[StBernard] CAMP HOPE IN ST. BERNARD PARISH GETS FACE LIFT BY BP

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Mon Jun 14 09:09:10 EDT 2010


CAMP HOPE IN ST. BERNARD PARISH GETS FACE LIFT, COURTESY OF BP

Camp Hope, the volunteer base camp in St. Bernard Parish, which has been
home to hundreds of volunteers since its opening in May of 2009 is getting a
face lift. The former St. Louise School and Rectory was leased to St.
Bernard Parish Government from the Archdiocese of New Orleans for use as a
volunteer base camp. Camp Hope 3 is the third iteration of a volunteer camp
in St. Bernard Parish, with the first version being at Willie Smith School
and the second being at Beauregard School. Both of these versions of Camp
Hope were relocated due to the schools being rebuilt. The predecessor of
Camp Hope was a FEMA funded tent facility at the St. Bernard Port which
housed both residents and volunteer groups immediately after Hurricane
Katrina.

The face lift comes at the hands of British Petroleum as the camp will be
temporarily used to house oil spill response workers. In a few months when
the volunteers return, they will have a much improved building which will
include central air and heat, new shower and restroom facilities, new
flooring, wall lockers, ceiling tiles, lighting, new kitchen operations, and
several other upgrades.

"We can never thank the volunteers and Americorps enough for their work to
put Camp Hope into operations, and this face lift will give the volunteers a
top notch facility to return to," said Parish President Craig P Taffaro, Jr.
"It is never easy having to balance two operations and the partnership with
the local Marina Hotel, which will accommodate the volunteers in the
interim, has been great."

During periods where there have been large numbers of volunteers here at
one time, the hotel has already played host to the volunteer groups.

Camp Hope will likely house the oil spill response workers for the next few
months and then the volunteer base camp will be turned back over to the
volunteer efforts. Camp Hope has made some improvements on a shoe-string
budget, but the spirit of the dedication of the volunteers is easily
witnessed within the halls and ceilings as groups have left
their mark with paintings along the way.

Former camp manager Crystal Wells and current interim manager Mark Madary
believe the murals and messages from the volunteer groups says something
about the personality of the camp.

Madary, a former councilman for the district that houses the camp still is
choked up when he thinks about what volunteers have done for St. Bernard
Parish.

"Volunteers have left an incredible legacy on St. Bernard's recovery and the
idea of them having a first class camp is well deserved," Madary said.

Camp Hope was reestablished at the St. Louise School under a newly created
Office of Volunteerism within St. Bernard Parish Government. While the camp
is designed to be financially self-sufficient, it had its financial
struggles over the past year but was beginning to turn the corner to
actually generate revenue for the camp upkeep and improvements.

Taffaro believes with the building improvements, Camp Hope will have no
problem operating in the black when the volunteers return. BP will pay for
the improvements to the building and will also pay a stipend for room and
board for the workers who are housed at the camp. BP has set up other
temporary housing facilities in other parishes to support similar
operations, but Taffaro suggested that there not be another tent or trailer
movement for workers set up in St. Bernard that would undo the progress made
to eliminate unnecessary trailers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina recovery.





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