The Diocese of Louisiana has announced plans to purchase a Garden District bed and breakfast adjacent to Christ Church Cathedral to serve residents returning to New Orleans as well as volunteers working to clean up devastated areas of the city. More than 70 percent of housing in the city was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Funding for the recovery project will be provided by Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), which announced approval of a $3.1 million grant on Nov. 16.

“We shall undertake, in Christ’s name, one of the greatest development and relief efforts ever attempted by a diocese in the Episcopal Church,” said the Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, Bishop of Louisiana, in response to the generosity of Episcopalians and other Anglicans who donated money to fund the grant.

The diocesan headquarters in New Orleans and at least half of the 50 parishes in the Diocese of Louisiana were destroyed or heavily damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Normally parishes contribute to diocesan revenue through assessment contributions, but nearly three months later a number of the affected parishes remain closed, causing diocesan income to plummet at the time of greatest need.

Christ Church Cathedral currently serves as a distribution center for supplies. A water unit at the cathedral is one of the only sites providing clean, purified drinking water for the surrounding neighborhood. The cathedral is also a rest area for recovery workers, supplying them with food and potable water.

After the former Glimmer Inn bed and breakfast is remodeled, it will be the new home to the diocesan office of disaster response. It also will offer a credit union, day care and job training to people in need.

“After the Sept. 11 tragedy, ERD worked with St. Paul’s Chapel across from Ground Zero, offering healing and hope through an extraordinary volunteer relief effort,” said Robert W. Radtke, ERD president. “Similarly, the Glimmer Inn will serve as a beacon of hope to people affected by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.”

The ERD partnership will also support a mobile case management unit which will access isolated coastal areas outside normal distribution and resource centers in areas such as Bayou du Large and Slidell. The unit will help people affected by the disaster obtain services and complete necessary paperwork with local, state and federal agencies.

Bishop Jenkins said the project will provide “mercy, compassion and hope” to the people of southeast Louisiana. “The generosity of our brothers and sisters in Christ is deeply appreciated and will enable us in the Diocese of Louisiana to be Christ’s heart and hands to many who have lost so much,” he said.

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