PLEASE VISIT OUR MAIN WEBPAGE AT WWW.CCSTB.ORG
WELCOME!
This is the MSN group page for the Community Center of St Bernard in Arabi, Louisiana. We're just east of New Orleans in St Bernard Parish, located in the epicenter of devastation from Hurricane Katrina.
Socialization is key to the rebuilding of St Bernard Parish. Isolation is one of the most damaging effects of Katrina.
Residents need a place to come together daily, to share a meal as well as their unbelievably surreal stories with others who understand. It’s natural and human to eat together … especially in New Orleans where food is so much a part of the culture.
Residents need free phones and the internet to rebuild their businesses. They need a respectful place to feel comfortable taking donated supplies that arrive for them from all over the world. And they need to feel that they’re contributing to the recovery process, too.
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Interactive Graphic:The Rise and Disappearance of Southeast Louisiana
Interactive Graphic:Flooding Timeline-New Orleans Metro Area
Watch footage from the Parish govt building, filmed August 20-30 2005: Hurricane Katrina (produced by Benjamin Chappetta, 28 min 26 sec).
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Unfortunately, just as this devastated fishing community begins the process of rebuilding, many of the services that sustained it through the emergency response phase are pulling out. The inevitable vacuum of services this will create is overwhelming and demoralizing.
To make matters worse, the majority of civic, cultural, educational, athletic, faith-based and human service agencies that once nurtured this vibrant community have been put out of commission themselves.
In the aftermath of Katrina it has been estimated that in the Gulf region 217,245 homes were destroyed, displacing 1.2 million families.
As of September 2008, it is estimated that only 29,000 residents (45% of the pre-disaster population) have returned to St Bernard Parish. Some of them still live in cramped "temporary" FEMA trailers while they continue to wait for their homes to be rebuilt. Meanwhile in neighboring New Orleans, the population is already back to more than 70% of pre-Katrina levels.
The Community Center of St. Bernard offers a non-political, non-denominational, safe and inclusive space to assist residents in their return home, where they can gather to reconnect as they rebuild their lives, businesses and neighborhoods.
OUR GOALS
We are connecting with existing agencies in whatever ways possible to foster and facilitate our common goals, creating a permanent resource so that we may assist their progress. We currently have working partnerships with many organizations in the civic, faith-based,and nonprofit sectors, including:
United Way NOLA, Bayou Land RC&D,St. Bernard Parish Government, St. Bernard Long-Term Recovery Committee, St. Bernard Parish Citizens Recovery Committee, CrossRoads Missions, AmeriCorps, New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, Plenty International, Superior Wireless, Rotary Club, Catholic Charities, CACRC, Green Project, Habitat Restore, Emergency Communities, Help for Families, Relief Spark, Lean On Me, Girl Scouts of St. Bernard Parish, St. Bernard Battered Women's Program, La Spirit, Unified Nonprofits of Greater New Orleans, Neighborhoods Planning Network, New Orleans Musicians Clinic, Trinity Christian Community, NOMACC, Bywater Church of Christ, Celebration Church, Boat People SOS, National Relief Network, Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Katrina Family Support.
We provide free phone and internet access with technical assistance for any residents who require it, a distribution center with clothes and new products as they are available, performance space for local musicians and artists, adult education services such as computer literacy, space for social functions, community meetings, and support groups, satellite office space for other agencies and possible day care and after school programs. We are also planning to provide laundry facilities in the near future. Our Executive Director's Blog chronicles our progress from our first meeting to our current events.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We have the enthusiastic support of residents and local government here, and the determination to see the project through. We must now find the funding necessary to make it happen! As you know the need has never been greater for the residents of this devastated community. We appreciate any assistance you can offer in our efforts to make the Community Center of St. Bernard a key player in the resurrection of St. Bernard Parish.
Please Send Your Tax-deductible Donations to:
Community Center of St. Bernard
1107 LeBeau St
Arabi LA 70032
or go to Paypal and make a donation online to ccstbp@yahoo.com with your checking account or credit card.
Effective April 17, 2006 the Community Center of St. Bernard obtained official tax exempt status under the 501(c)(3) statute of the Internal Revenue Service.
Iray Nabatoff ---Executive Director - ccstbp@yahoo.com
