On Saturday, May 16, Gentilly residents who attend a Beacon of Hope workshop will have the use of updated, state-of-the-art maps, thanks to the Beacon of Hope/University of New Orleans Community Recovery Project (BUCRP), a partnership between the Beacon of Hope Resource Center and the UNO Department of Planning and Urban Studies.

The maps produced using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology integrate survey data and images along with parcel information to provide residents, government agencies, neighborhood planners and prospective investors with the status of property recovery and return rates.

"BUCRP maps include site-specific data for Louisiana Land Trust (Road Home) properties and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) Lot Next Door program," explained Michelle M. Thompson, UNO assistant professor of planning and urban studies.

"The GIS mapping project, provided as a community service through the BUCRP partnership, has a commercial value in excess of $200,000," Thompson said.

The neighborhood maps will be updated quarterly as consecutive neighborhood 'Block Captain' surveys are completed, said UNO graduate student Brian Baldwin. "they provide residents with a clear picture of the community's progress."

"At the workshop on Saturday, Gentilly residents will learn to use the maps as a resource to track and work toward eliminating blighted properties," said Tina Marquardt of the Beacon of Hope Resource Center. "Community volunteers will also learn more about the NORA and Road Home properties, neighborhood beautification and volunteer coordination," she said.

The GIS maps are accessible thorugh the BUCRP Web site at http://planning.uno.edu/BUCRP/. For more information or to register for the Gentilly workshop, visit www.lakewoodbeacon.org/ or call the Beacon of Hope at (504) 309-5120 or St. Paul's Homecoming Center at (504) 644-4125.