A Ray of Hope

Stories abound about how bad it has gotten in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. In the Lower Ninth Ward and surrounding areas, the rampant crime and demolished homes highlight the large group of people who have been seemingly forgotten and left behind. I read recently that the district attorney considered the crime an almost insurmountable problem. The murder rate is alarmingly high.

In all of this sadness and violence, at last there is a sign of progress. Two new houses were unveiled this week in the Lower Ninth Ward, built with a combination of loans and volunteer service as described in a NYT article. It is a small beginning. But at least it is a beginning.

I hope that this step will inspire others to pitch in - either financially or physically - to help keep things moving.

Church for the Homeless

In my small but on-going effort to bring good news, mainly news that highlights what people are doing to help those less fortunate, I bring you a NYT story of an outdoor church service for the homeless in Washington DC. A local Episcopal church offers Street Church with services in a park to reach out to the homeless where they are. After a short service, including a Communion (juice, not wine), they serve a small lunch to the group. It is good to see that people are actually thinking about what it must be like to be homeless and adjusting the offerings of the church accordingly. Most of us cannot fathom living on the street and we cannot relate to the challenges the homeless face even at the thought of entering a church.

Good News

Do-gooders may not always make the headlines, but sometimes they do make the news. IT is good to be reminded of the positive work that is being done. I hope that stories of hard work and sacrifice for the sake of others will inspire someone (including me) even a little to make some small sacrifice in our life.

A great example of sacrifice is the story of a volunteer soccer coach for refugees in Georgia (USA). The New York Times article is in the archives now, so you may not be able to access it for free. I highly recommend the article if you can find it somewhere. It tells the story of the "Fugees" soccer team and their coach, Luma Mufleh. The consists entirely of refugee children who have been placed in Clarkston, Georgia, from places including Somalia and Afghanistan. If you know anything about small towns in Georgia, you know that the team members and their families may not be welcomed with open arms. The story tells of their struggles to be allowed to use the local park for practice as well as the struggles of the working poor families that the children come from. Check out the "Fugees" website here, which tells some of the personal stories and shows that the coach is trying to help the families in more than one aspect of their lives (education, housing, employment).