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Beacon News
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Oct. / Nov. 2009
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Dear Friend of the Beacon of Hope Resource Center,
What are you thankful for?
Here at the Beacon of Hope we are thankful for the 28,000 volunteers who have
volunteered with us over the last four years. They have enabled us
to help over 500 residents finish their homes, and replant over ten miles of
green space.
We are thankful for our 20 Beacon Administrators and the 750 residential
volunteers who make up our Beacon organization. With their help we have
reduced blight and crime, encouraged citizens to join together and hold local
government accountable, and turned devastated neighborhoods into safe, secure
and viable communities.
We are thankful for all of those who have donated to us. You are the lifeblood
of this agency.
Finally we are thankful for the fact that you opened this newsletter. By this
simple act, you prove that there are still people who realize that the city of
New Orleans has not yet come back completely, and want to help in some way.
Whether it's that in the future you come and volunteer with us, assist with a
project, or just send a donation, it means that there is still hope for the
neighborhoods emerging from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
You put the hope in the Beacon of Hope.
For all of this and more, we thank
you.
Beacon of Hope Resource Center
P.S. You can assist us by voting for us in The Chase Community Giving Contest. If everyone who opens this newsletter clicks here and votes for us we will be in the running for the top 100 non profits that will receive $25,000.00. You can even do this while under the influence
of the Tryptophan from your turkey dinner. Happy Turkey Day!
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THERE TRULY IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME
 The story begins when Prudence Grissom appeared
at the Filmore Beacon seeking assistance. For four years she had been
applying to various organizations to help her rebuild her home and
unfortunately, she didn't seem to meet any of the criteria necessary. A
single mother and teacher at UNO, Prudence had been living in a FEMA trailer
with her elderly mother and daughter. Prudence bought her home shortly
after the storm, investing her life savings. She was told by her realtor
that she would qualify for Road Home assistance, but that never materialized.
Prudence arrived during a United Way site visit and listened in, while waiting
for someone to help her. After the presentation, she was so moved that
she approached Denise Thornton, founder of the Beacon, and offered to volunteer
for our organization.
Taking first things first, Denise sat with Prudence to learn all that she could
about her situation. By an odd twist of fate the two discovered that the
home she purchased after Katrina was the very home Denise's son and his family
sold months after the storm. Denise's son Jared and his wife Effie were
in California with their infant daughter when Hurricane Katrina destroyed their
Gentilly home. Having no place to return to, as the Thornton's home was
also flooded and uninhabitable, they had no choice but to sell their New
Orleans home and start a new life in California.
Prudence was desperate after being forced from her FEMA trailer in May.
Her only option was to move into her gutted home, having only temporary
power. Unsanitary conditions dictated that she would have to send her
mother to live with relatives in north Louisiana. After the leaky roof
caused the ceiling to fail in her daughters' bedroom, she made arrangements for
her to live with her brother in Sante Fe. Denise was determined to save
this family from the same fate that befell her own, and keep them all in the
same city.
D enise connected Prudence with organizers from Project
Home Again and it was a perfect fit. Prudence moved into her brand new
home on September 25th. Her mother is back home under her daughter's
loving care and her own daughter will be returning to live with them after this
school semester. Our heartfelt good wishes to Prudence and her family as
they finally put this episode behind them. We are so grateful to Project
Home Again for their dedication and commitment to New Orleans.
THE REST OF THE STORY... Now that Prudence is settled in and on the road
to recovery, she will become the Beacon Administrator of her new
neighborhood. She will serve as a beacon of hope, and an example to
follow, leading the way home for others..
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Block By Block Workers Hope to Learn From Katrina-Hit
Area
By Steve
Gravelle, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
-- Contact the
writer: (319) 3985819 or steve.gravelle@ gazcomm.com
 Nov. 3--CEDAR RAPIDS -- A local delegation is
spending this week in Louisiana to learn about restoring neighborhoods.
"Getting some perspective on people who have been doing it a lot longer
than we have will probably be helpful," said Becky Wood of Cedar Rapids,
director of recovery for the United Methodist Church.
Wood leaves today for New Orleans. She and four others, all affiliated with the
Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church's Block by Block rebuilding
program, will spend the week meeting with officials from Beacon of Hope, an
organization that's been doing similar work in New Orleans, repairing damage
from Hurricane Katrina. "I want to talk to someone who's had experience
rebuilding neighborhoods in disaster areas," Wood said. "We pretty
much have the volunteer thing down as far as coordination and housing, but how
do we sustain it?" Wood also hopes to learn about finding new residents
for rebuilt homes. Block by Block has purchased two homes to be rehabilitated
and sold to residents who lost their own homes to the flood, and Wood plans to
buy another 19 houses.
"You have to find the homeowner, which sometimes isn't easy, then you have
to find out if they want to wait for a buyout or not," she said.
"Then they have to find the title and get all the legal work taken care
of." Block by Block recently celebrated the completion of recovery work on
the first of eight city blocks its volunteers intend to restore. Wood's trip is
being paid for by the United Methodist Church. Block by Block is covering the
other four workers' expenses, she said.
