Volunteering
in New Orleans' St. Bernard Parish was an amazing, eye-opening
experience for me. Before Katrina hit, it was a thriving middle-class
community of more than 68,00 people, many of them fishermen, oil
workers, natural gas workers, and construction workers. A tightly knit
community of normal, hardworking people, St. Bernard Parish was home to
generations of families. Neighbors all knew each other well, families
lived within minutes of each other; it was a true community.
Since
the hurricane, less than a third of the people have returned. The ones
that have, found their neighborhoods destroyed, their friends
scattered, their families moved to other towns and other states. While
there, I rarely saw a street that wasn't missing a few houses or that
had several others under-going reconstruction and still others slated
for demolition.
I was honored to meet and work with the
Perez family. The dad is disabled and couldn't do the backbreaking work
himself. He and his wife have two teenagers. We were one of the first
teams in their home since the storms, so we did lots of demolition and
mold treatment. It was dirty, filthy, hot work. AND at the same time,
so much fun! Go figure. I'd hire someone to do it at my own house, but
I loved doing it for someone else who truly needed the help.
I stayed at a place called
Camp Hope.
It was such an incredible place -- all staffed by volunteers and
housing up to 1,200 volunteer workers at any one given time. It used to
be a middle school, but when I was there, the classrooms were all being
used as dorms, sleeping 20 to a room on bunk bed cots made by volunteer
carpenters. We took cold showers and ate in chow lines. It was one of
the best weeks ever! Very much like summer camp for grownups. I miss it
so much already. I understand that it's closed now, which is really sad
on one level, but really cool on another because it means that the
school is re-opening.
I feel lucky to have worked with the
St. Bernard Project. My experience was beyond explanation and words
can't really do it justice. I think The Perez home was roughly house
number 154 for the people at the St. Bernard Project. With little money
and all volunteers, they make a difference every day. They are my new
heroes. It was fun, hard, moving, gross and I'd do it again in a
minute. In fact, I'm hoping to make it back early next year.
Want to join me?Peter Barton --
