Sunday - April 22

We arrived home safely at LaGurardia and were immediately reminded that we were not longer in New Orleans as the cold, wet wind hit our underdressed bodies.  We arrived tired, but very satisfied.  It's a good feeling.

Here's a wrap up by some of the NOLA 11 team.

This past week in New Orleans was one of the best in my life.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment showing upon the first day with only cement blocks in place, and leaving with the front wall raised.  I enjoyed the work because for me rebuilding means hammers and nails and boy oh boy we definitely got our daily does of those.  More important was, not just the satisfaction I got, but the joy of Rachel, the future homeowner, when we raised that first wall.  Sure, we have just started raising walls, but it was a finale that came with a lot of work beforehand and surely there is more to do.

Overall, my time in the Big Easy was great and it was hard to feel down with all the people there showing nothing but kindness, respect and a lot of thanks.

    Ryan Beutler

This past week was incredible.  I came expecting to be worn out halfway through each day.  However, I felt none of that.  I looked forward to each day and started to finally realize my own strength.  I’ve always considered myself physically weak, but the work, in general, came easily to me.  I never even felt sore.  The best part was when we raised the first wall.  It make our work finally start to look like a house, and we did it with Rachel who will own this home.  We were helping her put her life back together.

I’m sad that we’ve left, but at the same time so glad that I had this experience with my friends.  This is a trip that I will remember forever and I hope to return next year.

       Cailin Byrne

This week was one of those rare and special times that seemed timeless, but also seemed to end far too quickly.  Even as it was happening, I was continually thinking to myself that I absolutely, no matter what, cannot forget a single minute of this.  But “this,” I don’t just mean what I did, I mean how I felt while doing it, and how remarkable I felt when I stepped back and looked at what I’d just done.  For me, this week brought an unparalleled sense of accomplishment.  With that accomplished feeling came many enlightening moments.  I learned that humanity is often lost or overlooked in the world today.  One of my huge resolutions that I’m taking away from this is to remember that when others feel disconnected, they might just need to feel the of satisfaction of helping someone else.  By giving my time, energy and everything else to that house on 1314 Eagle Street, I gained some much in return, and can’t wait to go back next year.

Morgan Cappetta

This past week has been an amazing experience for me.  Initially, although I cautiously admit, going to New Orleans was one more helpful college application point.  Luckily, in my time there however, it became worlds more than that.  Not only did I bond and connect with new and old friends, but I challenged myself to complete work that was challenging, to say the least.  I will never forget the comforts of this small community we have created, nor will I undertake similar journeys for selfish reasons alone.  I am insanely grateful to have had such an eye-opening and exciting adventure.


Natalie Carroll

This past week has been a lot of things, mostly positive, with a few splotches of turbulence.  If you ask Natalie what she thought of New Orleans, she would tell you the South is the place she was born to be.  She loved the people, the city and most importantly the music.  I’m telling you about Natalie, so you can understand my week.  I stayed with people who LOVED everything about the South, especially the weather.  I unfortunately did not.  My favorite part was walking off the plane in New York and getting hit with a blast of cold air.  The moment I saw my own breath I knew this is where I belong.  I think Southerners being nicer than Northerners is a myth; there are good and bad people no matter where you are.  I realize most of you expect me to talk about helping others and yes, that was a great part of it, but I think there are people in need everywhere.  As much as I loved helping Rachel, it killed me to be where I was.  I came out of my comfort zone and I’ve learned more about myself than I thought I would.  This trip will not only affect my ability to accept and aid others, but has made me more aware of the person I have the potential to become.  I held myself back and it was sort of like when the girl thinking she had lost her plane ticket when she’d been sitting on it the whole time. (The image comes from one of our Morning Watches – DVD)  I’d like to blame others for my own set back, but I can’t and I accept that.  My only regret is not realizing this earlier.

Stephanie Gibbs

Going into this week I was excited to build a house and finally get to see New Orleans.  I was expecting my excitement to die down in a couple of days, but in reality, it grew as the week went on.  The only time it died down was when we were headed to airport.  I didn’t want to leave the Big Easy because it is so nice down there.  Building that house with RHINO was an amazing experience.  Seeing just a few cement blocks I said to myself, “Damn, we’ll be lucky to get the floor done.”  In the end though, we go the front wall up.  Not only was it a once in a lifetime experience, but I felt so good knowing we helped get someone’s life back on track.  I almost cried watching Rachel cry.

