Giving Thanks

2 turkeys 
cornbread stuffing 
sweet potato casserole w/candied pecans 
garlic mashed potatoes w/gravy 
homemade dinner rolls 
gussied up green beans 
ham 
homemade pecan pie 
homemade pumpkin pie complete with whipped cream.... 

 these are a few of my favorite things! 

This year I paced myself.  Even in the midst of the young 17 yr. old seated to my right who heaped her plate high... TWICE!... and among gentlemen who went back for 4ths... I, Suzanne Duvall, defeated the gluttonous appeal of the Thanksgiving feast and paced myself.  My coveted reward was a full and not the least bit angry belly.  I added my full and happy belly to a list of what I am thankful for. 

Here are just a few of the items on my list (in no specific order):

A close family- of blood and of heart

My puppy dog Ginger and her frisbee ;) 

Modern bathroom facilities

Redemption and chances to move forward

Warmth

Thunderstorms

Soft green grass to lay in

Hilarious moments

Nieces and Nephews

Unspoiled food

Children and all their sillyness

Peaceful slumber

Music

Vacations

What are you thankful for this year?  

  

$$ Cha-Ching! $$

Roots:
* Post-Katrina, property was donated to Elan Ministries - a large gutted warehouse building and the land surrounding it.
* Just a few short years ago the staff of Elan Ministries dreamed about developing a garden in a neighborhood that was in need of access to fresh foods. 
* Around the time of dreaming of the garden, Kayla Miller returned from Germany and expressed the desire to grow foods... she jumped in on the dreaming phase.

Blossoms:
The Garden on Marais is now up and functioning- thanks to the hard work of gardener Kayla Miller, founder Teresa Reiger, Larry Swift, and the support of the rest of Elan staff and all of the volunteers that put their time and sweat into projects on the garden.
Last Friday, Kayla completed a milestone for her work at the garden- she made her first sale!  Three pounds of okra were planted, grown, harvested, and taken by Kayla herself to the Holleygrove Market and Farm, where they were sold to patrons of the market.
Congratulations Kayla!

  

Holiday Helpers

In the past 7 years that HH2G has existed, I can recall only 2 or 3 of those Decembers where we hosted volunteers.  Christmas is such a busy time of the year in America and there's not always time to break away to serve in another state!  (The good news is, even though people are not coming to serve with HH2G during the Christmas season, many are serving in their own communities!)
THIS year, however, we've got some crazy college students coming to work during the 2 weeks prior to Christmas.  The University of Central Florida has graced us with their presence these last two years in March, and has scheduled their winter service trip to work again with HH2G.  As an observer of this team for two trips now, I can honestly say that they know how to have some fun!  I propose:  an  
UGLY Christmas Sweater Contest!!!

(no offense to the wearer of this terrible costume ;)

 Ken, Larry (HH2G Director), and I (Suzanne, Hospitality) will be the judges.  Home made ones get extra points in my vote :-D

And for their 3rd trip with HisHands2Go, we welcome the Y'all crew from Indiana University!  These folks are coming down from my neck of the woods... (where does that phrase come from anyways?).
This time of year they are enjoying the mid-western fall season with leaves changing into gorgeous colors.
Well, we ain't got none o' those changin colors here.  Green is our year-round color, and while green is beautiful, it sure doesn't compare to the collage of colors the mid-western states can produce in Autumn.

I seem to have gotten sidetracked....
Back on track!  I was in the middle of saying how much we look forward to Y'all coming down.  They are a large team on a mission to get some work done and touch the lives of those they are assisting.  So far they have accomplished that mission and more.  We look forward to seeing Y'all in just a few short months!!!

One last thought... we (as in the team leaders and myself), could create an initiation into the HH2G experience by involving cockroaches in some manner... talk amongst yourselves, let me know ;)

    

Family Life Assembly of God - September 2012

My oh my how the time does fly when you're having fun!  Family Life Assembly of God joined HH2G for their 6th trip to New Orleans to volunteer in September (2012).  The faithful few (Matt, Micky, and Ramesh) have returned year after year to bless various homeowners such as Brian Berteaux, Steamboat Willie,  and most recently Ron and Betty Dufour.  This year the trio brought some fresh faces to introduce to us and the city of New Orleans.

