Volunteers head to Iowa's flood zone
They plan to share Katrina experience
Saturday, June 28, 2008
By Bruce Nolan

Volunteers from a Kenner church and a Lakeview neighborhood group are preparing to head into the Iowa flood zone to help damaged families with free labor and recovery know-how.

Vineyard Christian Church and Beacon of Hope, two organizations that developed a working relationship in New Orleans, are preparing a relief trip to Cedar Rapids, representatives of both groups said.

That city of about 121,000 suffered extensive damage earlier this month when the Cedar River breached the local flood protection system and flooded much of the downtown district. In addition, up to 4,000 homes were affected, according to some accounts.

 The church will send a team of at least seven to help homeowners around Cedar Rapids with the first phase of their recovery, the brutal clean-out of their flooded homes, said Shawn Rich, Vineyard's director of missions.

"Most people are still getting their belongings out of their home," he said. "Then they'll start the gutting phase."
The New Orleans volunteers, who leave for Iowa July 7, will be based out of a Vineyard church in Cedar Rapids that likely will become a permanent volunteer center, he said.
 
"We've put out a call for bodies. We hope to go as long as we have volunteers and there are needs," Rich said.
Meantime, a small contingent from Beacon of Hope, the private self-help group born out of Lakeview's post-Katrina misery, will travel to Cedar Rapids on July 13, said one group administrator, Connie Uddo.
 
Their mission is slightly different.
 
They will distribute gift cards from home supply stores and big box retailers to needy families, she said.
Those cards and cash donations are being collected at St. Paul Episcopal Church's Homecoming Center at 6268 Vicksburg. Donations also are being collected at the Beacon web site: www.lakewoodbeacon.org and at the Beacon of Hope headquarters at 145 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Suite 210.

In addition to financial help, Uddo and others will share with Iowa groups their own hard-won lessons in post-flood clean-up, ranging from how to organize neighborhoods to specific practical tips.

"We remember how it was in the beginning for us," she said. "No one had ever heard of mold remediation. No one knew what ICC compensation was. We have a lot of that information."

The Beacon of Hope delegation, which also is scheduled to include Al Petrie, president of the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association, will work through the Vineyard church's Cedar Rapids center, and also through the local Episcopal diocese.
. . . . . . .
Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3344