Brethren Disaster Response opens fourth Katrina recovery project.

Brethren Disaster Response has announced the opening of a fourth active Hurricane Katrina recovery project as of Feb. 11. This project will be based in Chalmette, La., in St. Bernard Parish. The three other Katrina recovery projects are located in Pearl River, La.; Lucedale, Miss.; and McComb, Miss. Disaster Child Care also is working at a FEMA “Welcome Home Center” in New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina caused levee failures that inundated homes throughout St. Bernard Parish with six to twenty feet of water for more than two weeks, reported Brethren Disaster Response coordinator Jane Yount. More than 200 parish residents lost their lives, and 100 percent of the homes were officially declared uninhabitable. Nearly 50 percent of the residents were senior citizens.

Brethren Disaster Response is coordinating efforts with the St. Bernard Project, a local all-volunteer organization. The city has taken care of demolishing houses and clearing debris. Volunteers will do major repair work including insulation, drywall, laminate flooring, plumbing, electric repairs, and roofing, to allow residents to get back into their homes.

The St. Bernard Project has obtained seven trailers on loan from FEMA for housing for the Brethren volunteers and project directors; trailers are located in a trailer community of Katrina survivors. Project directors who will open the project are Ken and LouElla Imhoff, with Phil and Joan Taylor assisting. The work crew for the first week will come from Mid-Atlantic District, and include members of the Executive Committee of the General Board.

For more about Brethren Disaster Response go to www.brethren.org/genbd/ersm/DisasterResponse.htm.

Source: 1/31/2007 Newsline