The following are two poems that the children had written after Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything from both our Boys Hope Girls Hope homes:

Through The Storm 10.16.05

During the Mightly winds moving fast
Rain coming down like bullets from a gun
Waters running and breaking past
Dark clouds moving to block the sun
We stood Strong

All of our things were lost
All memories slowly fading away
Our whole world was tossed
Our hopes were all false in a way
We still stood Strong

In the sorrow of the aftermath
Almost everything was destroyed
In the storms roaring wrath
Everything falling into the void.
We held on, and stood Strong.

Families scattered around the world
With no signs of Hope
Our minds were in a swirl
Our backs against the rope.
But our bonds stood Strong.

With will to move we pushed through
With all our strength, we fought
With no wings we flew,
We were trapped, but not caught.
We will never fall.

From our sorrow, we found faith to last
From the darkness, we found the light
In the present we found relief from the past
From our lost, we found sight.
Boys Hope Girls Hope will always stand strong.

When Katrina Made Herself Welcome

Like a thief in the night, she crept upon us.
Taking everything we own, nothing remained but dust. Lives were shattered in Katrina’s pathway, leaving little babies and kids all alone, with nowhere to be happy, no place to call home.
No one knew that she would bring this much hurt and pain, no one knew until after she came.
Now we know we must live every day like it is our last.
Cherish every hour, every minute, every second of our past.
God brought this storm to us for a reason, on one reason only by all means.
It was time for a change in the city of New Orleans.
Thank you Katrina for giving me a strong faith in God, for making me closer to my family, for helping me cherish each day that past, for giving me a new outlook on life, and for not taking my life away from me.

Thank you Katrina for making yourself welcome.