Kyle Hair

This week was a great experience for me.  I learned many things about myself and life.  I went into the trip thinking of myself as basically incapable of building a house, but I soon realized that I could.  We learned as a group how to achieve and exceed our goals everyday.  I got dirtier and hotter than I ever remember being, but I realized that this wasn’t for us, we were working for Rachel.  A woman who has had an incredibly difficult life but who never gave up.  This house meant more to her than anything I could ever imagine wanting.  I could see it in her eyes as she showed me the decorations she had already picked out and in her tears when we finally raised the first wall.  This week meant more than anything I’ve ever done and I will never forget it.

Mackenzie Ward

Another amazing week rebuilding hope in New Orleans!

I checked with the director of engineering about how long it takes to complete what we did.  He said that with three men it would take about three days.  So for our group to do that in 3 ½  – 4 days (taking into consideration the shortened time from the rain and planned half days) we really rocked it!

 Geralyn Plomitallo

Who Dat? 

The famous phrase plastered all over New Orleans based on the success of the Saints…….

 Maybe  “Who Dat?” should represent all those folks who have been forgotten in New Orleans.  It’s surprising how many people in this country think all is back to normal in the Big Easy.  The enormity of this devastation was BIG and the recovery process is NOT EASY!  An estimated 20 more years to get the city back “ to normal” based on the current rate of rebuilding. That’s some number.  WOW !

I am grateful that I have my health and that I had the opportunity to be able to serve Habitat, Rhino, the new homeowner, Rachel, and be a representative of our caring church community.  Equally so, I got to watch the camaraderie, and spiritual and physical growth of nine very impactful young adults!  They all got to “test” themselves personally and learn how to step out of their comfort zones, work amongst strangers, and complete the mission as a team.  The pleasure and honor was all mine …….. Hooraah !

I am humbled and proud to be an American.  Whenever I have returned from a NOLA run, I get reminded how very fortunate I am for what I have and how I must help others less fortunate.  It is our duty and should be our privilege!

Who Dat? is more than being humble, kind, caring, loving and sacrificial……………

Who Dat? was watching Rachel’s eyes fill with tears of gratitude and thanks as the kids helped raise the first wall of her new home with her. 

God Bless her and my NOLA team!

Joe Soffayer

 Until NOLA 12, thank you for your support and your prayers.

Keep RHINO and the City of New Orleans in your prayers!  

Saturday - April 21

Today's bloggers are Kyle Hair (at the keyboard) and Matt Crohan. . .

There's nohing worse than leaving something you love behind. I think everyone here, including Matt and I, has fallen in love with this city...The Big Easy. Never being here before, I was really excited to get out of our hometown rut; the town we call Stamford. Now that we're here, no one is excited that we're going back. Quite honestly, it sucks going back to reality. Anywho, our last day here in New Orleans was jam packed with awesomeness.

Starting off, it wasn't the strongest start because we were supposed to be downstairs near the fountain at 6:45. Matt was early and on time, but I on the other hand, woke up at 6:41. I literally jumped out of the bed and threw on some pants and sneakers and sprinted down the hallway to the elevator. I got there at precisely 6:45. That's what I call cutting it close. We all had a little meeting then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. I got there and was absoluely shellshocked because the grill was closed and there was no muffins left. I had to break my routine of the sausage, egg, and cheese on bread, 2 chocolate milks, and a chocolate chip muffin. I had to settle with these stupid kosher cereals that literally tasted like cardboard. It was nasty. We left and jumped into the vans and left to what would be our last time at 1314 Eagle Street. 

This is the homeowner Rachel working with Natalie.

Hitting the nails that missed the floor joists back up so they could be removed.

And also getting to hangout with the two local guys who were doing community

service hours for their high school.

RHINO Program Director Avery Strada - aka the person who makes

RHINO run - sharing the rain with us.

Going into the day with dark cloudy skies and a red radar, we were skeptical of how much we'd actually get done today. We all started to finish nailing the floors in and that's when the sky decided to rain on our parade (haha get it? rain? nevermind..) Anyway, a little drizzle turned into a torrential downpour and Stephanie, Morgan, Colin, Natalie, Matt, and I huddled onto a little side porch to try and stay dry. It worked for the most part, at least until the rain decided to come in sideways. I swear mother nature has a grudge against us but when it died down, we fought back and worked faster than ever. We finished nailing the floor just as another rainstorm was headed towards us. We huddled under that little porch once again and managed to stay dry this time. As the rain died down again, we started to load some walls onto the porch. We slid them across and lined them up in place to go up.

