Desire Street Ministries is one of many that were ravaged during Katrina. Desire Street Ministries has been reaching out to the poorest of the poor in New Orleans since 1990. The staff has lived in the neighborhoods in which they minister and they've provide things like mentoring, education, economic development, health, housing, and recreation.
The Desire Street Ministries buildings are gone. The homes of the staff members are gone. Mo Leverett is the Executive Director at DSM. Here's a description (from the DSM website) of what his family has experienced:
"Many of you have expressed concern for my family. We are doing well, though we are having difficulty finding the time to process what has just occurred in our lives, our family and our ministry. My family has lost everything. My kids only have the clothes on their backs. And my wife lost precious irreplaceable items like pictures, journals, letters to our children and the earrings I’ve given her on anniversaries. We don’t currently have a family vehicle. We’re struggling as we’re trying to help others in their struggles, but the Lord is graciously sustaining us."
Danny Wuerffel, who walked away from his professional football career to become the Development Director at DSM, had this to say about his family's experience:
"The major break in the now infamous 17th Street Canal was near my home in the Lakeview area, and my wife and I saw a photo of our entire block flooded up to the roofs. As we evacuated New Orleans with only a handful of things (photos, insurance papers and a few clothes), we never imagined everything we owned could disappear so quickly. But we've been reminded of the differences between 'needs' and 'wants,' and unlike many others in New Orleans, my wife, son and I are thankful to still have each other. God has and is supplying all of our needs. We are indeed blessed! But now our focus is on helping those less fortunate."
I know that you've been inundated with requests for help, but I wanted to let you know about this particular ministry if you weren't already familiar with them. You can help them in several different ways.
--Mo Leverett has many musical CDs available and his music is absolutely beautiful. If you pick up one or two of his CDs, the proceeds will help the ministry. Here's a link to the webpage where you can listen to clips of his music and order CDs. One of the pastors at my church played a song called "For Love and New Orleans" from Leverett's 1998 CD called If You Know What I Mean. I don't think you can listen to that song without a tear forming in your eye.
--Here's a link that will provide an address if you want to sent money to help them rebuild and to continue meeting the needs of people in New Orleans.
--Here's a link that will provide you with an address to send gift cards from Walmart, Target, Footlocker, Academy Sports, and J.C. Penneys that will go to help supply their families with the necessities.