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LSU-Beacon of Hope Recovery Survey: Help us take
stock of your neighborhood's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Dear neighbors,
We are now beginning the fifth year of recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The Beacon of Hope is partnering with the LSU Sociology Department in Baton
Rouge to conduct a survey to assess community needs, and help us with our
planning for neighborhood initiatives. The survey will allow us to
understand how community members are doing, and which of our recovery efforts
are working well and which need improvement.
LSU has been monitoring recovery since months after the storm and has done over
5,000 interviews in all parts of Greater New Orleans. They did an initial
assessment in 2006-07, and you may have participated through the Lakeview Civic
Improvement Association (LCIA), St. Dominic Catholic Church, the Jewish
Federation, the Episcopal Diocese, or some other means.
We urge all our neighbors (all adults in your household 18 and older) to
participate in this survey. It is conducted with full privacy and
confidentiality by LSU, and no individual answers will be released.
The Beacon of Hope will receive the results of the survey, which will be
available (as percentages) to all neighborhoods. This report will not
just sit in a drawer somewhere - the Beacon will use it for our on-going
recovery work and advocacy for the community.
You can complete the survey online at the website, www.lsu.edu/katrinasurvey.
If you prefer a paper copy, you can print one out from that website, or contact
us and we'll provide you a copy.
HELP US SPREAD THE WORD: Please contact your family and friends who lived in an
affected neighborhood when the hurricane struck, and ask them to participate,
too, even if have not yet returned. It also helps us understand community
needs, if we know why some people chose not to move back, or were unable
to. They can take the survey at the website above.
Thank you for helping us take stock of New Orleans' recovery!
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Fifty Bikes for Fifty Kids Community Program
 Beacon of Hope has developed a "community
policing program" in conjunction with the 3rd District of the New Orleans Police Department. This program will provide bikes to 50 at risk
students at each public school located in low income areas within thatdistrict. Our volunteers will assemble the bikes and hopefully,
contribute toward the purchase. The first school that we have
selected is Bethune Elementary in Hollygrove. School officials will
determine the recipients based on appropriate criteria (attendance and most
improved). This way even students who have typically not done well in the
past would strive to do better during the qualifying period which would be a
step in the right direction for many.
A social will be held for all 350 students, parents and residents of the
neighborhood. NOPD officers will attend the ceremony and present the
recipients with their bikes. We are also reaching out to our professional
sports teams (Saints and Hornets) to participate by attending the social, which will encourage all students to set goals and hopefully achieve
higher test scores and improve attendance. Beacon of Hope will do the
outreach to the neighborhood and coordinate the event.
We feel that if boys and girls have a chance to interact with friendly police
officers, it will go a long way toward establishing better
relations between them at an early age. In the long run, this goodwill will reduce crime.
We hope to expand the program to include ongoing interaction with students by
having officers visit the schools, giving safety talks and providing helmets.
Ultimately it is a program that could and should be duplicated in all police
districts in Orleans Parish. I know that the Police Department on the
whole is committed to community policing and nonprofits like ours provide the
link.
The social and bike gift will take place on Tuesday, December 8th at 1:00 pm, Mary Bethune Elementary, 4040 Eagle Street, New
Orleans, LA. This school is located in one of the city's
most economically challenged areas and was also devastated by the flood waters
of Hurricane Katrina. We are currently trying to raise the funds for the
bikes. The officers themselves are holding a raffle and have a goal of
$1,000, but we will have to supplement that if we are to provide 50
bikes.
The police department, specifically the Commander of the 3rd District, Major
Greg Elder is totally committed to the success of this program.
Anything you can do to help us make this program a success would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.
Denise
Thornton, President
Beacon
of Hope Resource Center
145
Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 200
New
Orleans, LA 70124
denise@lakewoodbeacon.org
www.lakewoodbeacon.org
504
309-5120
All
donations are tax deductible. Please
make checks payable to Beacon of Hope Resource Center and memo NOPD-Beacon and
Bikes
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Congratulations to Robert Lupo and Lupo Enterprises
Robert Lupo, (one of Beacon of Hope's Board  Members,) and Lupo Enterprises received StayLocal's Above
and Beyond Leadership Award on October 21, 2009 for dedication, time and service placed into the
redevelopment and building of the community in a post-disaster
environment. Robert and his firm have certainly gone "Above and Beyond"
post-Katrina, but many of us will testify that his presence has been noticed
years before anyone ever asked the questions: "How'd you make out?" or "Are you
back yet"? We are so very proud and grateful that Robert and Lupo
Enterprises have been so actively engaged in our recovery for almost everywhere
you look in Lakeview, you will see the hand of Robert Lupo.
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Members of Beacon of Hope Honored by Councilman-at-Large Jackie Clarkson and the Sons of the Revolution
At
a banquet hosted by the George  Washington Chapter of the Louisiana Society of
the Sons of the American Revolution, Al Petrie, Connie Uddo, Celeste Anding,
Rita Legrand, Mark Uddo and Denise Thornton received a city commendation from Councilman-at-Large Jackie Clarkson. Chapter and state president Bill Allerton
also presented the honorees with the SAR Good Citizenship medal.
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 FREE ADMISSION SUNDAYS at
the Louisiana
Children's Museum are BACK!
WHAT:
Thanks to the generosity of Target, the Louisiana Children's Museum is open to
the public free of charge one Sunday per month for the next ten months.
WHEN:
The third Sunday of every month, starting in November:
November 15
noon
to 4:30 p.m.
December 20
noon to 4:30 p.m.
January 17
noon to 4:30 p.m.
February 21
noon to 4:30 p.m.
March 21
noon to 4:30 p.m.
April
18
noon to 4:30 p.m.
May
16
noon to 4:30 p.m.
June 20
noon to 5:00 p.m.
(extended summer hours begin)
July
18
noon to 5:00 p.m.
August
1
noon to 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Louisiana Children's
Museum, 420 Julia Street,
New Orleans
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THE MELTING POT ASSISTS GENTILLY RESIDENTS
110 volunteers from the Melting Pot chain of restaurants volunteered with the Beacon of Hope Resource Center on Wednesday October 7,2009. These volunteers helped 8 homeowners living in the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Gentilly to complete the renovation of their homes.
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TEAMS Comes to Volunteer at the Beacon
 On October 16, 2009, Beacon of Hope hosted a volunteer event
at the Pontchartrain Park Playground in the Pontilly Neighborhood. Volunteers
from across the United States, visiting New Orleans for a Travel, Events,
and Management in Sports (TEAMS) convention, cleaned up the park's
basketball and tennis courts, and trimmed  much of the overgrown green space
around the playground. Each TEAMS volunteer is involved in sporting events in
their local community and that background was the impetus for choosing to work
in a New Orleans area playground as their volunteer service project.
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AMS User's Group Volunteers with the Beacon of Hope
 On October 23, 2009, twenty-six volunteers from AMS User's
Group worked on two homeowner projects in the Gentilly Terrace neighborhood.
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More Volunteer Groups visit the Beacon of Hope
 On Friday, November 13, Ten volunteers from IREM spent time scraping
paint off Beverly Jimenez's house in Gentilly Terrace and Gardens. The volunteers are all from the New Orleans area.
Saturday, November 14, saw fourteen volunteers from NAN
priming and painting at Sandra Grossman's house.
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New Beacons Open
Beacon of Hope opens a Beacon in Milneburg
On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, the Beacon of Hope Resource Center opened a
new Beacon in the Milneburg Neighborhood of Gentilly. This Beacon will
be located at 2319 Prentiss Ave. New Orleans, LA 70122, the home Juana Ibanez, the new Beacon Administrator. If you live in the Milneburg neighborhood and would like to volunteer with this Beacon or
need assistance in your recovery, please contact Juana at Milneburg@lakewoodbeacon.org.
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Oak Park Neighborhood Establishes a New Beacon
On Monday, November 16, 2009, the
Oak Park Neighborhood of Gentilly signed a MOU with the Beacon of Hope Resource
Center to open a new Beacon. This Beacon
will be located at 1488 Burbank, New Orleans, LA 70122. If you live
in Oak Park and would like to volunteer with this Beacon or need assistance in
your recovery, please contact Karen Parsons, the new Beacon Administrator at OakPark@lakewoodbeacon.org.
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Entergy New Orleans Offers Security Lighting
to Customers
As daylight savings time comes to an end, homeowners
might be looking for cost-efficient ways to provide improvements
and additional security
to their property. Through a
new "Light it Up" promotion,
Entergy New Orleans is now
offering security lighting.
"Entergy's security lighting
is one of the easiest and most effective
ways to increase the
visibility, security and overall
appeal of your home," said
Melonie Hall, director of
customer service, Entergy
New Orleans, Inc. "And with
Entergy's security lighting,
you won't have to worry about installation or maintenance.
Entergy lighting
experts take care of everything from designing the
perfect lighting plan for your
business to keeping the fixtures
in excellent working condition."
For more information about
Entergy security lighting, visit our
Web site at entergy-neworleans.com or call 1-866-603-0192.
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Beacon of Hope Resource Center is Supported by:
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www.bluemoonfund.org
United Way Pledge code 3672
United Way CFC Code 15984
www.unitedwaynola.org
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| Upcoming Events |
50 Bikes for 50 Kids Harrison Ave. Marketplace Tuesday, 12/8/09 Wednesday, 12/9/09
1:00 P.M. 5:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Mary Bethune Elementary 801 Harrison Ave.
4040 Eagle St. New Orleans, LA 70124
New Orleans, LA 70118 |
| Contact Information |
Beacon of Hope Resource Center
145 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70124
504-309-5120
www.lakewoodbeacon.org |
Beacon of Hope Resource Center Mission:
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Leading the way home, Beacon of Hope Resource Center provides
a model for recovery in neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina, as well
as other areas affected by disaster. Providing information
and resources, encouraging
civic action, and fostering repopulation form the foundation on which
we build and grow. Beacon of Hope empowers residents to
facilitate their own recovery while providing a hub of resident driven
activities and a safe environment to create the synergy essential for
restoring
viable neighborhoods and improve the overall quality of life for
residents. |
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