Our Mission

As they undertake one of the most daunting disaster recovery efforts this nation has ever seen, the people of St. Bernard have very practical needs. They need laundry facilities so they can keep themselves and their children clean. They need phones so they can maintain contact with family members scattered across the country. They need internet connections so they can find information about rebuilding their businesses and their homes. They need a centralized location for services so they can receive donated supplies and assistance easily and with dignity. And they need a place to come together to enjoy a hot, nutritious meal and share their ongoing frustrations and successes with their neighbors. The Community Center of St Bernard is dedicated to providing hurricane survivors with the recovery resources they need in a safe and all-inclusive setting.

Staff members from the Louisiana Department of Social Services Family Assistance Program will be at the Community Center every Tuesday and Thursday from 10AM until Noon to help residents enroll for the Food Stamp Program. This service will begin on June 3. No appointment is necessary, but residents should bring identification, proof of residence and proof of income in order to determine if they are eligible for Food Stamp assistance. More information about how to qualify and how to determine the amount of benefits that residents and their families can receive is at: http://www.dss.state.la.us/departments/ofs/Food_Stamp_Program.html

Custom website design and maintenance services are now available from the Community Center of St Bernard! If you or your organization needs a website or blog set up, or just wants to bring the information on your current site up-to-date, the Community Center can help! Fees vary depending on the type of service being provided, with a 15% discount for organizations with a verifiable IRS 501c3 status. For more information about website design services, please phone the Community Center during normal business hours.

Four experienced yoga instructors from New York City will be at the Community Center of St Bernard on Wednesday, May 14, to offer free yoga and mediation classes. Allison Bridges, Jagadisa-Devasri Dacus, Geoff Devaul and Jhon Tamayo will teach general yoga postures, as well as meditation and relaxation techniques. The classes are intended for both beginners and people with some yoga experience. There will also be Therapeutic Yoga sessions for people with injuries and/or physical limitations, and fun “Yoga for Kids” classes as well.

Sessions will begin at 1 PM, 3 PM, 5:30 PM and 6 PM and will last approximately one hour. Yoga mats will be provided and bottled water is also available. Anyone interested in attending should contact the Community Center of St Bernard at 504-281-2512 or info@ccstb.org to register for a class. This number is for reservations only. For further details, including a complete schedule and instructor information, please contact Volunteer Organizer Katie McDonnell at Katie.mcdonnell(at)gmail.com

Four nurses from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey will offer a health clinic in St Bernard Parish on May 22, 2008. These sessions are free and no appointments are necessary. Services offered at the clinics will include blood pressure checks, diabetic screening and first aid care. The nurses will answer questions regarding medications, exercise, sleep, and other health issues. Clients attending the clinic will also be encouraged to discuss any concerns they may have about their physical or emotional health and well-being.

The clinic is being coordinated by Marycarol Rossignol, an Associate Professor at Seton Hall University, and an RN with a doctoral degree in nursing who specializes in acute care and post traumatic stress. Other nurses involved in this project include Bridget Porta, RN, MS, Ingrid Hayward, RN, MSN and Marie Fox, RN.

These nurses are affiliated with the Church of the Presentation, Upper Saddle River, NJ. The Church of the Presentation has a long history of providing assistance in St Bernard Parish, and has worked with The Saint Bernard Project and Habitat for Humanity’s Camp Hope. However, this is the first time that free health care has been offered by church volunteers.

The health clinic will be held at the Community Center of St Bernard, 1107 LeBeau St, Arabi, Louisiana on Thursday May 22, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Clients attending either of these clinics are requested to bring their medications with them to the consultation. For any questions or further information about the free health clinic being offered in St Bernard Parish, please contact Marycarol Rossignol RN at 201-887-3305.

The Community Center is currently offering free 5-week computer classes. Participants can choose between Tuesday evening or Thursday morning sessions. The next round of classes will begin on May 20, 2008. To enroll, please phone the Community Center at 504-281-2512.

CURRENT COMPUTER CLASS SCHEDULE

CLASS 1: Introduction to Windows – Understanding basic Windows elements and settings (toolbars, start menu, display settings, power options, user preferences).

CLASS 2: Using Windows – Using Windows Explorer and common file and folder commands (find, save, move, copy, paste, delete, rename, properties).

