St. Benilde spreads cheer to local Boys Hope Girls Hope homes

Tired of seeing so many young lives shattered by circumstances beyond their control – whether it was a substandard school, a family destabilized by poverty, illness, divorce or death, or a neighborhood beset by violence – Jesuit Father Paul Sheridan decided to create his vision of the antidote in 1977.

His successful residential model, called Boys Hope Girls Hope, currently operates in 19 cities, including New Orleans, in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala. The ministry’s premise is simple: young people cannot realize their full potential without the support of an excellent education and a stable family environment. Its “arms-around” approach places young people in top-rated schools, while providing them with a family-style, non-institutional home in which house-parents provide crucial parenting and the young residents interact like siblings.

“These kids who are total strangers become family,” noted Michael Connick, a St. Benilde sixth grader whose school has dedicated its annual Advent gift drive to residents of the local Boys Hope Girls Hope homes for the last decade. “It makes me excited that I get to give to somebody who’s less fortunate, because I see them all the time in the city of New Orleans,” Michael said. “I couldn’t do anything about it before; now, I can do something about it and it feels really good.”

With the guidance of Rhonda Meyer, St. Benilde’s assistant principal and director of student activities,each of the school’s 12 homerooms – from preK-1 through seventh grade – fulfills the wish list of a single resident. Currently, there are 11 residents ranging from ages 11-18 at the New Orleans Boys Hope Girls Hope homes, which are segregated by gender.

“I do believe we make their holidays just a little bit more special,” Meyer said.

In addition to the usual requests for clothing, the wish lists often ask for basics such as socks and art and school supplies, she notes.

St. Benilde’s collaboration with the ministry began when the administration learned about Boys Hope Girls Hope from Cory Howat, a 1988 St. Benilde graduate who was the school’s 2006 distinguished graduate, an alumnus of Archbishop Rummel and a former ministry director.

“Cory really made us know these children and what Boys Hope Girls Hope offers to them – he made them family to us,” Meyer said, noting that St. Benilde provided one of the residents with an education during his eighth-grade year.

“We grew up here (at St. Benilde) and we have always been taught to give to people,” said Julia Pitre, a seventh grader. “These are poor kids that don’t really have family, and they can’t really get Christmas presents. I’m so glad they get an education and a place to stay.”

To learn more, visit www.boyshopegirlshope.org.