May20, 2008 - New Orleans

Barbara and I are back in New Orleans once again with parishioners of the Church of the Presentation, Upper Saddle River, NJ. CP has about 50 persons in their group from CP and other nearby parishes and congregations. Their ages spanned recent high school graduates, college students and up to senior citizens like Barb and I. Some are first time volunteers in New Orleans, other are repeat volunteers; some are skilled plumbers and electricians and some are unskilled, but with a passion to learn. We had 10 teams are various locations.

Our group was assigned to the dustiest, dirtiest job - applying "mud" as it is known in the trade, or spackle to the uninitiated. It involves three applications, with lots of sanding in between coats. Iit takes a practiced hand to apply just the right amount and seasoned pros like some of us have to try to fix the mistakes of the first timers who preceded us. It is a job that requires lots of patience and re-work. I can't imagine how long it would take the owner to be doing this job alone. Knowing that we are helping another makes all the aching muscles from sanding the ceilings worthwhile.

We met Snoop whi si helping his cousin rebuild after working a fulltime job. He is also a relative of Bernice whose home we worked on during our last visit. The close family relationships reminded me of my own extended family growing up, with aunts and uncles and cousins all living within blocks of each other. Those connections are still maintained through our annual family reunion for more than 40 years. From 12 aunts and uncles, we are now down to two surviving uncles. That personal family experience helps me understand the tremendous impact that Katrina has had in breaking up longstanding family groups in many neighborhoods...now dispersed to cities and to other states. Some will never return, primarily due to economic hardships which make it impossible to rebuild. Long delays in settlements, bureaucratic snafus, crazy twists of regulations and unjust insurance settlements have led to these unfortunate family circumstances.

The result in these neighborhoods in Violet, LA are very visible with only about 10% of he neighborhood rebuilt and re-occupied. Picture any street in Westfield where 1 in 10 houses in your neighbor are vacant and looking like an bombed out zone - shattered windows, huge holes on roofs, demolition waste, overgrown lots and you have the area we worked in - all this 33 months after Katrina struck. It is a massive failure of government. I cannot help but think about what trillions of dollars of war expenditures could have done.

Tomorrow, my brother Ed, a nurse, will help out with a health clinic staffed by CP parishioners. Residents lack many basic health services. Think about the pending closure of Muhlenberg Hospital and multiply it by about 20 hospital closures in the New Orleans area. Residents of St Bernard Parish have to travel about 25 miles to reach a major medical facility. This is like traveling from Westfield north to Paterson or south to Monmouth County. Overlook can be reached in about 15 minutes. More tomorrow on how the clinic fared.

We have no trouble sleeping after a hard day's work! And now to bed.

Friday, April 11, 2008

From March 12-17th I visited New Orleans once again. As I reflect back on that time a few things come to mind along the lines of "good news bad news". Personally, I always take the bad news first, because I figure that is the worst that can happen and then I can move on to the good news. The "bad" news is that there still remains much to be done. The "good" news is that for the first time after Katrina, I can see signs of progress and hope.



I recall the utter devastation during my first post Katrina trip in February, 2006 and that was after much of the debris was at least cleared from the roads, but still piled up everywhere. In March, 2008, as I drive the same route to St. Bernard's Parish (remember that a parish in Louisiana is also a governmental designation, something comparable to a county here in NJ) , I see people gathered on the corners under the now working street lights; businesses are slowly returning and neighborhoods slowly recovering.



I met with Zack Rosenberg, one of the co-founders of the St. Bernard Project (SBP), http://www.stbernardproject.org/ , which is re-habilitating homes in St. Bernard Parish. In the two years that they have been around, more than 100 homes have been returned to their owners for occupancy. Barbara and I first worked with SBP as part of a group from Church of the Presentation (CP) in Upper Saddle River. CP has an extensive Katrina ministry that has sent volunteers to work with SBP and continues to grow. We will be returning there the week of May 18-24 to do more housing re-hab work.



The highight of this trip for me was my visit to St. Patrick's Church (SPC) in Port Sulophur, LA. Fr. Gerry Stapleton, the pastor, visited Holy Trinity the weekend of March 1-2 and preached at all our Masses. Fr. Gerry shared his Katrina experiences in ministering to the people of SPC. He is the only priest serving an area about 50 miles south of New Orleans between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Only SPC, centrally located, survives since two of the mission churches were destroyed and three remain boarded up since there are insufficient funds to rebuild. Parishioners have to drive about 25 miles to get to Mass. This is like driving north to Hackensack or south to Red Bank on the Garden State Pkwy. I am only two blocks from church.

