Kathy and Gene's house the day after Hurricane  
                               Rita.
  The Park Avenue team had 12 members:  J. Elizabeth Clark, Mary Ellen Kris, Mark Kris, Mary Kris, Richard A. Clark, Winson Josiah, Packia Josiah, Lynn Wright, Darlene Williams, Mark Pierce, Sonja Marrett, & Matt Shaw.  We were joined by 3 members of the First United Methodist Church in Elwood, Indiana:  Chris Dare, Mark Widmeyer and Janis Dockery.

Dulac, Louisiana is a very small community comprised of shrimpers, sport fisherman, and locals who have been in the area for generations.  Many people who live in the community also belong to the Houma Indian Nation. For the shrimpers and the locals, living on the water is both their livelihood and their life.

During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many homes in the community were damaged.  With the emphasis on New Orleans, however, federal assistance was slow to make its way to Dulac.  While the devastation is not as severe as the images you have seen in places like Biloxi and New Orleans, the people of Dulac nevertheless live under conditions that are less than ideal.  During Hurricane Rita, the water stretched for almost 17 miles.  Many of the homes, already raised 5 or 6 feet off the ground, sustained 3 feet of water damage.  FEMA trailers dot the landscape as people scrape together the money to repair their homes.   Few people in the community are back into their homes.  Instead, people are living in a grey area between "life as they knew it" and "life as it will be."  After cleaning out their homes, making sure the homes are free of mold, and replacing everything that they've lost, the next challenge is to raise their homes to the new level suggested by federal guidelines:  11 feet.

We worked on 5 projects in Dulac:

• Installing a new kitchen in Kathy and Gene Verdin's home & painting a bathroom

• Gutting a home and preparing it for dry wall for Roxanna Francis and her two daughters

• Preparing the Clanton Chapel preschool for the new school year

• Researching & meeting with Houma Indian leaders about Federal Recognition for the Houman Indian Nation, which is currently only recognized by the state of Louisiana
  Installing a new tile floor in the Dulac Community Center

Our days were long as we sought to accomplish as much as we possibly could in the space of a short week.  We worked for 6 long days and were pleased with the amount we finished, but we were also saddened by the amount of work left to do. 

Our hosts for the trip, Kirby and Zoe Verrett & Kathy and Gene Verdin were generous.  Talk about open hearts and open doors!  We felt like family and we were welcomed into their homes in the most humbling ways.  One of the highlights of the trip was a traditional crab boil.  And, every member of the team received a hand carved animal from Gene, who tragically lost all of his carving tools in the hurricane (but which the team will be replacing!).

As Louisiana continues its slow pace towards recovery, we'll continue our ministry in Dulac.  There will be many ways that you can participate in our ministry, so stay tuned for additional service opportunities!  Also, if you are interested in service opportunities in hurricane affected areas, please consider signing up for the upcoming mission trip to Biloxi in October.  And, as they say down south, Laissez les bon temps roulet (Let the good times roll!).