Hope Bistro feeds body and soul

By Christine Bordelon
Claroin Herald

“May this space be a testament to the power of love, a reminder that kindness descends from above,” prayed Presentation Sister Julie Marsh alongside Vincentian Father Louis Arceneaux at the Sept. 29 ribbon-cutting, opening ceremonies for a new commercial kitchen and dining/meeting hall at Hotel Hope. “Bless Hope Bistro, a space where hearts and families share.”

 From its infancy as a two-bedroom “chateau” in Broadmoor in 2016 to its much-larger, current site, Hotel Hope has provided a three-step “self-sufficiency road map” for more than 300 families who have found themselves homeless due to crisis such as job loss, family issues or illness.


The name of the new space – carved from three bedrooms and the bar of a former, 24-room hotel that Hotel Hope bought and renovated in 2018 – was kept secret until three young guests pulled the cloth covering the sign at the dedication. A christening of the space by Father Arceneaux and board members followed.

It’s just what guest families need, said Presentation Sister Mary Lou Specha, executive director. They now have a regular meal time and no longer eat where they sleep as they have been doing since the pandemic.

Sister Julie, director of operations, said she learned from working with homeless families that “to sit down and have a meal together” is important. When Hotel Hope guests move out, they request a table, not other furniture, for their new home. “It really is giving the families an opportunity to sit together, eat together and talk together,” she said.

Accommodating families
At Hope Bistro’s opening, board chairwoman Nakisha Ervin-Knott welcomed board members, politicians, Hotel Hope volunteers and employees and John and Jenifer Besh, who through their foundation’s donation, made the kitchen possible and provided the food and refreshments.

The kitchen has a commercial stove top/oven used to reheat food prepared by volunteers. The dining room seats 40 people and can be used for board meetings and empowerment workshops. There’s also a big-screen television and a play space with children’s books and toys for social events such as movie nights and Saints games.

Currently, there are 12 furnished rooms at Hotel Hope offering families in crisis a compassionate and dignified place to stay. Each room has a bed for mom, a set of bunk beds for children, dresser and bathroom. Sister Julie said Hotel Hope is trying to renovate other rooms to have a total of 20 rooms for occupancy. Donations of pajamas in every size, toiletries, toys and other items fill other voids for families.

“People really come to our aid,” Sister Julie said. “There is nothing families should stress about when they are here.”


Many voiced the sentiment that children and women guests of Hotel Hope will fondly remember the dignity and refuge of the nonprofit when they leave and continue their lives with hope.

“From homelessness to home ownership,” state Rep. Delisha Boyd said about Hotel Hope. “To help moms and children transition is huge in our community.”

In addition to housing, Hotel Hope helps moms (minimum age of 23) with literacy and job training, individual case management and counseling, healthcare intervention and life-skills training. It outsources other supportive services to local agencies, knowing that economic self-sufficiency is the only permanent solution to ending homelessness.

Danita Bright, a former Hotel Hope resident and now an employee, spoke from her heart about her experience here and plans to help others experiencing homelessness.

“If it had not been for Sister Mary Lou and Sister Julie, this place would have not been here to catch me and my children in our spiral (in 2019),” Bright said. “They took me when nobody else would. … God is good, and he is faithful.”

With the addition of the kitchen, Hotel Hope leaves children and moms with “full tummies and, hopefully, their spirits fed,” she said.
“You can’t measure the value of the work being done at Hotel Hope,” Louisiana Sen. Royce Duplessis said.

Future plans
At the same time that Hotel Hope bought the 28-room former hotel, it also purchased a white house next door (currently housing the administrative offices and program services) and an empty lot next to the house to add an affordable-housing component in the future.

“We are in the process of raising funds as well as developing a plan to execute,” Sister Mary Lou said. 

Collaboration with other partners and volunteers have been the key to Hotel Hope’s success.

“To me, the biggest value is they are safe here,” said Daughter of Charity Patty Huffman, a volunteer. “They get treatment and support, help to find jobs and housing. … It’s a great program.”

“We’re providing them safety and hope,” Sister Mary Lou echoed.

While Hotel Hope has given hundreds of families beds to sleep in instead of their cars, it also is a laboratory for students majoring in counseling and other related fields to “come and learn and experience the diversity of life.”

“Life is a series of chapters, it’s not a book. We’ve just started chapter 6.” Sister Mary Lou said.

Hotel Hope is located at 3923 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., New Orleans. For details, visit: www.hotelhope.org.

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