I was blessed to be able to preach at the two Palm Sunday Masses at St. Pat's. It is a very diverse parish including white, African American, Creole, Serbian, Croatian and Vietnamese. The people were very gracious as I greeted them outside church. One thing particulary struck me as I shook their hands - they were the hands of working people, calloused and rough, but of kind people welcoming, warm and good humored, especially for people who have endured much suffering and loss.

Palm Sunday was a great time to preach on linking our spiritual journey as Catholics with Jesus' own journey, his passion, death and ressurection, which serves as a pattern for our own lives. While the people of the Gulf Coast have suffered and lost much, so many I have met are truly a resurrection people, returning to rebuild their lives and their communities.

At Communion, as we prepared to share the Body of Christ, one of the Eucharist Ministers, silently mouthed the words, "Thank you so much". At the beginning of Mass, Fr. Gerry introduced me and said that Holy Trinity was very generous in response to his visit, donating almost $16,000 for the rebuilding of the St Patrick faith formation classroom building.

Fr. Gerry's sharing at each Mass really touched so many. You know how we Catholics set our internal clocks at Mass thinking ahead to the next event - getting to soccer practice or beating the crowd to the bakery- looking at our watches when Mass is running late. Fr. Gerry was late at every Mass, but I did not hear a single complaint. People left with tears in their eyes. It was a testimony to his moving sharing of the faith of his parishioners and of himself.

It is that inspiration which makes Barbara and I return to do our little piece of rebuilding New Orleans and experiencing what it means to be a part of the Catholic faith community. You have an open invitation to be a part of that effort. You can reach me at deacon.tom@verizon.net if you need information on how to join with so many others. You will never regret going.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Barb and I are headed up to Church of the Presentation for a night of reflection with some of the parishioners who were down in New Orleans. It is good to see some of the people we worked with once again. We gather in a circle, surrounding the symbols of our efforts - a pair of work boots, a screwgun and some other tools. Symbols are powerful reminders of so much of what we share. They need no explanation. I look at the tools and I am transported back to New Orleans - pictures flood into my mind...people and places and shared experiences.

We start with a prayer, then listen to a reflection about someone's moving experience of the trip to New Orleans and the need to return again. I see many heads shaking in affirmation of the same need. We live in communites of great wealth and went to towns of great need...and we were touched as Matthew's Gospel call came alive...to help those in need! They had no shelter and we helped them. We were hungry and they fed us, not only our bodies with their food, but our spirits with the witness of their faith. To a person, paraphrasing the words of General MacArthur, "We shall return!"

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

We could not stay away and decide to spend our last day on the job. I am glad we did. All work comes to a halt at lunch as we break o eat and to celebrate two birthdays - Beatrice's daughter and Alison, the Americorps worker. Beatrice has prepared a meal of fried chicken, rice and beans along with vegetables. We have a traditional "King Cake" as the birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday".

The Mardi Gras or Carnival season officially begins on January 6th, or the Twelfth Night. Originally objects such as coins, beans, pecans, and peas were hidden inside of every King Cake. Wealthy Louisiana plantation owners in the later 1800s would sometimes put a precious stone or jewel in their King Cakes. In the mid-1900s, a small plastic baby became the symbol of this Holy Day and was placed inside of each King Cake. The New Orleans tradition is that each person takes a piece of cake hoping to find the plastic baby inside. The recipient of the plastic baby is "crowned" King or Queen for the day and that person is obligated to host the following year's party and supply the King Cake.
The King Cake tradition came to New Orleans with the French settlers around 1870, continuing a custom dating back to twelfth century France. Similar cakes were used then to celebrate the coming of the three wise men calling it the feast of Epiphany, Twelfth Night, or King's Day.

We return to work and finish up some of the last details in the early afternoon. As Billy Joel sings, "Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes and now it's time to say "Goodbye" again." We make the rounds, take some pictures. Beatrice asks me for my Rutgers sweatshirt..she is collecting them as momentos of the many people who have helped her. We sign her diary filled with many messages of hope and good wishes and head back to Ed's house to clean up before our last dinner tonight. Tomorrow we head for home, but I know we will be back.

Monday, January 14, 2008

More sheetrock...will it never end? I wonder how many millions of square feet of sheetrock and screws are needed to rebuild New Orleans? It gives you a new sense of perspective on the magnitude of the effort when you are doing it one sheet at a time. As I watch, the electrician runs the wires with so many leads and colors coming out of the junction box, I think, "How does this guy figure all this out"? The plumber solders hundreds of joints and connections and every one needs to be perfect. The window and door installers make sure they are plumb and weather tight. The finish carpenters make the molding cuts nice and square. It reminds of the scriptures that speak about the many gifts and how they are all used for the good of the community. We are blessed!

