[StBernard] Katrina victims still need help

[Westley Annis]

Katrina victims still need help
By Heidi Atkin 
Close-Up Correspondent
Article Last Updated: 01/31/2008 01:50:28 PM MST


Gilbert King spent three days on the roof of his home in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. 
    Two years after that ordeal, his nightmare finally ended. 
    Thanks to volunteers and supplies from the St. Bernard Project, a
nonprofit organization that rebuilds homes in the St. Bernard Parish near
New Orleans, Gilbert King and his family moved into their home just in time
for Christmas. 
    Most people can't comprehend the perpetual state of calamity that exists
in the St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, according to Sandy resident Heather
Gabor-Burnham, who volunteered to help rebuild 
    Gilbert King's home. For a long time, she assumed that the majority of
the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina had been repaired. 
    She was wrong. The St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana covers 465 square
miles. After Hurricane Katrina, 100 percent of the structures in the parish
were deemed uninhabitable. Most of the damage was caused by the flooding and
the mud that took root and stayed for weeks in some areas. 
    Residents had nothing to return to when the flood waters receded. 
    "It's what they call Katrina Mud," said Janie Strachan, director of
client services for the St. Bernard Project. "Our people describe it as a
wall of water coming down their street. When the water went down all that
was left was . . . 2 feet of mud with all of your life's belongings in it." 
    Two years later, most parish residents are in limbo without additional
help because their homeowners insurance won't cover the losses. Until the
Kings received help from The St. Bernard Project, they were striving to
slowly rebuild their home in their spare time. The project provides free or
subsidized remodeling for homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. 
    For her part, Gabor-Burnham believed the calamity brought on by the
storm was a call to action. A 33-year-old mother of four and a part-time
ramp agent for Delta Airlines, she took a week vacation and used her flight
benefits to fly to Louisiana and help rebuild the parish. 
    Gabor-Burnham arrived in the parish during Women's Week, an effort the
St. Bernard Project sponsored to empower women to participate in rebuilding
homes destroyed by Katrina, according to project volunteer Andrea Bean. 
    Gabor-Burnham lived at Camp Hope, a large dormitory style housing
complex managed by Habitat for Humanity. She spent at least seven hours a
day at the King residence, hanging, mudding and sanding drywall and cleaning
up debris. 
    Thanks to that experience, she is passionate about the need for people
to reach out to those who continue to suffer in the aftermath of the
hurricane. She hopes to return to the parish and do more volunteer work this
spring. She hopes the volunteers' efforts will inspire others to get
involved. 
    "People need to know that it's still such a problem and they need help,"
Gabor-Burnham said.