The two wall sections were nailed together, Ryan "the glue man" Beutler once again did his thing . . .

 and then we lifted them into place. That was the sight we all wanted to see. The homeowner, Rachel, was introduced earlier on the worksite by the one and only Mike, the leader at the site, and she even helped us nail in the floors in the rain. 

Tears were shed and pictures were snapped as we hit that final nail into the wood to secure the front wall of the house in place. It was a feeling we've never had before, knowing that we actually started the foundation and the first wall of a house, right in front of the homeowner. It was truely a magical sight to behold.

Homeowner-to-be Rachel's smile says it all!

Once the wall was built, we all huddled into a circle and David said a blessing for the house and Rachel. Mike finally came up and confessed that he and David were calling it a day.  He told us that the weather conditions exceeded what he felt was safe.  But you know what? It was worth it seeing the smile go across Rachel's face. It was one of the greatest things I've ever done. As we all were congratulating one another, we cleaned up up the workd site - in the midst of pouring rain - and alas, said our good-byes and headed out. I just hope that Rachel's house successfully gets finished and that she lives a happy, healthy life in her new home that WE HELPED BUILD. God bless her.

We all left the work site with the warm feeling in our hearts knowing we just made a huge impact on Rachel's life.  We get to the hotel and all change out of our soaking wet clothes.  Jump in the cars and go to Popeyes where we all chowed down on some delicious food.  The moment many of us were waiting for was now about to happen.  We finished our food and hop in the cars, onto the French Quarter!  Once there, David tells us when and where we have to meet back up and we off we go.  People spray painted acting like statues, big crowds, and many different stores to see. It was crazy the way people were acting. It was actually pretty strange.

Bourbon Street was my favorite just because it was famous. Yes, it was all it was cracked up to be. The French Quarter was amazing but dinner was even better. We went to Reginelli's restaurant again for our last dinner together. It was so delectable and delicious and all the good stuff. I wish I could never leave. We said a quick "amen" and dug in. Once finished, we left back to the hotel where I now sit writing this. It was such a long day but it was probably my favorite of the whole trip. Well I'm running out of ideas here so I guess we shall go now. We will see you all tomorrow when we return from our dreams, unfortunately. Keep us in your prayers and we shall see you all soon! Good night ya'all!!

Friday - April 20

Today's bloggers are Mackenzie Ward and Natalie Carroll. . .

The day started off early as usual. Our morning watch described how people "sit" on things that can hold them back. People are suppose to embrace all parts of life and scream frequently (which we were, of course, encouraged to do).

Our half day yesterday perpetuated today's work hours. We arrived at our worksite to the hottest day yet, and we were in for a lot of hard work. First, we completed hammering boards in between the planks to keep them in place. This sometimes required standing in about a 1x2 foot space and positioning a hammer to hit the nails in. After this, we were ready to put up the floor boards. There was lots of hammering, and without exaggeration, there were probably 1600 nails put into that wood today. 

We had po-boys from Crabby Jacks for lunch which everyone loved. 

Then just as we were finishing, the ice cream truck came back for a visit - to everyone's relief. 

Mike suggested that we cut our lunch break short with the "bribe" of being able to go home when the floor boards were finished. The first 1/3 of the decking took about an hour and a half and nobody really thought about the fact that at 1:00 if we had 3 hours of work ahead of us, we would still finish at four whether we took our whole lunch break or not.

Mackenzie drew marks on the wood for Natalie, Morgan,  Bill, and Geralyn to hammer in nails (about 40 nails for each of the boards). While this was going on Colin, Ryan, Kyle, and Matt directed by the Colonel and David continued to add boards to the structure, making it seem like the hammering would never end. Stephanie continued to bring water to the hard workers. Finally we finished and quickly loaded some plywood into the container (with blisters fully developed) before going home to get ready for dinner.

Upon entering the hotel, Cailin, Natalie, and Mackenzie headed straight to jump into the pool with their work clothes still on. 

Then it was time to get ready to dinner and head out to Tony's authentic taste of Louisiana, for lack of better terminology. There, we all enjoyed huge meals layered and jumbled over gigantic plates. Despite the hanging deer heads on the walls, which would normally  chase an appetite far, FAR away, we loved our smothered ribs, deep fried chicken, and  jumbalaya. Afterwards, we drove through the French quarter and spotted sailors while listening to jazz playing both in and out of booming restaurants. It's amazing what this city has to offer. I don't think any of us are planning to come home. Now we're resting up for a great day ahead. 

Interesting side note: While driving around we saw a billboard advertising beer and there was a picture of a nun holding a bottle. The picture was captioned "sinfully good." We don't know what to think about that one.