WHO DAT!!!! Saints win SuperBowl 44!!! This team has done much for the city of New Orleans to uplift it economically, to assist in the redevelopment process, and has boosted morale higher than it has been in many years. HH2G is proud to be a citizen of the WHO DAT nation! Geaux Saints!

St. Vivian Church (OH) - Jan 2010

HisHands2Go gladly welcomed back St. Vivian Church for their 5th trip to New Orleans. A joyful group by nature, this team is known by the HH2G staff and homeowners for their encouraging (and always humurous) banter, their "choir" performances while working in the homes, and their willingness to do whatever jobs are put in front of them. This year St. Vivian worked primarily with homeowner Brian Berteaux. The team assisted Brian with mudding and sanding, texturing and painting, and readying another property of Brian's for rental... amongst numerous other odd jobs. To the crew of St. Vivian, you bring such joy to the people of New Orleans- thanks so much for your support and hard work. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Crossroads (IL) - JAN 2010

Every once in a while life takes a turn for the worst, such as a hurricane destroying the better part of a city... but it seems like God always sends someone along to offer encouragement and support in even the toughest situations of life. The team from Crossroads Community Church can certainly be described as those who lift others up when they need it most. Crossroads responded to the need of volunteer workers very shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and have continued to lend their many hands in the rebuilding effort, with their most recent trip being a 2 week stint to close out 2009 and welcome in 2010 with HH2G. They poured a whopping 2600 man hours into homes and buildings in desperate need of repair. In winter of 2009 they completely sheetrocked two homes, and this year they accomplished no less! To our dear friends in Illinois, words cannot express what a blessing you are to the people of New Orleans, and to those of us at HisHands2Go. Thank you so very much for your support and encouragement.

Common Unity Missions Outfitters Group (IN) - JAN 2010

The Mission Outfitters Group of Common Unity Church Ministries joined HH2G for an action-packed week of roofing, mudding & taping, floor waxing and much much more. This dynamic group was a combination of members from several churches in NE Indiana, headed . Though they arrived as individuals, they departed a team. When you mix team leaders who are intent on uniting followers of Jesus with team members who are willing to undertake whatever tasks they are given, an immense amount of work can be accomplished and numerous lives are touched. To the IN team: You not only accomplished a large amount of work, but you've left a lasting impact on our community. Thank you for serving the people of New Orleans!

UPDATE: Mr. Isaac Green

Isaac is currently living in Shreveport, LA with plans to return to New Orleans with the rest of his family soon. His daughter is living in the house in New Orleans East, and he regularly comes to New Orleans to maintain the property. The house is holding up wonderfully. He reported that he even has a new fence up, and only needs to finish adjusting the gate! The only tasks left for him to do are to install his gutter system, and replace a few bricks that were damaged during the rebuilding process. Isaac repeatedly expressed his gratitude for all of the hard work that the volunteers put into his home- thanks to those of you who touched this man's life!

Emma and Edward Richards lived in this home with their 2 granddaughters before Hurricane Katrina drove them out. They have been residing in Baton Rouge in a small apartment with various family members. This is an elderly couple, and the husband is in a wheelchair. They nearly lost their son in the hurricane, but their daughter was able to find him when they were allowed back in the city (a really cool story! J) Their daughter has been living in a trailer behind the home in order to keep her job in New Orleans. The whole scenario has been a stress on the family, but they are resilient and continue to find their hope and joy in the Lord.

Two winters ago volunteers from Minnesota reroofed the house, tore up the floor, leveled it, and re-laid the floor, and they reinforced some of the walls. After finishing all of that, one of the volunteer’s fathers designed a layout for the house that would accommodate Edward’s wheelchair, and they framed the house. Since then the exterior siding has been re-installed and various teams have hung the drywall. The drywall currently needs finishing and mudding.

The Goal: Get the Richards in their house before summer of 2010. You can make a difference!!!

Wouldn't you like to know...?

Oftentimes volunteers will ask an HH2G staff member what we do when teams aren't volunteering with us... and the staff member will begin to rattle off a list of not-so-fascinating tasks that usually loses the attention of the asker, or surprises them because the answer was different than what they expected. I'm sure that there are plenty of you who continue to wonder what we do in our spare time, so I though I'd offer a little explanation:

When we aren't riding motorcycles, taking Tango lessons, or traveling the world, we are holding office hours and progressing the work of community development that HH2G is a part of. Many of you have heard of the Spirit of Praise building that houses some of our equipment- this building has the destiny of a community center: with after-school tutoring, summer youth camp, a community garden, and events for the elderly people and folks of all ages to come together as a community (we like to dream about how this will look 5 years from now). In addition to this development, HH2G staff spends much of their time getting the word out about the work still to be done in NOLA. We have an extremely limited advertising budget, so we have limited ways of spreading the news. This is where you come in... PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! Or if you have any advertising suggestions, please feel free to pass them on to us! I think we can all agree that we'd like to see the residents of New Orleans thriving after suffering so much devastation... so please join us in encouraging folks to come down to work with HH2G!