[StBernard] Spirit of Recovery: Volunteers play key role in rebirth of St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Spirit of Recovery: Volunteers play key role in rebirth of St. Bernard
09:53 PM CDT on Thursday, August 27, 2009
 	Bill Capo / Eyewitness News

bcapo at wwltv.com
CHALMETTE, La. - The roar of a grass blower fills a quiet Chalmette
neighborhood, as Henry Charpio cuts the grass on an empty lot, cleaning up
around the slab where a house once stood.

But it wasn't Henry's.  He's keeping his neighborhood clean, and helping a
former neighbor.

"He asked me to take care of it, cut the grass, because the grass was way up
high," Charpio said.

He moved to Chalmette after Hurricane Camille. Now after Katrina, Charpio,
71, reflects on the changes to his neighborhood as he picks up litter, which
was not a problem here before.

"The neighborhood is nice, but it ain't never going to be the old St.
Bernard."

Some of his neighbors have moved as far away as Montana, and he wonders
about the future of the parish.

"But you get tired of just seeing empty slabs. That's my gripe about it."
He wonders if he'll see the slabs turn into new houses during his lifetime.

"We think we'll have a different face, but the spirit is what we're hoping
and working to keep," said Craig Taffaro, St. Bernard parish president.


Taffaro said he is now orchestrating a $300 million program with 160
infrastructure improvement projects "from our sewer lift stations, to our
recreation facilities, our government complex, to our Council on Aging, our
fire stations, our streets, our drainage."

Katrina flooded all but a handful of the buildings in St. Bernard parish,
and residents returned to find they had lost everything.  Where their homes
once stood are now empty lots. The parish is pockmarked by slabs. Before
Katrina, there were 25,000 homes in St. Bernard.  Now there are 15,000.

But Taffaro knows that for St. Bernard to truly recover, empty lots must
once again become home sites. And he has a long term and short term plan to
bring residents to this parish.

"In a generation or so from now, we will see those people that moved away,
that second generation who moved away with their parents, start to trickle
back," he said.

That's the long term plan, but Taffaro says he is already seeing success in
'Celebrate St. Bernard,' the campaign to push the population from 39,000 to
50,000 residents.

"Some are workers that have decided to stay here.  You'd be surprised at the
number of volunteers that came to help, fell in love with St. Bernard, and
decided they're moving here," he said.

Local business owners agree.

"We are meeting so many folks today, that we didn't know pre-Katrina," said
Jeff Pohlmann at Today's Ketch Seafood, one of 1,100 businesses now open in
St. Bernard.  That number is down from 1,300 before the storm.

Pohlmann thanks his employees for sticking with him through uncertain times
as he hopes for a brighter future, even as he misses what is lost.

"The people in St. Bernard are very close knit, like a big family, and
that's what's kind of disappointing that so many people have left. But we
still, they do come back, bring their ice chests," he said.

A group that has been instrumental in the recovery is the St. Bernard
Project, which has built more than 230 homes in the parish.  15,000
volunteers, including 60 students from the University of Central Florida in
town recently, have been instrumental in helping this parish recover.

"Where we are now is so encouraging. There's been so much progress," says
Liz McCartney, the founder of the St. Bernard Project.  "Everybody
throughout St. Bernard has been working to rebuild their homes and rebuild
their community. It is really amazing. We still have a way to go. What's
great though, is we can see the finish line at this point."

College volunteers have been key to the effort.

"I've been here three times and I think what keeps us coming back is we just
love the people here," said Ashley Turner, a student at the University of
Central Florida.

Fellow student Carl Merenda said he'll carry a piece of New Orleans with him
for the rest of his life.

"Absolutely, I think I'm officially southern now," he said.

On Katrina's fourth anniversary, the St. Bernard Project is kicking off a
year-long campaign called 4NOLA, raising funds and encouraging local
volunteers to help repair more homes.

But for some people, including many who did not return, the question
remains: will St. Bernard flood again in another hurricane?

"St. Bernard still is the front line defense for the rest of the area, and
we have a lot of work to do in restoration to make it safe for the residents
who live here.  We're better than we were before," said Taffaro.

If you ask residents like Henry Charpio, each has a special reason that
makes St. Bernard the best place to live.

"As far as living here, I got all the beautiful opportunities to fish,"
Charpio said.