USA (MNN) ― Think of all that has happened in your life since 2005. There could be big moves, job changes, new friends, marriages, deaths, births. Seven years is a long time.
Yet that time has still not been sufficient to complete rebuild efforts in New Orleans. Thework remains overwhelming.
"Believe it or not, we still have a major effort ongoing in New Orleans following up on Hurricane Katrina," says Mark Lewis, director of the EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response. "There are still over 20,000 Katrina-blighted properties in the city. So there continues to be an ongoing effort there of recovery and working with families."
The needs are not only ongoing, but they're urgent. Lewis just spoke with one woman who has been living on couches of friends and family since 2005. She just wants to go home.
"For those homeowners who are still displaced and still trying to get back into their homes, it's just an ongoing impact that has been totally forgotten," Lewis notes.
For the last seven years, TouchGlobal has been using volunteer labor to build one home at a time in New Orleans. But the rebuild effort has been much more than physical. Emotional and spiritual needs continue to be significant. TouchGlobal has been working with multiple local churches and has even been planting new churches in response.
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