In addition to our company’s commitment to helping organizations that impact the lives of children, we’re also dedicated to encouraging each individual employee a chance to make a difference where they feel most called. In fact, one of our employee benefits is time off to do service work. Sweet!
Last week I spent time in New Orleans working with Habitat for Humanity. I am fortunate to have worked with several Habitat affiliates over the last 12 years doing a variety of construction, rehab, and deconstruction projects and know that this organization makes an impact where ever folks are working.
We are all familiar with the devastation wreaked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I was amazed at how much damage remains.
I was able to work in St. Bernard Parish where there was 100% structural damage to residential and commercial buildings during Hurricane Katrina - every house, every business. Over two years later, there is a ton of work to be done. In 2000, the population was counted at 67,229 people; now the count is about 7,000 permanent residents plus 20,000 people who are living elsewhere while working on rebuilding their homes. That leaves 40,000 people either relocated or unable to rebuild. It’s little wonder that businesses are unable to reopen: not enough people for customers or employees.
The neighborhood where I worked had a range of homes. For every rebuilt/repaired home there were 10-12 with tarped roofs, broken windows, and gutted walls. Some had trailers or mobile homes parked on front lawns, some had for sale signs on their boarded up doors, while others were completely abandoned.
The photos below show some of the damaged homes oftentimes side by side with newly rebuilt ones as well as the remnants of some of the businesses.
While there is much that needs to be done, hope is springing up across St. Bernard Parish. Tomorrow I’ll talk more about the home I worked on and the folks I was able to work with.
I, too, just returned from a trip to New Orleans. I was attending a pastoral worker conference so didn’t get a chance to help with the actual rebuilding efforts. However, I did get a chance to take a tour around New Orleans that included some of the areas devastated by the hurricane. (We didn’t have to go far.) I, too, was struck by seeing houses that were newly painted and renovated cheek-by-jowl with houses that still had “rescue worker” graffiti and blue tarp roofs. We also drove through an area where the only thing left of the houses was little white squares where the foundations used to be. Amazing. Thanks for giving of your time to help out down there, they need all the help they can get!
