Camp Care: Algiers, Louisiana

We drove all day Monday, arriving in New Orleans about 5:00p. We took a wrong turn as we passed the Super Dome and suddenly were in a district that felt very uncomfortable to be in. Our attempts to backtrack on I-10 in order to be able to take the correct turn met with a bit of frustration because random roads were closed because of storm damage or debris. But, we managed to make another run at it and found our destination.

Our church has set up Camp Care in the district of New Orleans known as Algiers. It is one of the poorer sections of town and was pretty heavily hit by Katrina. It did not flood, but it sustained a lot of wind and water damage. The wind removed the roofs and knocked down trees and signs and stuff. Then, the rain got inside the houses and collapsed the ceilings and ruined the floors and walls and furniture. Many people have their houses, but can't live there. Others need a lot of manual labor type of help just to clean up the mess. One thing that is most useful is the installation of a temporary roof. This is done with large sheets of blue plastic. So, we installed a lot of "Blue Roofs."



Camp Care consists of a 4,000 sqft. tent, two supply tents, a trailer rigged to provide hot showers for men and women and a trailer for communications and supervisors quarters. The big tent is divided into three parts: the dining area, the men's sleeping quarters and the women's sleeping quarters. In the two sleeping quarters there are what are called "Cot Tents." These are cots with a built-in one-person tent. Or maybe a one-person tent built on a cot. Either way works and is actually pretty cool. The whole tent is air conditioned. An abandoned house/dry cleaners, near the tent, is used for kitchen and restroom facilities.

The whole idea of Camp Care is that crews of volunteer workers will rotate in to work for a week or more. They are housed, fed and given work assignments. People through out Algiers are being helped in the name of Jesus. The work ethic is that it's more important to talk to people and minister to them and pray with them than it is to finish the roof in record time.

Marilyn and I loved it! We loved the fellowship with our co-workers. At one point there were 33 workers working out of Camp Care. Most were from RHCC. Some were from a church in Morris, Illinois. We love the blessing of being able to minister to people who have lost all hope. I don't have time to write all the stories we saw and heard. But, everyone has a story. Most of the stories are heartbreaking and were accompanied with tears or frustration or despair or all the above. The amount of work that needs to be done is beyond comprehension. We would drive past 200 houses that needed Blue Roofs in order to install a roof on the house of someone who had requested it.

Camp Care is open to churches that want to send work crews. Just contact me and I'll put you in touch with the folks who can set your group up to go. We are in this project "for the long haul." We expect to be there, working, into the Spring of next year. Here are a few more pics: