New Orleans Habitat - Operation Home Delivery Blog

A better way to spend spring break

Thousands of College students will spend their spring break in service of others by partnering with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity and building houses in devastated areas of New Orleans. Most of these students will be working at Musicians' Village which is a project that continues to be a beacon of hope and a catalyst for community renewal in the Upper Ninth Ward.

Most of the students groups are staying at Camp Hope a former elementary school that houses many of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity is grateful to all the college groups that will be spending their spring break volunteering, and helping in ongoing rebuilding work.

College students and groups willing to sign up can contact the volunteer office at 504-861-2077, or via Email

WWNO teams up with New Orleans Habitat for Humanity

WWNO and New Orleans Habitat for Humanity have partnered for a special one-day building event at the Musician’s Village on Friday, November 17, from 7:15 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering with WWNO and New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, fill out the Volunteer form and register online. You can also locate the answers to frequently asked questions. The event is sponsored by E. Eean McNaughton Architects and Winn-Dixie

One year Later. A renewed call to Volunteers

Dear Volunteers and Friends of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity

We are nearing the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and it is time to reflect on the work we have accomplished in the wake of last August’s destruction. This spring and summer we have seen amazing progress at the Musicians’ Village in the Upper 9th Ward. Volunteers from all over the country have generously given New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity their time. Throughout the summer we have had over 300 volunteers on site each day at Musicians’ Village

As the fall begins, we are hoping to keep those big numbers up so we can continue with the amazing pace we have set this summer. Currently, we have very few construction volunteers scheduled for the coming weeks and months though the need for volunteers is as great as ever. We would love to have you come to work with us at Musicians’ Village in the upcoming months. It is an amazing experience, as well as a direct and integral way to help in the rebuilding of New Orleans. Remember, no construction experience is necessary!

Once we have completed the 80 homes at the current Musicians’ Village site, we will branch out from there and continue with the Musicians’ Village Concept on other sites throughout the area. We are currently scheduling through April 07, and our volunteer need in New Orleans will continue on through next summer, and years to come. Please consider volunteering with us to achieve our goal of making decent, affordable housing a reality in the New Orleans area. Currently our work week is Monday through Saturday, 7:15am- 2:30pm. Even volunteering for one day can be a big help!

If you would like to volunteer, please contact Melissa Manuselis with the specific dates, the number of people volunteering and a cell phone number. For general inquiries and questions regarding travel and lodging in the area, contact the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator, Sabrina Jacks . Please call the volunteer office 504) 861-2077 , if you have any further questions.

Please also visit the Volunteer Page for more information

We look forward to having you volunteer with us!

At an Exciting "Crossroads" -- Baptist Community to Build 400 Habitat Homes? Yes!

The start date for the Baptist Crossroads Project has been set, and it is June 5th!

On that date, the BCP, the largest single Habitat construction project by a single Christian organization, will commence in the City of New Orleans.  The project was slated to build 40 houses in 2006.  That was before Katrina hit.  Now that goal has been multiplied tenfold, and our friend Rev. Dr. David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church, is leading the way.  This article has the details.  An excerpt:

“When Katrina happened I told the church, you know, maybe what God wants to do is 400 instead of 40. And I’m wide open to the prospect and possibility that, that may well happen.”

The effort excites Jim Pate with Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Orleans who was already impressed with the 40-house project.
   
“We checked with Habitat International and they in turn checked world-wide. The original 40-house Crossroads Project would be the single largest Habitat for Humanity project in the world by one single organization or denomination.”

... [Crosby said:]

“We’re going to try to bring a new city out of the flood zone and prayer is a key to it. We also can use volunteers from everywhere and all churches and colleges and youth groups.”

Also Dr. Joe McKeever, Director of Missions of the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, has issued this call for volunteers:

We are asking every church to reserve the summer of ‘06 for the BAPTIST CROSSROADS PROJECT in which we partner with Habitat for Humanity to construct 40 new homes in a blighted area of New Orleans during a 10 week period. We’ll be needing $3 million and many hundreds of volunteers. This will transform a neighborhood, will elevate the Baptist witness in our city, will give us opportunities for ministry such as we have not imagined, and will get us acquainted as we work alongside our brothers and sisters from other Baptist churches. Dr. David Crosby is the chairman of the steering committee, and Mike Flores is the vice-chairman. Consider inviting either to speak at a meeting of the men or women (or both) of your church, and share the vision. (Contact them through First Baptist Church of New Orleans.) This may be the most exciting mission we have ever done in this city.

This summer is going to be exciting indeed!  Thank you, First Baptist, Dr. Crosby, and brothers and sisters!

Information about the Baptist Crossroads Project is available at the organization's website at www.baptistcrossroads.org.

Student Group Works on Habitat House Over Winter Break

Fifty college students from the all over the country spent winter break in New Orleans helping the city recover from Katrina.  These students, hosted by Chabad Lubavitch (just off of Tulane's campus), hail from Columbia, USC, Univ. of Washington, Harvard, Brown, SUNY, and 25 other colleges and universities.  They worked on the Chabad building and school, a New Orleans public school, and New Orleans Habitat's Dufossat Street home, now under construction and sponsored by the New Orleans Hornets NBA basketball organization. 

The article says of these special folks' Habitat experience:

The relief group got a sense of how helpful Chabad is to the wider community when they spent the day building with Habitat for Humanity. “I am flying away in four days but the work I am doing this week will have an impact that far surpasses any dollar amount I could have mailed,” wrote Avi Zellman in an online blog. Students who had only picked up a hammer to hang up pictures drove nails into the frames of two-by-fours. The home Chabad’s student group worked on was the first one built by Habitat in New Orleans after Katrina.

Thanks, guys, and God Bless You for giving up a portion of your holiday break to help New Orleans rebuild!