UMCOR Bright Spots

IN TODAY’S ISSUE
April 17, 2008

Southeast Recovery Center Continues to Respond to "Great Need"
United Methodists Are "Doing It Right"
This Week's Quote
Recovery Stats
College Students Spend Spring Break...(slide show)

SOUTHEAST RECOVERY CENTER CONTINUES TO RESPOND TO "GREAT NEED”

By Susan J. Meister, Domestic Disaster Response Correspondent

Homeowners in New Orleans know that Leonard Carter cares about them and their homes being rebuilt. Volunteers who stay at Peoples Community Center in Uptown New Orleans quickly learn that Mr. Carter values them too.

Carter provides each team with a comprehensive packet of information, carefully specifies the work that needs to be done at each home, and makes sure the volunteers have the tools they need. He points proudly to a map that shows volunteers have traveled to New Orleans from all over the world, including France, Russia, South Africa, and Thailand. Carter, a retired Air Force veteran and native of New Orleans, is passionate about helping his fellow citizens reclaim their lives.

“When Joe Burke [Operations Manager] recruited me for this job, I couldn’t believe that they were going to pay me,” he laughed.

Carter is one of four project managers at the Southeast Recovery Center of the Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Recovery Ministry. He is part of the 25-person staff that recently relocated to a new site in New Orleans East, consolidating four offices – Eastbank, Northshore/Slidell, Uptown and Westbank. Case managers and construction staff work side-by-side to process cases and provide materials and labor to rebuild homes and lives.

Homeowners see God in the work of the volunteers

Mr. Jeffrey holds one of the pieces of sheet rock signed by volunteers who worked on his home in New Orleans. Photo by Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

Mr. Jeffrey is anxiously awaiting the final “walk through” by his site and case manager, Abby McMurry, so that he can begin to move furniture into his house in the Lake Barrington area. During the rebuilding, he would come home from his night shift as a criminal sheriff in Orleans Parish, sleep a couple of hours, and work with the volunteers.

“Look at this,” Mr. Jeffrey said, pointing to one of the several pieces of sheet rock that have been signed by volunteer groups who have worked on his home. “It says, ‘I came down to help with rebuilding, and I was rebuilt.’

“I’m going to frame these and put them up in my den,” he smiled. “I know God was here with these angels from all over the country.”

Miss Earlean, a professional seamstress, received assistance in not only rebuilding her home but also her studio behind the house. “She is one of the ‘lost’ of the least, lost and last that we serve,” explained Carter. Miss Earlean was so anxious to get her house repaired after Hurricane Katrina that she signed on with unscrupulous contractors who took all her Road Home money and left after doing virtually no work. Her case manager helped her to document the loss and file a complaint. Miss Earlean was then included as a client with the Disaster Recovery Ministry.

"Need is so great"

Miss Earlean is able to do business again in her rebuilt studio behind her home in Uptown New Orleans Photo by Susan J. Meister/UMCOR

Despite the fact that the new office of the Southeast Recovery Center was not yet identified with a sign in early March, persons continually stopped by looking for help. Clients already on the list called to check when volunteers would arrive. “The need is so great,” explained Curtiss Eden, retired United Methodist pastor who helps as an administrative assistant. “We’ll get to you, honey,” she told an anxious homeowner on the phone.

And even with over 1,100 open cases in their portfolio, the Southeast Recovery Center is still open to families in need. During a visit to Mr. Jeffrey’s father’s home in Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans, Leonard Carter was distributing pink flyers with the address and phone number of the new office. “The United Methodists of Louisiana care about you!” the flyers declare.

To help the continuing effort to rebuild from the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, contact the Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Recovery Ministry or other volunteer centers along the Gulf Coast.

For more on the United Methodist recovery work visit these web sites: