Dear Neighbor,

Happy New Year from your friends at the Beacon of Hope! We are very excited to begin a new year revitalizing New Orleans neighborhoods.  

We would like to dedicate this newsletter to the wonderful volunteers who have made our work possible over the last five years. Since 2006 when the Beacon opened, we have hosted over 30,000 volunteers from each of the 50 United States and from 5 different continents! These volunteers have helped us complete over 1,700 homeowner projects, replant 25 miles of green space, and restore 10 parks and playgrounds. We offer a sincere thank you to all of you who have offered your labor and support to help New Orleans recover. 

Amount of volunteers hailing from each state. Darker colors represent greater number of volunteers (click image to view an interactive map).

After the levee breaches following Hurricane Katrina, Beacon volunteers helped to gut flooded homes, clear debris, and organize residents in devastated neighborhoods. Today our neighborhoods have seen vast improvements in the realm of recovery, but many issues still remain. 

In the spirit of the New Year, please consider offering your support in the continued effort to revitalize New Orleans by volunteering with us and/or offering a donation. As a 2012 volunteer or donor, you can help a homeowner with those finishing touches that make a house a home or help a neighborhood develop community green space.  

Thank you again for your continued support in ensuring the recovery of New Orleans.

Happy New Year,