CLASS 3: Word Processing I – Introduction to word processing with Microsoft Word. Basic formatting features and editing existing documents. Also printer setup.

CLASS 4: Word Processing II – Continuation of Microsoft Word. Creating new documents, using cut, copy, paste and undo commands.

CLASS 5: Introduction to the Internet – Searching and using web addresses, viewing social networking sites, basic information about Internet Explorer settings.

EVENING CLASSES: Tuesdays 5-6PM on May 20, 27 & Jun 3, 10, 17

MORNING CLASSES: Thursdays 10-11AM on May 22, 29 & Jun 5, 12, 17

On April 2, 2008 our Distribution Coordinator Jason Horwitz returned to his hometown of Houston, TX, to give a talk at T.H. Rogers Middle School. Jason is a T.H. Rogers grad, and some of his former teachers were in the audience while he spoke to the 6th Grade class about his experiences in the New Orleans area and the important role that volunteers are playing in the ongoing recovery effort. The students have been working on a pubic service project, and they were very interested in Jason's presentation and asked many good questions at the end of the talk. The Community Center is now proud to count the staff and students of T.H. Rogers School among its many supporters, and looks forward to cooperating with them further in the future!

• Free local and long-distance phone service
• Free fax send and receive
• Free internet access with technical assistance if needed
• Distribution center for food, clothes and toiletries
• Performance space for local musicians and artists
• Computer training classes
• Space for neighborhood gatherings, community meetings and support groups
• Satellite office space for other agencies
• Laundry facilities (coming soon)
• Community suppers
• Family movie nights and other family-oriented gatherings

Welcome to the Community Center of St Bernard! If you aren't familiar with Louisiana geography, St Bernard Parish is part of the greater New Orleans area. We're 5 miles east of the heart of New Orleans, just 15 minutes by car from the French Quarter, and we share a boundary with the Ninth Ward.

The effects of Katrina on this once-thriving parish have been devastating and long-lasting. As you know, the hurricane struck on August 29, 2005. When the levees collapsed, flood waters came pouring into every neighborhood in the Parish. Within hours the entire area was submerged. In many cases homes and businesses were covered up to the rooftops. One hundred and eighty people in the Parish drowned. A Times-Picayune interactive-flash graphic showing the timeline and extent of the destruction is available HERE.

And it only got worse. The floodwaters pouring into the local Murphy Oil USA, Inc facility caused the largest domestic residential oil spill in US history. More than 1 million gallons of oil floated on the water and spread into homes, businesses and schools, leaving them filthy, smelly and contaminated. And then on September 24, 2005 Hurricane Rita arrived, sending more water spilling over the collapsed levees and flooding St Bernard Parish again.

The result? Nearly 100% of homes and businesses have incurred severe damage if not out-and-out destruction.

Recovery from this unprecedented destruction will be a slow and painful process. Even more than 2 years after the storms, mail delivery in St Bernard Parish is only at about 39% of pre-Katrina levels. For comparison, next door in New Orleans mail delivery is already at 70%, while Jefferson Parish is at 98%. Many residents who have remained or returned to St Bernard are staying in FEMA trailers, some without electricity and other basic services. And even these tenous living arrangements are under threat as various deadlines for closing the public trailer sites come into effect during 2008.

In short, since that late August day in 2005 the people of St Bernard have had a real and ongoing need for things most people in this country take for granted: laundry facilities, phones, internet access, and accurate information about the recovery plans, procedures and resources that directly affect them. In April 2006 more than 1500 local residents signed a Petition of Support calling for the creation of a permanent facility in their own Parish where these needs could be met, and in July 2006 the Parish Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution of full support.

Plans moved quickly forward due to the generosity of the Andrew Jackson Masonic Lodge No 428 who made Old Hickory Hall building available and the hardworking volunteers who cleaned out the flood debris and refurbished the building. Thanks to this outpouring of community support, the CCSTB was able to open the doors at its permanent facility on January 31, 2007.

Since then we've been proud to provide a place for residents to gather, eat, share, and find the help they need to rebuild their homes, their community and their lives. We hope that you will support us as the recovery effort continues its slow and tortuous pace, and we thank you wholeheartedly for your generosity and assistance.