     

The first 4 days of work were spent working at Ron and Betty Dufour's home.  Let me give you a bit of background information on this project:  Ron and Betty Dufour have lived in their home located on the beautiful water of Chef Pass on the outskirts of New Orleans. (see pics of their location below)  The Dufours have lived in the home for over 30 years- they call it their Bayou Heaven (their son even wrote a song about it).  For the first 30(ish) years they did not have any flooding in their home.  Hurricane Katrina changed that record, flooding their home to the roof.  Aside from water damage, that hurricane left a few feet of mud in the home, critters (including snakes!!), mold, and total ruin of all furniture left in the home during the hurricane.  Volunteers from all over the country assisted in the rebuilding of the home.  It was a long process, but they were finally able to move back in the home after living in a Fema trailer for over a year. Next came Hurricane Gustav in summer 2008.  The house yet again received a few feet of water, and the back yard was coated with reeds and debris from the water that housed all kinds of critters and snakes.  This time around only the first four feet of drywall had to be replaced and pitchforks were used to clear the back yards- volunteers dominated the tasks relatively quickly.  Now... 4 years later... Hurricane Isaac decided to invite himself in without welcome.  I'm not sure what it is about these hurricanes, but they just don't seem to understand that house visits are not appropriate!  This time around the house suffered about 1 1/2 - 2ft of water.  The bottom half of the drywall was again ruined as well as most of the furniture and appliances.  They have been waiting on their home to be raised for the past 2 years, the work was finally scheduled to begin in August...  The Dufours are an inspiration in how they are handling the situation.  Their trust in the Lord's faithfulness and provision is evident as they navigate the rebuilding process this 3rd time around.

The Family Life crew spent the majority of the week strengthening the wall structures and replacing the insulation and drywall in the Dufour's home.  The last day of the week 3 members of the team spent the day framing walls for a ministry by the name of Amos 504.  The ministry formed a few years ago when a small group of folks relocated together to New Orleans in the Uptown district of the city.  After a few years of meeting for church in their homes, the ministry is renting a suite in a building in an Uptown neighborhood.  In order to suit the necessities of a church set up, renovations to the space were necessary.  HH2G staff assisted Amos 504 in tearing down some of the walls the first week of September, and the Family Life AG team put them right back up... but in new sections of the building.  The Amos 504 ministry is now working to finish up renovations and start functioning in their new home!

Scrub Down

Members of St. Luke AG had a cleaning party in the sanctuary last Saturday night.  The sanctuary had been without electricity for about 10 days following Hurricane Isaac.  No electricity = no fans or A/C = lots of moisture in a hot building... thus black mold is born!  Donning masks and gloves, the members of the cleaning party scrubbed the walls, baseboards, furniture, and any other surface they could find covered in mold.
It's a joy witnessing and being a part of a church family coming together to take care of the House of God. 

Hurricane Isaac

Hurricanes hold special precedence in the lives of the residents of the gulf coast.  There are three phases to a hurricane; 1) pre-hurricane preparations, 2) live action, 3) clean up.
Regardless of the size of the hurricane, there are crucial tasks to be done to prepare.
In no particular order:
* board up windows
* stow away all outdoor furniture/fixtures
* stock up on food, water, pet supplies, batteries/oil (depending on your source of light... you can pretty much plan for the power to go out)
* get out all candles, lamps, flash lights, etc...
* get the generators ready and a few gallons of gasoline
* empty out the freezer/refrigerator if possible
* prep the video camera (powerful storms are AMAZING to watch)

Imagine winds between 80 and 150 mph bending trees low and rattling doors and windows.  Imagine sheets of rain blowing sideways, parallel to the street.  The terms frightening, exciting, boring, stressful, and many others have been used to describe the experience of witnessing a hurricane both live and from an evacuation location.  Some folks who enjoy the storms like to have "hurricane parties" where friends and families get together to ride out the storm at home with snacks, games, good books, and good company.  Others find a safe place to evacuate to, tracking the action via news reports and updates from neighbors.  Despite location and perception, hurricanes are always memorable events... unfortunately, most of the memorable aspects involve destruction.

When the winds have died down and the rain is down to a drizzle, it's safe to venture out of doors and inspect the impact of the hurricane.  Hurricane Isaac mainly blew branches all over the place and caused wind damage to homes within the flood walls.  Such is the destructive nature of a category 1 hurricane like Isaac.  However, the larger the hurricane, the greater the destruction.  The weeks, months, and years following a hurricane are spent cleaning up the debris and repairing property... or finding a new place to live.
Now that you have a brief explanation of what it's like to experience a hurricane, you are ready for an update of how the HH2G crew is faring.  We did have a hurricane party complete with homemade soup, no power (meaning no A/C!), and noisy generators.  Our homes suffered very minor damages.
New Orleans East property (where the shower trailer is located) also suffered minor damages in the way of a few new leaky spots in the roof.  Mickey the cat was safe and sound in one of the trailers during the storm :)

St. Luke (where the air mattresses are) did have quite a bit of damage.  Sections of the church's roof ripped off, and the rear wall of the building separated a bit from the roof.  The result was 2-3 inches of water covering the sanctuary floor, and 4 inches of water sitting under the stage.  St. Luke church members and a few kind volunteers took the stage steps apart to drain the water, and we all pushed the water out the front door with large squeegees and brooms.  The wax on the floor was ruined, but the instruments and other electronic equipment were not damaged.

The Fellowship Hall (where the cafeteria is) had minor flooding in the kitchen, but the real damage happened upstairs in one of the offices.  That specific office holds quite a bit of electronic equipment along with a few pieces of very nice furniture... that office also happened to be the only one with any damage.  A portion of the roof came off of the building resulting in a large portion of the ceiling to cave in which further resulted in rain water soaking the furniture, carpet, and all electronic equipment.

Now for the silver lining!  Several volunteers from All Nations Fellowship (in New Orleans) and a crew from New Iberia assisted us on Labor Day.  They bravely climbed onto the roof to fasten tarps over the damaged sections until repairs can be made.  There is still much to be done in the repairing process, but we're on the way!

The Garden on Marais did pretty well too... except this ooey gooey caterpillar that ate an ENTIRE sweet pepper plant during the 2 days of storming.  He wasn't that big to before Isaac ;)

First Presbyterian Church Santa Rosa

I’ve heard that folks from the beautiful state of California think that Cali is the best place to live… ever.   Now I don’t know if I agree with that statement seein’ as I live in southern Louisiana, but I can certainly testify that folks from California are some of the most generous when it comes to assisting others in need.  Countless volunteers from all over America streamed into southern Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  A large portion of the volunteers that joined HH2G for the first few years post hurricane were from California.
One particular church in California – First Presbyterian Santa Rosa – started a connection with New Orleans when the church youth group with team leader Doug Webb ventured to New Orleans in the summer of 2007.  The recovery work at that time was primarily mudding and gutting out the homes… the reeeally dirty work!  Doug has continued to arrange mission trips to New Orleans for his church, and they joined us for another week at the beginning of August 2012, to further the work that other teams  began earlier this summer.
First Presbyterian continued work on Ms. Nancy’s home, as well as Mr. Earl Milaud’s home.  Ms. Nanacy is now the proud owner of a finished kitchen.  The team installed cabinets, a sink, and doors in Ms. Nancy’s home. Mr. Milaud’s kitchen was also fixed up with cabinets and other kitchen fixin’s.  The crew also accomplished other jobs in those two homes that previous teams this summer began.
The First Prebyterian crew always consists of familiar friendly faces that return year after year to volunteer.  This year they added a few new people to the group- they found their groove real quick.  Whether skilled or unskilled, the volunteers from First Presbyterian Santa Rosa work hard and get the job done!
Thanks Doug Webb and First Presbyterian for being strong supporters and good friends of HH2G.  It’s always a pleasure to host you guys- we look forward to the next time we see you!

Cincinnati's Finest

St. Vivian Church of Cincinnati, OH, has been a faithful supporter of HisHands2Go since... hmmm... well it seems like forever!  St. Vivian has given countless man hours of labor, financial donations, joy and laughter on and off the job, and encouragement and hope for those they have assisted.  They recently sent their youth (along with two lovely chaperones :) to further the work that teams before them have started.  They came, they saw, and they CONQUERED!

The first job they tackled was to finish painting Ms. Denise's home- those lovely bright yellow and green colors that Little Prairie Church first slapped on the house.  Work on the house was done by Lake Zurich Jazz group... boy did they do a great job!  Then Little Prairie Church started the painting process and made great progress.  Finally, St. Vivian finished up the painting for Ms. Denise and it looks GREAT!  One thing about this city that I really love is the various colors of houses- anything goes here- esp bright colors!

The other job that the St. Viv crew worked on is that of Mr. Earl's home.  The tile has been laid, the paint scraped, the walls repainted, and the hard wood floors scrubbed and ready for sanding and buffing.  The house looks fantastic!  The three volunteer teams again collaborated (though working at different times) to conquer this large job.  Lake Zurich Jazz group first, then Little Prairie Church, and finished up by St. Vivian Church.
Great job everyone!