BASE LIFE

Below you will find all of the information you need to familiarize yourself with to understand what life is like on the All Hands and Hearts base in Louisiana. We've included a video tour, pictures and information on things such as accommodations, the daily schedule, food and internet access.

Take a look at slides 11 and 12 of the Practical Guide to see the layout.

Our base of operations is designed to allow for responsible physical distancing. Take a look at slides 8-12 in the practical guide to learn more about COVID-19 preventative measures at our base.

Our Louisiana base is located in a church, split up in several different sections of the buildings. We provide cots with air mattresses in mixed-gender dormitories. There will be three to four bedrooms with two to three volunteers in each room for one bubble. The other bubble will be staying in large, personal tents in the gym. Some call it rustic, we call it home!

Volunteers will all be assigned to bubbles to help mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. Each bubble will have a refrigerator, bathroom, shower, and food prep station.

We will wash your workshirts daily. However, you will be responsible for your personal laundry, there is a laundromat close to the base.

There is a parking area available for personal cars. If you are planning on bringing a larger vehicle reach out to louisianahurricanerelief@allhandsandhearts.org to confirm if there is space.

Some call it rustic; we call it home!

We do provide WiFi on base. It is provided by a MiFi in the volunteer common area. WiFi can be slow at times depending on the number of people online. If you need to use the internet regularly, we recommend that you have a personal phone with data.

There will be power sockets in the rooms available for you to charge your electronics. However, we can not guarantee there will be a socket close to your bed. If you regularly need to charge your device you may want to bring a power bank with you.

Staff can provide a laptop or phone if you need to contact a family member. Laptops and phones will also be available to anyone in isolation. If you regularly need a computer or phone for personal use we recommend bringing your own.

In the U.S. the power plugs and sockets are of type A and B. The standard voltage is 120 V and the standard frequency is 60 Hz. If necessary, please ensure you purchase a power adapter to charge your electrical items.

In order to operate safely in COVID-19 context, we have had to reduce the number of people we can allow on base as well as divide base up into ‘bubbles.’ This allows us to isolate and quarantine a smaller number of people should someone get exposed to COVID. This means you will be assigned to a group of 6-12 people that you will live, work and eat with. There will be cross-bubble interactions allowed while wearing masks at a 6-foot distance.

You can read more about Bubbles on slide 8 of the practical guide.

We provide three meals a day, seven days per week. Breakfast typically includes oats, bread, jam, peanut butter, coffee and tea. You will pack your own lunch, typically sandwiches, and dinner will be a hot meal made by a volunteer or staff member, provided after the nightly meeting.

Vegetarian diets can be accommodated. Vegans and those with specific dietary requirements will need to supplement what we can provide with items they bring or source and purchase themselves.

Every four weeks the whole team will take a mandatory three day break. There will be food available on the base if you choose to stay. We will also provide all volunteers with a total of $200 USD stipend at the end of week four and week eight to help offset expenses during your three-day breaks.