Aug. 29, 2005, was to be a special day for Michael and Yvette.  They were to meet a birthmother in Volunteers of America’s Adoption and Maternity program who had selected them as adoptive parents for her newborn daughter. 

Of course, the hurricane canceled everything.  Baby Alyssa, who was in a receiving home awaiting the adoption, evacuated safely with the receiving home mother to Monroe.  The birthmother went to Texas.  Michael and Yvette were in a state of worry. 

Despite spotty communication, Adoption and Maternity Social Worker Lori Arceneaux finally contacted all parties and, with everyone’s consent, arranged for the adoption to be completed in Monroe.  Michael and Yvette joyously traveled there to meet their daughter three weeks after the hurricane hit--a miracle considering all the obstacles. 

Soon afterward, Volunteers of America committed to keeping the Adoption and Maternity program active in New Orleans, allowing more children and parents to experience the joy of becoming families. 

The hurricane did more than disrupt Lisa Ann Hernandez’s life, it hit her when she was down.  Katrina destroyed all she had in Chalmette at the same time she was undergoing other life challenges.  After the storm, Hernandez found herself living in a women’s shelter, pregnant, alone and unemployed. 

Volunteers of America’s Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (LFRC) helped Hernandez rebuild her life.  After her daughter Chloe was born, LFRC helped her find an apartment and supplied baby items and furnishings.  Hernandez found a restaurant job and things started to look up.  She found new motivation to look ahead with determination and gratitude.   LFRC specializes in giving a hand up to those struggling to  recover. 

After the hurricane, Volunteers of America staff felt great concern for couples awaiting adoptive children through our Adoption and Maternity Program.  One adoption was actually in process, though we weren’t certain of the location of the adoptive parents and how it could be finalized with no court system in place.

Soon after the storm, Volunteers of America made a commitment to keeping the Adoption program flourishing in New Orleans.  The adoption already begun was completed in Monroe, with cooperation from the adoptive parents, birthparents and others who offered help.  

One of the couples who benefitted from this decision are Stephen and Vicky, who had qualified as prospective adoptive parents.  During the uncertain times after Katrina, they considered other adoption options, but we decided to stay with our program.

Stephen and Vicky are typical of the couples who turn to Adoption and Maternity.  After trying unsuccessfully to conceive, they wanted to fulfill their dream of parenthood and help a child in need of a loving family.  This spring their dream came true.  Birthparents, who wanted the open adoption available through Volunteers of America, selected them as adoptive parents.  With openness in adoption, the birthparents have the opportunity to select the adoptive family, meet them and develop an outgoing relationship if they choose.  

Stephen and Vicky named their daughter Emma.  For them and the birthparents, open adoption has been positive.  They have periodic visits with Emma's birthparents and exchange pictures and letters.  Say Stephen and Vicky, “It gives us joy to have Emma's birth parents involved in our lives.  Emma is blessed to have so many people who love and care for her.”  

They describe Emma as an unimaginable joy.  They hope to one day adopt a second child through Volunteers of America.  “With both of us having family who lost everything to the hurricane, receiving Emma into our family gave everyone a renewed sense of hope and faith.”

Call (504) 835-3005 for information about Adoption and Maternity.

Dan Tobias, 83, is a famed Mardi Gras Indian, a ranking member of the Choctaw tribe.  

 

Like many seniors who suffered disproportionally from the hurricane, he lost everything and was fortunate to survive.   The trauma caused him to sink deeply in depression.  Today, with the help of Volunteers of America’s Louisiana Spirit Crisis Counseling program on the NorthShore, he is healing and is enjoying living again.

 

 

 

Mr. Dan had a harrowing experience.  When his New Orleans home started flooding, he knew he had to get out or drown.  He escaped, but the water in the streets soon rose over his head and he clung to floating debris to survive.  In a macabre twist, he and a friend grabbed onto a floating coffin, which he was startled to discover contained the body of his recently deceased friend.  

Thankfully, Mr. Dan was rescued and ended up in Dallas where he found himself alone among strangers.  He was greatly distressed.  He was able to get to San Antonio to join a brother, and then later to St.  Helena Parish to be with a friend.    There, he settled in a FEMA trailer.  But the hurricane experience took everything out of him.  He felt so alone and depressed he couldn’t function.

Helping hurricane survivors like Mr. Dan cope is the purpose of the Louisiana Spirit Crisis Counseling program, which Volunteers of America manages in five NorthShore parishes.  Free crisis  counseling is available to all those impacted by the storm.

Counselors began working with Mr. Dan, and, slowly, he was able to heal and recover.  They encouraged him to get involved in a local senior care program where he connected with new friends.  Now, Mr. Dan is doing well enough to help others by volunteering at a nursing home.  Disaster can take a great toll of mental health.  Yet, with the Louisiana Spirit Crisis Counseling program reminds everyone that recovery is possible.  

