Beacon of Hope New York was on the local news talking about the signs they are posting that are warning thieves and squatters to stay out of homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Beacon of Hope Resource Center was invited to participate in the Municipal Art Society of New York’s Charting the Road to Resilience: From the Ground Up Conference on Saturday, January 12, 2013.  The program included a day-long conference, preceded by site tours of neighborhoods affected by Hurricane Sandy, which were hosted by organizations working to support the recovery.  The conference was designed to foster a dialogue among a diverse group of stakeholders about shared experiences and to share lessons learned from Superstorm Sandy and to cultivate ideas for how to become a more livable and resilient New York, while empowering and engaging a wide range of industry experts, community leaders and residents.

Beacon’s representatives, Denise Thornton and Tina Marquardt joined a handful of recovery-hardened New Orleanians, who came to offer their support and recovery experience from seven years post-Katrina.  Denise and Tina were speakers for the breakout session “On the Ground Troubleshooting: Homeowner & Resident Recovery Programs” where they discussed neighborhood resiliency.  During the site tours they visited Staten Island, where they met residents who were assisting in their neighborhoods recovery.   This would be the start of our efforts to bring our model for neighborhood recovery to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.  For more information about our efforts in New York click here.

While in New York in January facilitating a breakout session on resilient neighborhoods at a conference hosted by the Municipal Art Society of New York, Denise Thornton, Founder of the Beacon of Hope Resource Center, and Executive Director, Tina Marquardt, took some time out to tour the devastated areas of Coney Island and Staten Island.  As fate would have it, they happened upon a determined group of Staten Island residents who were self-organizing a rally called “Walk a Mile in our Shoes” to create awareness and hopefully affect federal legislation for disaster relief funding.   After a few hours of conversation and information sharing between the two groups, Denise decided that this would be the home of Beacon of Hope New York.

Upon her return to New Orleans, Mrs. Thornton and her staff began working with the team in New York to create a new 501c3 in Staten Island.  Sharing best practices, developing resources and assessing the neighborhood was and is, top priority.  The Beacon of Hope New York will represent an area of Staten Island which had a pre-storm population of 5,221 and was inundated by a storm surge up to 18 feet high.

At this time Beacon of Hope NOLA is seeking funding to help provide support to Beacon of Hope NY to continue our work in putting this community on the fast track to recovery.  If you are looking for a meaningful way to help the people affected by Hurricane Sandy and remember the work of the Beacon of Hope in New Orleans after Katrina, please consider making a donation today.  Please click  here to contribute to Beacon of Hope NY.   Please put “Donation for BOHNY” in the special instructions or memo area of your payment.

The city once again has made the Conde Nast Traveler list of the Top 10 Cities in the United States, ranking No. 8. The magazine made note of the city’s absence, saying it had made the cut this year “for the first time in ages.” New Orleanians may look at the magazine’s list and think that the city, which was preparing to host its 10th Super Bowl, was an obvious choice. Tourism officials say that the city has gotten 15 national accolades this year.

The collective work of many made this possble…

Denise Thornton, who started Beacon of Hope to help her neighbors in Lakeview rebuild and now shares her expertise with disaster victims across the country.

To read full article, click here…

After Hurricane Isaac, the recovery: Editorial

By The Editorial Board, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on September 09, 2012 at 8:33 AM

With flood waters receding in the metro area’s hardest-hit communities, the recovery from Hurricane Isaac is beginning in earnest. This will be a difficult and heart-wrenching process for some of our neighbors, particularly those in LaPlace and Braithwaite who suffered catastrophic flooding. But, unlike in Katrina, government agencies seem better prepared to provide assistance. And all of us who were…
With floodwaters receding in the metro area’s hardest-hit communities, the recovery from Hurricane Isaac is beginning in earnest. This will be a difficult and heart-wrenching process for some of our neighbors, particularly those in LaPlace and Braithwaite who suffered catastrophic flooding. But, unlike in Katrina, government agencies seem better prepared to provide assistance. And all of us who were unscathed by Isaac can find ways to help.

The Beacon of Hope Resource Center, which began in Lakeview after Katrina, is already mobilizing supplies and volunteers for LaPlace.

“Many of the LaPlace residents and churches pitched in to help New Orleans over the past seven years rebuild after Katrina. Now they are asking for our help,” Beacon of Hope officials said in an email message Tuesday.

To read the rest of this article, click here.