Plaquemines Parish Recovery – Construction projects

Through our partnership with the Port Sulphur Baptist Church and their pastor, Lynn Rodrigue, Virginia Baptists have been invited to assist the Committee for Plaquemines Recovery (CPR) in building new houses for residents with need.  The Committee has funds for construction.  But, they are in dire need of volunteers to build the houses. 

Work Assignments
CPR proposes to construct between October 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008 a minimum of seventeen (17) new homes for residents of the parish who would otherwise be unable to have safe, secure, sanitary, and functional housing as a result of their loss caused by Hurricane Katrina.  This goal is in addition to the funded rebuild projects already in process managed by existing rebuild organizations working in the parish.

Plaquemines Parish is a microcosm of the Katrina disaster; the micro view of the macro:  It is rich and poor, young and old, black and white.  The eye of Katrina made landfall over the lower portions of Plaquemines. Storm surges breached roofs, tossed homes, businesses, and boats and everything else and moved them to new locations; hurricane force winds ripped trees and roofs; and levee failures left whole communities underwater – all leaving destruction in its wake. The lower portion of the parish still struggles with the challenges of recovery.  Some structures can be repaired, but many residents will need new homes.  This plan is targeted to new housing construction.

Volunteer work crews to carry out this rebuilding initiative will be recruited from a network of service groups, particularly from churches and other faith-based organizations.  The Virginia Baptist Mission Board (VBMB) is the primary faith-based organization that will provide work crews from participating Virginia Baptist Churches to provide the volunteer labor for the rebuilding initiative.  Each crew will be led by a crew leader.  Port Sulphur Baptist Church has a previous relationship working with churches through the work of the VBMB. 

In order to ensure the smooth coordination of the rebuilding projects there is a full time Volunteer Coordinator to schedule and coordinate the volunteer crews, and an Administrative Assistant to perform office and record-keeping functions for all CPR operations.  CPR has office space in Oakville, LA.

For more information, or to schedule a volunteer work crew, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Bruce LePoint, at 504.655.4877.

Housing
Our CPR basecamp has two bunk houses that can each accommodate up to 24 volunteer workers.  There are showers and a big kitchen. In addition, several churches have housing accommodations arrangements for volunteers.  This will eliminate the daily travel time for crews to go from the volunteer housing to the work sites.  As cases are approved at the Roundtable, places for the volunteers to stay will be available to support the rebuilding effort.  It would be the responsibility of the Volunteer Coordinator to schedule housing in the provided locations.  The average cost charged to volunteers or their organizations would be $20/week per person.  A fully equipped kitchen is available and teams provide their own meals.