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ECSLA Case Management
Program Expands to Assist More Families Recovering
from the BP Oil Spill
ECSLA is proud
to be expanding our participation in the Spirit of
Hope oil spill recovery program, thanks to a
significant grant from Catholic Charities with
funding from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.
ECSLA will provide case management support to
people in the fishing industry in Terrebonne and
St. Mary Parishes. Under this program, we will
work with 110 families to develop a long-term
recovery plan from the oil spill, strengthen their
household sustainability, and meet emergency
needs. ECSLA case managers will be stationed in
St. Mary's Parish and St. Andrew's, Bayou du
Large.
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ECS Gives Thanks
for the Rebuild Program
by Nell Bolton, Exectuive
Director
 Nearly
six years, 13,000 volunteers, 75+ rebuilt houses,
900+ gutting projects, and almost $14.5 million in
impact later, the ECSLA Rebuild Program is
wrapping up its mission of helping to restore the
homes and lives of those still displaced by
Hurricane Katrina. By focusing on the most
vulnerable homeowners–the elderly, the physically
or mentally disabled, those who were victims of
contractor fraud or battling illness–this ministry
has sought to remain faithful to Jesus’ mandate to
serve ‘the least of these.’ Countless volunteers
have testified to the transformative impact of the
Rebuild Program in their own lives, from young
adults who choose new, more service-oriented
career paths after serving as a ‘crew chief’
intern, to mission teams who report that their
time with ECSLA inspired them to start new
ministries back home. Read on
>>>
(Photo:
The Rev. Susan Gaumer, assisted by Deacon Elaine
Clements, blesses the Still home.
Photo
by Stephanie
Mabou.)
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Volunteer Program is Still
Open
by Pete Nunnally, Volunteer
Coordinator
Yes,
our ECS Volunteer Program is still running, and we
would love to host you and your group!
Though our Rebuild Program has come to a
close after gutting over 900 houses and rebuilding
over 75 homes, our Volunteer Program is still
open and accepting
volunteers.
What
do we do now? We are still your one-stop
shop. The ECS Volunteer Program houses
groups, coordinates work projects, and provides
programming for short-term mission groups all
across the country. We house groups in our
own housing bases or coordinate alternative
housing arrangements. We now work with many
partners to provide excellent work projects for
all our groups. We are proud to introduce a
mission trip companion guide of social justice and
spiritual readings and reflections, designed to
facilitate discussion and enable true
transformation, which begins when we move from
charity to solidarity, or right relationship,
recognizing Christ in those we serve and in each
other. Learn
More about the Volunteer Program
>>>
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Thank You to Our Fall
Volunteers!
· Alfred State
College
·
All Saints, Chicago, IL
·
Holy Trinity, Decatur, GA
·
Mercyhurst College
·
St. Michael and All Angels, Ottowa,
Ontario
·
St. Paul's, Olympia, WA
·
St. Stephen's, Richmond, VA
·
Sewanee
·
Trinity Wall St
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Creating Stability in
Turbulent Times
by Nell Bolton, Executive
Director
 When economic
times are hard, those who live on the margins have
an especially tough time. For the past two years,
ECSLA Case Manager Rashonda Bell has steadily
helped over 110 families to find their footing and
make a better, more stable life for themselves.
Through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid
Rehousing Program (HPRP), ECSLA has been able to
help people find or maintain decent, affordable
apartments and to find new sources of income.
While financial assistance has been a key
component of the HPRP program, giving people time
to get back on their feet, the support,
encouragement and guidance of the case manager has
been just as essential. Many out-of-work job
seekers, for example, battle depression as they
face repeated rejections in a difficult job
market; the case manager is able to help them
focus on positive gains, and think creatively
about their gifts and skills. Read on
>>>
(Photo:
ECSLA Case Manager, Roshanda Bell, with a
client.)
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The Fellows Wish You a
Very Merry Christmas
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Reflections from Living
With Purpose:
Tutoring at All Souls
Episcopal Church & Community
Center
by Chris Musil, Living with Purpose
Fellow
 Every tutoring
day a young first grader greets me in either one
of two ways: he either scowls at me and says
something about how I am making him angry, or he
gives me puppy eyes, takes my pinky finger and
asks me if I can get him “out of here” because he
got in trouble and wants to leave. One day he
asked me if I could help him get peace into his
life, to which I responded that I was trying to
work that out for myself first. He is the youngest
of three brothers, all of whom attend All Souls
Tutoring Program, and although all are bright he
is by far the most interesting yet also the most
angry. I have no idea how to deal with him – if I
ever sit down with him to get his homework done,
it always takes nearly five minutes to actually
get started because he is too busy giving me a
small cold shoulder or harassing his peers at the
table.
Read on
>>>
(Photo:
Tutoring children at the All Souls Episcopal
Church & Community Center. Photo by Chris
Musil.)
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New ECSLA Grants Support
Parish Ministry
Episcopal
Community Services is pleased to announce new 2012
grants dedicated to supporting parish-based
ministries in the Diocese of
Louisiana:
- A
$12,500 grant from the Fund for Theological
Education Pastoral Internships program will
place young adult interns in four parishes
around the Diocese.
- The $754,000
Spirit of Hope grant from Catholic
Charities/Baton Rouge Area Foundation will
allow ECSLA to
station case managers at St. Andrew's Bayou
Dularge and St. Mary's Parish, in order to serve
people in the fishing and seafood industries who
were adversely impacted by the 2010 BP oil spill
disaster.
- A
$21,000 gift from the H & B Young Foundation
in Morgan City will sustain ECSLA's ongoing case
management in partnership with Trinity, Morgan
City.
- A $115,000
award from Episcopal Relief & Development is
a continued investment in our Diocese's disaster
preparedness and community engagement. This
year, for example, such funds have allowed ECS
to station generators at 7 points around the
diocese to support future disaster relief
efforts, and to offer a series of Asset-Based
Community Development trainings in Baton Rouge,
New Orleans, Metairie, and Morgan
City.
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Alfred State College
Students Return for a Second Year to Rebuild Homes
in New Orleans
Building
Trades/Building Construction students from Alfred
State College of New York returned for a second
year to partner with ECSLA in helping victims of
Hurricane Katrina to move home. For six weeks this
fall, they used the skills acquired in their first
year of study at Alfred State to rebuild homes in
New Orleans. ECSLA is very grateful for this
partnership. With their help, the last houses in
the ECSLA Rebuild Program were
completed. (Photo by Karen
Mackey)
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Santa on the
Bayou
Children
and families in Bayou DuLarge received some early
Christmas cheer during Santa Claus' annual visit
to Southeast Louisiana. Due to inclement weather,
Santa could not make his grand entrance to the
town by boat, his favorite form of travel in
Louisiana, but instead paraded in by firetruck and
flatbed trailers to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
for a bowl of gumbo and to visit with families in
need. Throughout the evening, children had the
opportunity to sit on Santa's lap and give him
their Christmas wish list. Each child was sent
home with a present and each family with a basket
of food. See you again on Christmas Eve,
Santa! (Photos by Nell
Bolton)
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St. Nicholas Visits Morgan
City
ECSLA
presented a special morning with St. Nicholas at
Trinity Church, Morgan City, LA, on Saturday,
December 10, where parishioners gathered to hear
the story of St. Nicholas, wrap gifts for the
children of ECSLA case management families, and
collect food donations for St. Mary Outreach.
(Photo by the Rev. Rob
Courtney)
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