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Gulf Coast Update Archive
September 2008
- Hurricane Katrina: Three Years Later
- Families move into new Thrivent Builds homes on Rosemont Street
- Progress being made on additional homes in Pascagoula. Trace property continues infrastructure work.
- Lead a trip. Build an entire community and life-long relationships.
- Make a bigger impact - donate today
- Send us your story!
- Gulf Coast Update Archive
Hurricane Katrina: Three Years Later
As we approach the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast, it is a day that many who endured the storm would rather forget, but we can choose to remember the amazing volunteer efforts that have flourished along the Coast ever since. While Hurricane Katrina was among the United States' worst natural disasters, we would be performing a disservice to the thousands of volunteers who have come to the Gulf Coast to serve others if we forgot the reason they were coming here. We would be discrediting the work that has been done on the hundreds of homes in Mississippi if we didn't acknowledge the storm that caused the need. So let today not be a day of forgetting "the thing", but a day of remembrance of the resiliency of the human spirit and the compassion and generosity of the American people that we have seen over the past three years.
Families move into new Thrivent Builds homes on Rosemont Street
The Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Community, a program that began less than a year ago, is responsible for bringing more than 300 volunteers to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and constructing forty new homes for deserving families. In fact, the program helped four families move into their homes in Ocean Springs this summer. The latest two families to move on to Rosemont Street are the Wilson family, who were given their keys this week and are in the process of moving in, and the Thomas family, who moved in August 1. Latasha Thomas and her seven-year-old son, RaSkaun, moved from Gautier, which meant RaSkaun would start the second grade at a new school. RaSkaun has since started school in Ocean Springs and loves going every day. Ms. Thomas is very happy that he is attending such a great school. She is also ecstatic about her new house. Coincidentally, Ms. Thomas used to work with one of her new neighbors and when asked about her new residence, Ms. Thomas responded, "I love my house!" She is truly grateful for the volunteers that helped build her home and during the building process she tried to get out to the jobsite once a week to see the progress and express her appreciation. "They don't have to do it," she says about the volunteers working on her home, but the fact that they want to is a blessing.
Progress being made on additional homes in Pascagoula. Trace property continues infrastructure work.
Additional homes constructed as part of the Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Community include seven homes in Pascagoula. Four homes on Polk Avenue are in the process of being roofed and sided. A home on Tucker Ave is in the framing process and two homes, one on Convent Avenue and one on Tucker Avenue are ready for framing. The Trace property, which is the eight acres in Long Beach that will comprise twenty-eight new homes, is undergoing substantial infrastructure work. The affiliate is expecting to have volunteers begin construction on the Trace property in October.
Lead a trip. Build an entire community and life-long relationships.
Thrivent Financial has committed $2.5 million in 2008 to help rebuild an entire neighborhood in Gulf Coast
Of the $125 million Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity alliance, $2.5 million has been committed to help Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuild a community—up to 40 homes will be built, along with a park and pavilion. As part of the Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Community, up to 60 teams this year will be building homes, staying in Biloxi's Yankie Stadium and learning more about the destruction of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Your enthusiasm and leadership skills are the catalyst to help your congregation, Lutheran group or local chapter of Thrivent Financial experience a life-changing trip. Take the lead and help build a home with a partner family in need of simple, decent, affordable housing.
- Learn more about becoming a team leader.
- Take advantage of the benefits of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans membership.
Make an even bigger impact - donate today
Through the Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Community program, Thrivent Financial members are helping 40 families to rebuild their homes - and their lives - in the Missisippi Gulf Coast. But the need is still great:
- Only 15% of the homes along the Gulf Coast destroyed by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina have been rebuilt.
- Thousands of families are still living in unsafe temporary housing.
- More than 100 families are in the pipeline, waiting for homes with Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
YOU can make a difference and help even more families today. Donate online to Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and your dollars will help build even more homes in the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Send us your story!
Have you been part of a Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Community trip? Do you have stories or photos you'd like to share with others? Send them to Nicole Doebert for consideration in future issues of the Gulf Coast Update. We want YOU to share the experience and inspire others to help!
Gulf Coast Update Archive
If you would like to read previous issues of the Gulf Coast Update, simply access the Gulf Coast Update Archive from this link or from the left navigation bar.