In January 2008, seventeen members of FPC congregation traveled to New Orleans, LA to work with Habitat for Humanity to build new homes for those demolished in Hurricane Katrina. Initially we had intended to go to St. Louis Bay, MS, but circumstances didn’t work out, so we quickly rerouted to The St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, which happens to be the church where Jeanne Walsh’s daughter, Kelly Hostetler, is Associate Pastor, hosted us through a mission called RHINO (Restoring Hope In New Orleans).
This mission is organized through the support of the St. Charles Avenue Church, and has operated continuously, week after week for the last two years. Each week, a new group of volunteers from churches around the country arrive and are taken care of. Boy, were we ever taken care of! The workers’ accommodations were in the former “manse”, a beautiful, old, Garden District home housing a dorm with air mattresses, hot showers, and a stocked kitchen. Jim, a member of the congregation prepared 5-star, gourmet meals for us every night, served on linen tablecloths in the church’s fellowship hall.
The church also provided members with hearts to be our tour guides who shared history as they drove us around to see the still-remaining destruction as well as the reconstruction in progress.
We gathered on the old southern porch every morning to get our “marching orders” and then divided up into our various rental cars and arrived at the worksite by 7:30 with hammers in hand. Seth and Andrew served as our foremen from Habitat at the Ferry Place Site, and showed us what needed to be done. We were divided up into teams to tackle the assignments. It was a joy to see progress in our work.
We wish to thank the St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church for feeding our stomachs, hearts, and minds, and showing the greatest of hearts toward us and the people of New Orleans.