|
New St. Clare Volunteer Center Opens
Workers Blessed To Be A Blessing
THE Lord’s Hands are upon the hundreds of volunteers who have faithfully and tirelessly sacrificed the comforts of home over these past eighteen months to help re-build the homes … and lives … of those who survived one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.
Thanks to God’s provision of the new St. Clare Volunteer Center, volunteers already are experiencing the rewards of a much-improved home-away-from-home environment while they stay/work in the St. Clare/Waveland area.
Up until now, volunteers were housed in the beachside Quonset huts that had served as a temporary elementary school for St. Clare students after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. Although these tents conveniently were located on St. Clare property, they consistently presented challenges with threatening weather, seasonal insects, and the corrosive humidity of the Gulf Coast.
In order to provide a more secure and safe environment for volunteers, the housing locale was moved slightly inland. With the support and direction of St. Clare Parish, a new housing site was secured in Bay St. Louis. The new St. Clare Volunteer Center is now located in the Anchor Custom Homes Building at 609 Central Ave., just across the line into Bay St. Louis, the only structure in the Waveland/Bay St. Louis area that completely withstood the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We would like to thank the owner, Gerry Mallon, for graciously hosting our volunteers.
The volunteer quarters include ten (10) sleeping rooms (with beds, walls and doors!), and each room accommodates up to five people. In a central area, there is a kitchenette complete with microwave, coffee pot and refrigerator, for preparing light meals, and a full kitchen with two stoves, etc. on the lower level. Hot showers, bathrooms, and laundry facilities are conveniently located in the same building … no longer do volunteers have to trek outside with a flashlight in the middle of the night.
To cover rent and the costs for maintaining the new St. Clare Volunteer Center, the fee assessed each volunteer is $10/day.
Daily relief operations still will be coordinated from the St. Clare Recovery Office at the Volunter Center. Volunteers report to the Office each morning to receive their job assignments for the day and pick up their tools.
The new St. Clare Volunteer Center represents a major positive step in the rebuilding of St. Clare Parish … “We definitely are witnessing the fruit of our volunteers’ labor,” shares Mary Parks of St. Bartholomew Church in Columbus, IN, “We thank the Holy Spirit for continuing to answer our prayers by moving hearts and sending a steady stream of folks to help rebuild homes and restore hope!”
|
