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The forces of Hands of Hope, Zion Travelers and Covenant World Relief have teamed up to get both instant and permanent results on the Eastbank-two and three bedroom homes, owned outright and built in a matter of months.
This is for people who owned land and have gotten insurance or FEMA money, said Hands of Hope co-founder Brenda Puckett.
The three organizations have cut deals with architects, lumbers companies and roofing material wholesellers, then get volunteers in to do the labor.
Two sets of blueprints for the stick-houses were drawn up by Mike Gromer, a Kansas City resident who has visited Phoenix a number of times and has focused his energies there. The plans are for a two-bedroom, 900-square-foot home or a three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot home.
Participants need a foundation; then, they pick a blueprint. Once the owner picks, Vetters Lumber Company sends over all wood needed for the structure. The lumber is at a discount for those in this program. The organizations also found a roof trussing company that would sell materials to them at wholesale prices.
The Christian organizations will then provide the volunteer labor.
In the end, the two-bedroom costs a total of $29,000 and the three-bedroom is $38,000, said Tyronne Edwards of Zion Travelers. And the process can be done in steps.
Our goal is to have as many people back in their houses as possible and not only that, own their houses, said Edwards.
According to the Pucketts, 16 families have signed up for the rebuilding program and these houses should be complete in several months.
The operation is corruption free said Hands of Hope co-founder Benny Puckett. All checks are written to the lumber company or the foundation company, never to one of the three organizations, which just get participants in touch with the right services.
The rebuilding is based out of Phoenix because of Edwards, said the Pucketts. A community leader who started a distribution center in Phoenix, Edwards has championed the rebuilding program since its inception. He is how most families signed up for the program got wind of its existence.
This grass-roots program has caught the eye of the new parish president, Billy Nungesser. Nungesser said he would like to help expand the program to the Westbank but said the Westbank needs a community leader like Edwards.
Were going to try to mirror what Tyronne has done here, said Nungesser. We need to bring community leaders from all over the parish. Nungesser said he will look to the parish council to fill this position, especially District 8s Lynda Banta and newcomers for District 6 and 9, Burghart Turner and Marla Fisher Cooper.
Cutline: Sidney Bentely of Phoenix (third from the right) helps volunteers from Kansas City, Kan., raise the first wall of what will soon be his new home. Bentely is part of a program, currently exclusive to the Eastbank, that lets property owners rebuild homes for under $40,000. His house should be complete in a matter of months.
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THUNDERBIRDS TO FLY AT 2007 BELLE CHASSE AIR SHOW |
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The Thunderbirds, the Air Force's premiere precision aerobatic demonstration team, announced their 2007 schedule recently, and October 27 and 28 is marked for the N'Awlins Air Show held at the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station.
The Thunderbirds' performance will hallmark the Air Force's 60th anniversary during the upcoming year and will be the unit's 14th year in the F-16C aircraft. The team returns after a three-year hiatus due to the 2005 N'Awlins Air Show being cancelled by Hurricane Katrina.
The NAS JRB New Orleans' team is already working on the schedule for October and while tentative, several performers have already expressed interest in attending, including Frank Ryder and the Oreck Cyclone, Greg Poe in the Edge 540, Jan Collmer in the Fina Extra, and John Klatt in the Air National Guard Staudacher S300D.
"We are certainly looking forward to hosting the Thunderbirds," said Navy Chief Jay Cope, NAS JRB Public Affairs Officer, "and continuing the tradition of world class air shows here at NAS JRB in 2007." |
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FEMALE COAST GUARD CREW LEARNS HISTORY LESSON |
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It is 6 a.m. on a chilly December morning at Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans. A five-member, female crew pulls on their longjohn's and prepares for a cold journey.?
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These five women (three pilots, one flight mechanic and one storekeeper) gather in the flight-planning room and go over their cross-country trip plans to visit the legendary Coast Guard Lady and former SPAR, Lois Bouton, in Rogers, Ark.?
Known around the Coast Guard as a former reservist from 1943-1945 during WWII, Bouton spends her time traveling to Coast Guard stations across the country and writing 1,000 letters to more than 300 units a year.?
The trip would only take two legs each way in the air station's HH-65C helicopter, the airframe utilized by the Coast Guard for medium-range search and rescue missions.? In addition to Air Station New Orleans executing the most number of search and rescue cases of all the service's air stations this fiscal year quarter, the pilots are required to complete training and minimums including Instrument Airway Trainers.?What better opportunity to satisfy the semi-annual requirements than by flying the airways and paying respect to a fellow female Coastie?
Shortly after takeoff, the crew climbs to 6,000-feet their cruising altitude for the first 2.5 hour leg to South Arkansas Regional in El Dorado, Ark.?After landing, the women were met with smiles and hospitality by the wide-eyed employees at the airport, who never had had an all-female helicopter crew, especially from the Coast Guard, land at their facility. The crew filed the next flight plan to their final stop, Beaver Lake Aviation in Rogers and headed back to their helicopter to commence their second leg of the expedition.
As they moved northward, the terrain beneath the crew slowly changed from flat lowlands to rolling hills and then low mountains dotted with intense blue-green lakes and patches of snow.? When they arrived at their destination, the women graced Bouton with their presence from the air, an appropriate aviator's greeting.?Three minutes later, the cold but excited crew, landed and taxied to their parking spot.?
As the women began tying down the helicopter, they noticed a group of people walking towards them from the airport.?Bouton, several Coast Guard Auxiliarists and some of her supporters and friends walked across the ramp until they arrived at the bright orange helicopter parked amongst a sea of white corporate jets.?The air station crew eagerly greeted Bouton with smiles and hugs, gave the guests a tour of the aircraft and posed for photos.?Escaping the cold air, Bouton returned to her house to prepare for the crew's visit.
Following the initial introductions, the crew piled into a rental car to meet with Bouton at her house a small museum packed full of Coast Guard patches, covers and letters from past commandants.
They pulled up to her snow-covered house and rang the doorbell.? Bouton warmly welcomed the crew into her home and had them sign-in to her visitor's log after which, they received a complete tour of her overwhelmingly impressive collection of Coast Guard artifacts and beautifully-detailed stories of her history in the service.?
The experience was an invaluable history lesson from a living legend.?A couple hours and scrapbooks later, Bouton watched as the crew, unaccustomed to snow in the south, partook in a bruising, impromptu snowball fight in her backyard, replete with snow angels.
The day was long for everyone, and the crew piled back into the car to check-in to their hotel for some much-needed rest before continuing the voyage back home.
Before leaving Rogers the next day, the women called in on The Coast Guard Lady one more time.?
The crew arrived once again to Bouton's home for coffee and cake.? Once the jackets were hung, they were escorted over to her kitchen table, where the women suddenly found pens in their hands and cards on the place mats.?Bouton shared some of her secrets on the art of letter writing as the women began writing letters to Bouton's friends who were unable to meet with the crew.?
Then, it was time to return home.? The women departed her house with full hearts and a greater appreciation of female Coasties of the past who helped pave the continually growing path for the women in the Coast Guard, present and future.
Crew:? Petty Officer 3rd Class Jolene Baken, Lt. Taylor J. Carlisle, Lt. j.g. Shelley Decker, Petty Officer 2nd Class Angelina Harless and Lt. Breanna Knutson. |
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