Recovering from Katrina
added June 4th, 2008
Situated in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, Beecher Memorial UCC has served its community since 1904. For more than a century, the church has weathered storms and rebounded — including 1965’s Hurricane Betsy, which destroyed Beecher’s building leaving only the bell that now sits in the church’s front yard.
But no one in New Orleans was prepared for the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Already a Cornerstone Fund client, Beecher Memorial saw water fill its building with more than five feet of filthy water. When the water receded, mold took over. And with a large number of its 100+ congregants relocated in the wake of the post-Katrina levee breaks, Beecher struggled to see a future for its ministry in New Orleans.
But with the help of volunteers, the UCC’s Hope Shall Bloom fund, and the Cornerstone Fund, Beecher is on the road to recovery. Progress is slow, but as of late May, the electrical system has been roughed in, an accessible bathroom is working (though visitors need to turn on a flashlight before they close the door!), and the baptistry has been installed and tested for water-tightness. Through it all, the congregation has continued to worship together, sitting on folding chairs before a bare wood altar — its few salvaged possessions stacked along the back wall of the sanctuary.
As a borrower with the Cornerstone Fund, Beecher Memorial and its congregation have found more than a lender to help finance their recovery. They’ve found a partner in ministry. For a glimpse of Beecher Memorial’s progress as of late May 2008, click the video screen below.
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