[StBernard] Katrina volunteers come to stay

[Westley Annis]

Katrina volunteers come to stay 

By Korina Lopez, USA TODAY
NEW ORLEANS - Since Katrina hit, more than 1 million volunteers have flooded
the Gulf Coast - people giving up weekends, holidays and vacations to do
their part in the rebuilding effort.
But some have sacrificed much more.

John and Mary Mueller, both 58, had a comfortable life in Cape Coral, Fla.,
where John ran a successful general contracting construction business. They
lived in a 2,200-square-foot, five-bedroom house with a swimming pool and
three-car garage, the house where, for 21 years, they raised six children.
They lost one of their children there, too, a daughter born with abnormal
kidneys who died at age 8.


NEW FRONTIER: New residents still settling in New Orleans
In March, they moved into a 208-square-foot trailer in St. Bernard Parish, a
sprawling suburb of New Orleans, where they plan to stay until 2009 as
regional directors for the Church of the Brethren Disaster Ministries.
Although they receive a $3,000 monthly stipend, it's not enough to maintain
their Florida house, so it's up for sale. They have sold or given away most
of their belongings, taking only what could fit into the trailer and an
8-by-20-foot cargo trailer parked next to their new home. They also have
left behind family and friends in Cape Coral, where they ran a small parish
for the Church of the Brethren.

Two years after Katrina, the spirit of volunteerism is stronger than ever:
600,000 people headed to the Gulf Coast in Year 2 vs. 550,000 the first year
after the August 2005 storm, according to the Corporation for National and
Community Service, a federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other volunteer
programs. Most are short-termers whose sheer numbers have provided the
muscle behind the rebuilding. But the brains are the long-term volunteers
who have dedicated at least six months to New Orleans. They provide the
expertise needed to direct volunteers to the right work sites, teaching them
to drywall and varnish wood.

The exact number of long-term volunteers is unknown, but their effect on the
rebuilding is not. "We've seen this as the largest volunteer response in
American history. There's a huge diversity of volunteers, from retirees to
people right out of college," says David Eisner, CEO of the community
service agency. "The long-term people are the glue that holds volunteerism
together."

'You just can't turn away' 

Sakura Kone's backyard in San Francisco looked out over the Pacific Ocean.
He watched people parasailing and skydiving. He worked as a reggae and world
music manager at night and counseled at-risk teens at local juvenile
detention centers by day. Kone, 48, and his ex-wife raised three kids. A
week after Hurricane Katrina, he received an SOS from an old friend to come
help. He spent a month raising money for Common Ground Relief in California,
then headed to New Orleans for two weeks.

Two years later, he's still living a "gypsy lifestyle." He and other Common
Ground volunteers sleep in recreation halls, churches and private homes.
"The living conditions are rustic," he says. "We don't have beds; we sleep
in cots or sleeping bags. The showers may or may not be hot."

Canadian David Chung lived in a swanky condo in downtown Toronto. The PGA
pro played golf every day and played tournaments on the weekends. In
December 2006, he headed to New Orleans to help out because he liked the
city's culture and its music. He had planned to take two months off from
golfing. Fourteen months later, he lives in a trailer, which is an upgrade
from Camp Hope, a gutted middle school where for nine months he lived
barracks-style, sharing a converted classroom with eight other people on
bunk beds.

There is no required registration for long-term volunteers, so there are no
hard numbers to show how many of the 1.1 million who have come to New
Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast are long-termers. Betty Backstrom,
communications director for the United Methodist Church, estimates that
3,000 long-term volunteers out of 42,000 have walked through their doors.

"It's a grass-roots, bottoms-up phenomenon," says Richard Campanella of
Tulane University's Center for Bioenvironmental Research. "How many
long-term volunteers have been here is hard to quantify since they tend to
fly below the radar."

When New Orleans was in its initial recovery period, "non-profits were
overwhelmed with volunteers and didn't know what to do with all of them,"
says Aleis Tusa, communications director of Habitat for Humanity. "Now, with
the help of people who have stayed around long enough to show people what
kind of work to do and to help set up the infrastructure . things are so
much smoother."

The Muellers are no strangers to disaster recovery. They've been helping at
disaster sites for their church since 1999. But the inspiration to become
long-term volunteers came in 2004, when Hurricane Charlie made landfall 30
miles from their home. John recalls seeing truckloads of supplies and
volunteers driving up the street.

"It sent shivers up and down my spine that all these strangers were coming
to help," he says. "How could we, after seeing that, not come to help? Our
place is here."

Living in the cramped trailer isn't easy. "We'd love to have more room, of
course, but God wanted us to be here," Mary says. "And that offsets so many
of the little things. Of course, we get tired of fighting with the shower
curtain in our tiny shower. But I have my wind chime, my cooking utensils,
my photos. And that's enough."

Says John: "Living here has really given us an appreciation for what we
have. I challenge anyone who thinks their life stinks to come and live in a
FEMA trailer for a year. That'll give you some perspective."

Kone's extended stay is motivated by his political idealism. In the 1970s,
'80s and '90s, he was an activist for Housing Is a Human Right and
anti-apartheid. After Katrina, he came down here to put his volunteer
organizational experience to use.

Two years later, Kone is a self-proclaimed "full-time warrior for peace and
justice." He and two friends started Common Ground Relief, focused on
helping to rebuild homes and medical centers without federal help because
they believe the government does not represent the interests of poorer black
communities.

"All my kids are grown, I've paid off my remaining bills. I get by," he
says. "I don't know what the future holds, but there's a lot to do. I don't
have time to think about myself right now. New Orleans gets in your blood.
You just can't turn away."

Chung lives on the savings he made as a golfer. "I have a vague plan to go
back to golfing when my savings run out," he says. "But it's hard to think
how I'm going to teach high-powered CEOs how to play golf after doing this
kind of work. This kind of work feeds the soul."
 

  
 
  
 

  
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