Talking Stick - March/April 2011 - 6

VISION

In the Service of Others

If you asked housing officers why they entered the profession, somewhere near the top of their reasons would be their desire to affect the lives of others in a positive manner. Come this July when the 2011 ACUHO-I Annual Conference & Exposition arrives in New Orleans, our association will make a positive impact on an entire city, and you are invited to join us. Five years ago, after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, ACUHO-I member institutions housed displaced students, sent relief supplies, raised funds, and pitched in any way possible. The support was inspiring. We are continuing that support by bringing our association’s largest event to the Crescent City. In addition, on Saturday, July 9, all conference attendees are encouraged to lend their energies to three community service projects. Conference organizers cleared the schedule to accommodate the work while local volunteers identified some of the most appropriate projects from a host of deserving candidates. Those groups we will work with are the St. Bernard Project (www.stbernardproject.org), New Orleans City Park (www.neworleanscitypark.com), and Arc of Greater New Orleans (www.arcgno.org). These are three inspiring opportunities. The non-profit St. Bernard Project creates housing so that hurricane survivors can return to their communities. It has won several awards and accolades for programs that offer so many families a second chance. This full-day project is an excellent chance for anyone handy with a hammer or paintbrush. Those with more of a green thumb may prefer City Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country and home to 22 miles of shoreline. Budget cuts and Katrina’s devastation have made the park more dependent on volunteers than ever before. Our members will work in the morning to plant marsh grasses, which are an important part of the park’s ecosystem. Finally, on Saturday afternoon volunteers will help sort and recycle Mardi Gras beads with people from Arc of Greater New Orleans, a non-profit organization serving people with intellectual disabilities and delays from birth through adulthood. More details will continue to be made available through the ACUHO-I website. A dedicated service project like this is new for our association, and I hope I can count on hundreds of our volunteers to make it a success. Thanks to sponsor support, there will be no additional charges to take part. However, we do ask you to plan ahead and indicate which volunteer project you wish to be a part of when you register for the conference. I look forward to working side-by-side with you in New Orleans. I trust that there will be plenty of willing and helping hands. After all, it’s what we do. Jill Eckardt ACUHO-I President
6
TALKING STICK

http://www.stbernardproject.org http://www.neworleanscitypark.com http://www.arcgno.org

Talking Stick - March/April 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - March/April 2011