[StBernard] AmeriCorps volunteers help rebuild Louisiana after Katrina

[Westley Annis]

AmeriCorps volunteers help rebuild Louisiana after Katrina
 
By Leah Hoenen 
Cape Gazette staff 
Two and half years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast,
Habitat for Humanity volunteers were stunned to see how slowly parts of
Louisiana are recovering. Late last year, 52 Delaware AmeriCorps volunteers
headed south to lend a hand. 


The volunteers came from different AmeriCorps programs throughout the state
and spent a week in St. Bernard Parish working with Habitat for Humanity.
Lewes-area volunteers said the experience was eye-opening.


The trip south took 24 hours by bus. From Dec. 2 to Dec. 9, the volunteers
stayed in Camp Hope, a former school converted a base camp of dormitory
rooms for Habitat for Humanity volunteers in the New Orleans area. 


For four days, the group split up into teams to work on homes in all stages
of construction, from framing to finishing. In St. Bernard Parish, 100
percent of buildings were flooded, said Delaware State Parks volunteer
coordinator Rob Schroeder. 


Some of the volunteers were surprised at how little reconstruction had been
done. "I had no idea that it could take 10 more years. Some places are
already back. We were just at the beginning of the building phase," said
Andrea Berger, AmeriCorps volunteer coordinator at Cape Henlopen State Park.



"It's really amazing how much is left to do. I really thought going in that
we would be at the tail end of reconstruction. It's discouraging that so
little has been done so far," said Alex Gallucci, a historical interpreter
with AmeriCorps at Cape Henlopen State Park. 


Berger and Gallucci were also surprised at how many residents were
rebuilding using their own money. 


The group Berger and Gallucci were working with took an hour off from
building homes that would replace temporary, emergency trailers to help a
wheelchair-bound woman arrange the furniture in her house. She paid to have
her house renovated without the help of government funds - but had nobody to
help her set up her furniture. 


Berger said that, with little competition, prices at stores, groceries and
gas stations are soaring. Contractors' prices are also high. 


The Delaware group also took a day off from building homes to deliver books
donated by schools across the country to an elementary school. "The kids
were so excited about the books," said Berger. A line of young students
high-fived volunteers, who passed boxes of books down their line and into
the trailer students called their school.


"The kids were the brightest spot of my trip," said Gallucci as volunteers
were able to play with children on their recess. Gallucci said that despite
the trauma the children have been through, they were coping very well.
Still, before AmeriCorps arrived with donated books, the school's library
was empty. 


Jamie Zehner, AmeriCorps environmental educator at Cape Henlopen State Park,
said the trip was both eye-opening and frustrating. She compared the poverty
in the outskirts of New Orleans, where few businesses have returned and the
locals struggle economically, to what she's seen volunteering in Mexico. 


Berger, Gallucci, and Zehner were all surprised that so few businesses had
returned to the St. Bernard area. They said the lack of businesses, and
therefore jobs, made it even harder for locals to return and begin the task
of rebuilding their homes and lives. Noting the great contrast between
tourist areas such as Bourbon Street and the outlying areas, Zehner she
questioned how much effort authorities were putting into getting St. Bernard
Parish back up and running.


"I think America is better than that. I think we can do so much better with
our priorities than this," said Zehner.