after Katrina waiting to be rescued. Five boats went by but would not take them because his son had rescued their Chihuahua and had it under his shirt but they would not take dogs into the boat. They were then taken to the roof of the Junior High which was higher and larger and they waited two days there with a bunch of other people before they were finally rescued and taken to a center. Four days on roofs with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

The work is large and the need is great, but the gratitude is even greater. This is a resilient, joyous town. There are some bad stories too, but mostly about people who have come here to take what little these people have. We have heard of many people who have been fleeced by unscrupulous people who take their money up front and do no work or who sell them materials only to come in later and steal them to sell to someone else. These are not local people but those who say they are coming to help but do not. There is theft and violence here but most of the violence is city violence that was here before and the theft is no different than any other place where people with out scruples take advantage of those in need or those who are trusting.

I must go for now but will try to share pictures soon. I really have been too busy to take many, maybe this weekend. We have some good news that a house three blocks away may soon be available for us to rehab and use for housing and a center. It is really interesting being here during this transition. If only my house were done and sold I think I would stay here and help for a while longer. That time will come and the need will still be here or somewhere.

Yours in Peace,

Steve