To learn more about free crisis counseling from Volunteers of America's Louisiana Spirit program on the NorthShore, call (985) 674 -0488 or toll-free 1-877-674-0488.  

 

Though Betty Irving lost all in the storm, she still finds time to mentor.  To learn more about becoming a mentor or helping in other ways, call (504)836-8700.

Children with incarcerated parents are innocent, but they face tough challenges.  Without intervention, they have a 70 percent chance of ending up behind bars.  Volunteers of America, with its Mentoring Children of Promise program, is working to change this tragedy.   

Post-Katrina, the program--which matches caring adult mentors with youth--is more important than ever because of the strains  and  displacement experienced by so many families and disruption of community life.  Mentors volunteer to give these young people extra acceptance, attention, encouragement and guidance.  

The program’s heroes are mentors such as Betty Irving, a New Orleans retired math teacher, grandmother and group home staffer.  She mentors because she has compassion for young people and wants to help break the vicious cycle of imprisonment that draws in so many.  “Listening to kids gives them the opportunity to express themselves and breaks the barriers they have with adults,” Irving says.

She mentors 17-year-old Wendell Millro, who attends John McDonogh High School and is being raised by his grandmother.  Both he and Irving attend Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  Wendell, who has five brothers and a sister, is a typical local teen who enjoys football and riding his bike and aspires to be a computer engineer.  Irving helps him see that he has a great future ahead.   

Irving’s heroism is even more apparent in that she hasn’t let her own crisis keep her from mentoring. She and her husband lost their New Orleans East home and belongings in the hurricane and, until recently, were living with relatives.  Irving says she feels blessed to be alive and able to reach out to children, whose losses during the disaster were so great.  

Actually, New Orleans is blessed to have such caring citizens as Irving among its many saints.

It’s easy to give.  Send your 6 Caring Gifts check payable to Volunteers of America c/o 4152 Canal St., New Orleans, 70119. Or call us at (504) 482-2130 to learn more of give with your credit card. 

 

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If you are honoring others with your gift, please include the complete names and addresses of each person on your list.  We’ll take care of the rest.  We notify each person by mail of the gift given in their honor.  All 6 Caring Gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. 

Here are some of the people helped by the Volunteers of America programs which will benefit from 6 Caring Gifts.  

Froeba Family:  Hard-Working St. Bernard Family Recovers

 

 

 

The Froeba’s hurricane story has details that have become painfully familiar.  Flooded home, lost jobs, a too-small FEMA trailer and multiple stops on the long road home.  The Froebas also have six children ages 15  and younger.  All these elements have made it  tough for this hardworking Violet family.  

Things are looking up, thanks in part to the help they’ve received from Volunteers of America’s Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (LFRC), which aids displaced persons in south Louisiana parishes.  LFRC provided a washer-dryer and furnishings for the Froeba’s trailer and new clothes for the kids.  When the Froebas rebuild their home, LFRC will supply new appliances.  LFRC is aiding many families like these, providing extra help that is so important to the rebuilding of their lives.

Says Mom Belinda Froeba, “I never thought I’d be asking for help.  I was always the one helping others.  It feels funny to have the tables turned on me.  It’s very humbling.”  

When the hurricane approached, the Froebas evacuated to Alabama.  Their beloved home was submerged by the storm surge that inundated St.  Bernard Parish.  Dad Robert lost his job in construction, Belinda was laid off from her hospital job.  The family stayed in a hotel, shelter, donated home and then an apartment.  They were able to return home to celebrate Christmas, but didn’t get a FEMA trailer on their property until March.  

In May, new baby Jaden arrived.  It took more months of begging FEMA before they received another trailer large enough for their family.  Despite the challenges, Robert Froeba, now working steadily on his own in construction, plans to rebuild their home, and the children are enjoying school back home in St. Bernard.

As families cope with the seemingly unending stress of rebuilding their lives, Volunteers of America’s LFRC is delivering real help, right now.  

 

A popular local tradition, 6 Caring Gifts gives you the opportunity to experience the true spirit of the holidays.  Your gift will go directly to benefit these Volunteers of America’s programs that are helping our people bounce back from the greatest catastrophe to ever hit southern Louisiana.  6 Caring Gifts also supports these programs for children, such as adoption and mentoring children of incarcerated parents, that we’ve energized after the storm.

.  Coming Back Home

Volunteers of America’s initiative to supply affordable housing for working families.  

.  Katrina Aid Today (KAT)

Case management services to disaster survivors to help with long-term recovery.

,  Louisiana Spirit Crisis Counseling 

Free counseling in NorthShore parishes to persons impacted by the disaster.

. Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (LFRC) 

Comprehensive services to displaced persons. 

. Retired Senior Volunteers’ Faith in Action Program

Partnering with AARP, we help seniors remain in independent living. 

.  Children’s Programs

Adoption and Maternity as well as Mentoring Children of Promise also receive support.