Teenagers Help “Rebuild” the Spirit of New
Orleans
October 26, 2007 – Hurricane Katrina may be out of the news
headlines, but it remains in the hearts and minds of teenagers
from First Congregational Church of Hopkinton (FCCH). This past
July, 18 teens and 7 adults traveled to New Orleans to help
rebuild the city. The team included many returning students and
leaders eager to see the progress made from a trip the previous
year.
“In the past year, thousands of volunteers have helped remove
debris and clean-up New Orleans,” said Natalie Crosier, a
returning adult leader. “We were all looking forward to
practicing our carpentry skills by rebuilding homes and other
community buildings, wherever we were needed.”
However, on the drive from the airport, it was apparent that the
city was far from being rebuilt. While a lot of progress had
been made gutting houses, most of the homes were still vacant.
Downtown New Orleans has returned to relative normality, with
many cars on the roads and stores open for business, but in the
suburbs, golf courses were abandoned, neighborhoods were empty,
and some water lines were still visible. It was becoming clear
that we would not be hammering nails and putting up siding.
The week was filled with different types of projects. On Monday,
the team painted classrooms at Sarah T. Reed High School in New
Orleans East. This school did open last year with minimal
clean-up and housed a mixture of students from Pre-K through
high school. This year it will return to being a high school.
The school clean-up was led by Troy, a teacher who had a goal of
reopening 25 schools by the beginning of the 2007/08 school
year. He enlisted many volunteers each day for painting and
renovations.
Since the storm, displaced students have had the opportunity to
attend different schools with nicer facilities, more activities,
computers in every classroom, and that offer a higher level of
education than many local schools. When the students returned to
their New Orleans schools, not only were they dirty from 2 years
of neglect and looting, but the students realized they have been
missing out on opportunities taken for granted in other parts of
the country. Parents and students are now pressuring the school
system to improve the level of education.
On Tuesday, the students split into 2 groups. One team began
work gutting a house belonging to an elderly couple, Tommy and
Carol, who currently live in a FEMA trailer a block away from
their home. The students removed wood trim, doors, baseboards,
sheetrock, and insulation, leaving just the studs. The other
team returned on Friday to complete the project. Once the owners
receive their insurance payments and save enough money, they
plan to rebuild.
“Gutting houses was one of the most rewarding things I did in
New Orleans,” comments Lauren Lodge, Hopkinton High Senior. “It
took a lot of effort to pull up floor boards, take down dry
wall, and remove all the nails from the studs. Sometimes we
even encountered unwelcome surprises such as cockroaches.
However, when we were finished and saw the empty house and the
pile of rubble by the curb, we realized how much we had
accomplished. Our work helped a family get one step closer to
getting their lives back on track.”
Residents are eager to salvage as much as they can from the
storm. The teams were mindful to set aside anything that could
be reused, including bricks, sheet metal, and woodwork that
wasn’t water damaged.
The other team spent their day doing yard work at the home of an
Elder of Canal Street Presbyterian Church (the group’s home
base). The owners will not be returning and are hoping to sell
the property. However, even though they live elsewhere, the City
requires that homeowners maintain their yards, so weeds do not
take over and there is an appearance of order. Failure to do so
results in fines. Although the yard had been tended to since
Katrina, vines snaked through the long grass and had overtaken
the fences.
On Wednesday, 3 teens helped Mary, an elderly woman, pack up
some of her possessions in preparation for moving. The first
floor of Mary’s house was flooded and had already been gutted.
The second floor had been looted and her belongings were strewn
everywhere. The girls valued talking to Mary about her
experiences since the storm and were grateful they could help.
“It was clear that Mary was overwhelmed with everything that had
to get done. As we slowly started helping categorize things to
go in boxes, she noticed missing items that had been stolen,”
notes Lauren Saeger, Hopkinton High Senior. “Our hearts hurt for
Mary as she was struggling, and we knew this is why we had come
down, not only to rebuild New Orleans, but also to help heal the
hearts of those who live here.”
The rest of the group canvassed neighborhoods around the church
delivering flyers announcing an upcoming dance camp for kids.
Programs that provide a safe, positive environment for children
are very important.
Thursday was the highlight of the week. The group went to City
Park, which is twice the size of New York’s Central Park. Before
Katrina there were 24 park employees, now there are only 5, so
the park is very overgrown and neglected. Our goal was to clean
up Popp's Fountain and get it running again. Popp’s Fountain is
a popular location for weddings and special events and the team
was eager to return it to its former beauty. Everyone weeded,
swept, mowed, weed-whacked and painted. Once the fountain was
clean and the basin filled water, they turned it on for the
first time since Katrina. Everyone cheered when they saw the
cascading water, knowing that they had bought life back to City
Park. The fountain is close to a main road, and people were
stopping their cars to admire the view. It was a special moment.
Friday morning was spent at Sylvia's home weeding and mulching
her flower beds and planting flowers. After they finished work,
Sylvia shared her Katrina experience. She evacuated but her home
was completely flooded. She wasn’t able to return to her house
until December and finally moved back in the following April.
Sylvia broke down crying, it was very touching for the students
to hear her story.
In the afternoon, the team went to Gary’s home in the Upper
Ninth Ward where they started priming and painting a house that
was being rebuilt. It was a small house with a living room,
bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and mud room. Gary was in a battle
to keep the City from repossessing his property. He was
appearing in court the following week to prove that he was
making progress and photographs of the new paint and clean rooms
was just what he needed. Unfortunately, other homeowners are not
as lucky. Unless they can prove they are taking strides to
renovate badly damaged homes, the local government takes over
the property and, in most cases, demolishes the buildings.
The week, however, was not all about hard work. The group went
on a nighttime swamp tour in a flat bottomed boat. The tour
guide provided flashlights to look for the red eyes of the
alligators, and enticed them to come closer to the boat by
throwing marshmallows into the water. Plus no trip to New
Orleans would be complete without a visit to the French Quarter.
The group enjoyed Beignets, shopping in the French Market, and
taking photos of the beautiful architecture.
It was a life-changing trip and one the teens will not quickly
forget. FEMA has almost completely pulled out, and so the
clean-up rests on the churches, charitable organizations and
individuals. First Congregational Church of Hopkinton left its
mark through hard work and caring interactions with local
homeowners.
