The Final Chapter

On Friday, all three teams stayed at the church.  Every other Friday, the church opens the doors from ten to one for homeless people to take showers, get a change of clothes, and eat a hot meal.  Some of the members of our group walked a few blocks to Jackson Square to tell people about it and encourage them to come, others sorted through clothing and tried to find the right sizes for people, a few organized and directed the shower line, and a few more served food.  Everyone had a chance to just sit and chat with people.

After everyone left at one, the three groups headed back to the same afternoon sights as Thursday.  The Green Team shrank because several people took the opportunity to visit the Boys and Girls Club—Narissa, Lexy, James, Ruby, and Gwen.  The rest of the Green Team was able to finish painting two rooms completely and two more were most of the way complete.  They also covered tables with paper so that students coming at eight o’clock the next morning could fingerpaint.

The Gold Team carried more boxes, this time primarily to the third floor.  By the time they left, the big Kindergarten room that had contained all of the boxes on the first day was empty except for the furniture that belonged, all boxes that could be identified and sorted had been carried to the proper rooms, and the empty cardboard boxes were taken to the dumpster.  It was a hard week of labor, but they really felt like they accomplished a lot.

The Purple Team had a good time with the kids on the last day.  They weren’t able to go outside because it was raining (again!), but they went to the game room and played air hockey, pool, videogames, and board games.  A few went to the computer lab as well.  The team was a little disappointed because there was supposed to be a Target-sponsored party, but it had to be shut down early because of the rain.

Friday evening, the Kaleo staff took everyone out to a local restaurant called The Spot in the Ninth Ward, another section of New Orleans.  That part of New Orleans had been under 20 feet of water from Hurricane Katrina, and there were still whole blocks of houses and apartment buildings where nothing had been done with them.