The Beacon of Hope Resource Center an approved non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, was founded by Lakewood South homeowners, Denise and Doug Thornton on February 14, 2006. Located at 5475 Bellaire Drive in New Orleans this once flooded home served as a refuge for weary neighbors and a lifeline for all homeowners who seek information and resources to rebuild their devastated homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Our mission is to assist all homeowners in the City of New Orleans in the rebuilding process of their beloved homes and provide a sanctuary to neighbors looking for a way back home.

Information Resources: Recovery in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina and the floods that devastated the New Orleans community has been lead by nonprofits and faith-based organizations. Our 12 neighbrohood Beacon centers, serve as localized centers to help individual homeowners who are vulnerable and have been affected by the storm. Beacon of Hope has earned a reputation of being a reliable organization that provides meaningful resources,and gives help to those needing assistance in maneuvering through the complex recovery process. This has put a demand on the services of our organization in assisting residents to rebuild and return home. In as much, our outreach has grown to more than 34,000 residences, and requests for our services continue to increase every day.

Volunteers: Our volunteer program works with both visiting volunteers and core volunteers.

Our visiting volunteers are men and women, families, students, corporate executives and employees form across the nation who use lawn care equipment provided by Beacon of Hope, to clean overgrown yards, parks and playgrounds, clear debris and storm drains, and assist homeowners with direct rebuilding services. The work of these volunteers help to make our neighborhoods livable again. To date, our visiting volunteers have contributed over $800,000.00 worth of rebuilding to our neighborhoods.

Our core volunteers are Beacon Administrators who manage their local neghborhood Beacon to provide recovery and rebuilding information and resources to prospective residents, rebuilders and home owners alike. The Beacon Administrators assist in the resolution of the individual's recovery issues. All neighborhood Beacon of Hope Resource Centers have a network fo block captains who gather data, allowing us to track the parogress of neighborhoods and assess communityu needs. This tracking gives people comfort in knowing that we are providing relevant information to advance the rebuilding of thier community.

Advocacy: Representing the residents of three major New Orleans neighbrohoods has enabled us to be a vocal advoacate for the residents neeeds and the challenges they face, Beacon of HopeResousource Center works with both city and state agencees to edentify neighborhood code violations, infrastructure problems, and ordinance issues in order to address the growing needs of devastated neighborhoods.

Community Programs: Beacon of Hope Resource Center has given birth to programs that build communities and help improve the overall quality of life in Katrina affected neighborhoods, Some programs we develop are:

Harrison Avenue Market Place

An outdoor market held on a monthly basis hosts 72 vendors, featuring local resturautns, arts and craft vendors, entertainment for kids, live music and over 3000 attendees, These markets proved to boost the merchants business, promote new businesses to open and boost community moral.

No Place Like Home Tours

Styled like a Realtor's Tour of Homes, residents were invited to view renovated properties that were devestated by flood waters. This demonstrated the feasibility of returning home.

Lakeview Community Gardens

Beacon of Hope created a community garden accessible to neighbors and maintained by local school children learning about green environments.

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