Sunday:
A.M. worship was a little different than usual. They set aside time for the four shepherds to lead an informative session on what's happening with the disaster relief effort. Here's what we were told:
1. A 5-person board has been set up here at Tammany Oaks to oversee their relief work. They have one employee, Bruce Cox, right now with the tentative plan to hire a secretary and another minister to handle follow-ups with their contacts.
2. They are in the process of setting up a separate 501-C corporation as a division of Tammany Oaks Church of Christ.
3. They made a point of telling the congregation that the relief efforts are being funded by specific disaster relief donations, not by the congregation's funds. They have collected +/- $500K in cash donations over and above donated supplies. +/-$300K has been spent or earmarked ($75K set aside for repairs to the building), and +/-$200K is in a bank account.
4. They are planning to develop a kitchen for the relief efforts to replace the makeshift facilities they have now.
5. They are receiving funding now from White's Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La., as are the folks in Slidell (Hilltop).
6. They expressed a need to get the disaster relief efforts organized with the new warehouse distribution center in order to allow other ministries, which have been suffering, to use the building also.
7. The unfinished portion of the second floor will be developed into dorms once the three pairs of exterior stairs are installed to allow adequate emergency egress, per building codes. The stairs are fabricated, are in the galvanizing process, and are expected to be operational by mid-March.
Sunday afternoon, we went out to the warehouse to scope out our plans for working there this week. We're pouring the piers, setting the 6x6 columns, and framing the floor over the dorms (there's more to frame than what your crew did) to make that area larger.
Monday:
We visited the hilltop group in Slidell briefly. As you know they’re planning to move down to Chalmette.
We went down to Chalmette, saw the Church of Christ building there (much damage, but in the repair process), and visited the National Assoc. of Christian Churches disaster relief operations in the Wall-Mart parking lot. They have a large tent for distribution (pic #30), and another tent up as a "free store" and worship service area.We visited a location everyone here refers to as the "hippie kitchen" down and across the street. That was interesting! They're a very different sort of people with a very "hippie" lifestyle and liberal political views, but they are doing a great job feeding very needy people and the folks here have made a good impression on them through their donations of excess items here that were badly needed there.
Next we drove through the 9th Ward. There are no words to write here that would do it justice (pic #61). I know you've seen it firsthand. To refer to it as something that resembles a "war zone", as I have stated in the past, just doesn't begin to do it justice. What are they ever going to do with this place? I don't think anyone has an answer to that right now, and so everyone is in limbo and either speechless, or complaining about nothing being done. It's really sad.
I had hoped to get to talk to Fred Franke when we visited Operation Nehemiah, but he was out when we were there. We did get a chance to walk all around and see the progress (pic #71). They are going to ship some of the supplies they've received up to the warehouse in order to free up their space for the restoration work and improvements. They seem to have their act together very well.Monday afternoon and today (Tuesday) we worked at the warehouse installing the re-bar in the piers and framing upstairs. Hopefully we'll be pouring the concrete tomorrow. I've stressed that the support issues need to be dealt with a.s.a.p., so we've given that top priority.
I'm attaching a couple of pics, but I'll have a bunch for you when I return. I'll be in touch.
Because He Lives!
Mark Morris
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