Emergency Shelter Takes Shape

The homeless population in Duncan Plaza will soon have ample accommodations, prepared meals, showers, sanitation, and security.

A pilot at First Baptist New Orleans, Bill Nix, has led a team of college students and First Baptist members in the construction of an emergency shelter that will house 126 people. The shelter will operate through the winter and a portion of the spring.

Flyers have been distributed to all residents of Duncan Plaza alerting them to the provisions for them at the New Orleans Mission. About 150 persons have been spending the night in and around Duncan Plaza many of them sleeping in tents and many others sleeping under building overhangs, porches, or under the stars.

The mission has also rearranged its facilities to accommodate about 30 homeless women and children. The population in Duncan Plaza is roughly 85 percent men.

The bathroom and dining facilities at New Orleans Mission are able to accommodate a large number of residents—around 300 nightly. The occupancy of the mission has been much lower since Hurricane Katrina damaged the buildings.

The homeless are now invited to come to the mission for shelter and food. Case workers are also available as are drug rehab programs. Everyone who dines at the mission is required to attend worship during the hour prior to the meal. Every worship service includes a presentation of the gospel.

Mission president, Don Cooper, a member of First Baptist New Orleans, insists that residents hear the good news about salvation in Christ. Don was saved and his life transformed when he received Christ as Savior. He knows that many of the homeless deal with debilitating habits and behaviors that can only be changed through the power of Christ.

Pray that God will use this crisis of homelessness in New Orleans to bring men and women to himself. And pray that our attempt to address this very public and difficult situation in our city will call attention to the Christ of Christmas, the Savior of the world, and bring him glory.