Young Adult Service Trip 2007 | New Orleans, Louisiana | October 18-21, 2007

The first annual Young Adult Service Trip was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. We worked with New Orleansarea Habitat for Humanity and stayed at Camp Hope, an elementary school that was converted into volunteer housing, post-Hurricane Katrina. We arrived in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, spent both Friday and Saturday doing service work from 7:30am to 3pm, and then explored New Orleans during the evenings (the French district, jazz clubs, the Mississippi River). Sunday was an optional day at Jean Lafitte National Historical Preserve--hiking in the bayous with the aligators. It was a life-changing experience for us all to see how much devastation there still was in New Orleans, two years after Hurricane Katrina. Habitat for Humanity is doing some amazing work in the area and still is in great need of volunteers. This was a great way to serve and a fantastic way to connect with other young adults.

This is the home we worked on in the St. Bernard Parish of New Orleans. The previous house on this site was flooded with 14 feet of water. It took two months for the water to recede. The home-owner is hoping to move into her new home in time to bake a Thanksgiving turkey in her new oven (after spending 2 years cooking everything in a microwave!).



Most of the houses in St. Bernard Parish look like this one. It is in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans and was one of the areas most heavily hit by flood-waters. The neighborhoods are almost completely abandoned--with houses and businesses left exactly as they have been since being flooded with 10-14 feet of water two years ago.



These are some of the Habitat for Humanity homes in the same area. They are gorgeous and filled with life!