January 13, 2008

Today is Sunday, a day of rest, and well earned as I reflect back over the past few days. Barbara and I, along with our new friends from Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, NJ, became sheetrock "experts." After a few trial and errror mistakes, we learned not to make the cuts backwards, how to locate the electric outlets and get the holes in the right place (or at least close). how to get the screws into the studs more often then not.

We went to Mass at Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, the first church we visited post Katrina more than 2 1/2 years ago. Fr. Joe Benson and Arthine, the pastoral associate, are now close friends. New Orleans continues to really grow on us. We know how to get around without my brother directing us; we know the local neighborhood spots for breakfast; the places where the locals eat (not Emeril's or Commander's Palace or Brennan's) places where the people are friendly, the food is tasty and the tab is cheap.

We recharged our spiritual bodies, as well as resting our weary bones, in preparation for Monday's return to Beatrice's house and more sheetrock.

January 12, 2008

Today, Barbara and I hooked up with the team from the Church of the Presentation which has made several visits to the St. Bernard Project working in St. Bernard Parish (the political subdivision similar to counties in NJ). To get the history of this great volunteer effort which is similar to Habitat for Humanity go to their website at http://www.stbernardproject.org/ The profiles of the two co-founders are below.

Liz McCartney, Director and Co-Founder
liz@stbernardproject.org

Liz worked for a community-based nonprofit organization in Washington, DC for the past four years. Prior to that she taught ESL and middle school for over five years. Liz is a graduate of Boston College and recently received a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from George Washington University. In her free time she likes to play soccer and scrabble, travel, and eat blue crabs with lots of Old Bay seasoning. I find out that Liz is the daughter of one of the parishioners at Church of the Presentation.

Zack Rosenburg, Director and Co-Founder
zack@stbernardproject.org

Zack has been a criminal defense attorney in Washington, DC for the past three years. Prior to his defense work, he founded Linking Communities for Educational Success (LINK), a non-profit organization that provides tutoring, mentoring and after school education and enrichment services to at-risk junior high school students in Washington, DC. Before law school he was the development director of Families Foreward, a low-income housing and job training program in Washington, DC.

We attend an orientation by Zack who makes four key points. First, leave any negative stereotypes of the people you will meet behind. They are hard working, family oriented, giving people who have been dealt a severe blow by Katrina and are committed to rebuilding their lives. Second, work safely. Third, more important than rebuilding the houses is building relationships. When you meet the homeowners and they want to talk and get to know you, that is Priority Number 1! Finally, if it were not for volunteers this work would not get done. Our role is important.

After the briefing, we are off to Violet, LA a few miles away to the home of Bernice Holland. Her sturdy brick ranch was under more than 10 feet of water! It was weeks before she just got to return to her neighborhood to see the dage. The area is now only partially rebuilt. Right next door, her neighbor's house is like it was soon after Katrina struck. The house has not even been gutted, has garbage in the yard, a gaping hole in the roof. There are others just like it 2 1/2 years later.

Bernice lives in a FEMA trailer along with her brother, a nineteen year old homeless girl whose mother and sisters drowned in the hurricane, and a nine year old son of a friend who was killed in a drive by shooting. Her daughter and granddaughter live in another FEMA trailer next to hers. Bernice also cooks once a week for a homeless shelter on her small 4 burner stove. That trailer is so small that as the joke goes, “you would have to go outside to change your mind.”

Bernice is a woman who has known much hardship, suffering and loss. In the face of all the challenges in her life Bernice still puts her faith and trust in God. She is a source of inspiration. She shared her story with us in the front bedroom of her house as we hung sheetrock. We stopped and listed, just as Zack said, and it was worth it!

We met the two Americorps (like a domestic Peace Corps) volunteers, Alison and Brea. Alison eyes lit up when she saw my Rutgers sweatshirt. "Rutgers", she shouted, "I just graduated from there. I'm from Ridgewood!" What a small world. We go 2000 miles to meet a girl from a town 20 miles north of Westfield. What a great group of young men and women - taking a year of their lives to help others.

With our new friends, men and women, from Presentation Church, we finish the living room/dining room. This is what Christian community is all about...using our God given talents to help others. It is a long and tiring, but very fulfilling, day when we quit work around 4 PM and head back to Ed's house. No time to dally because we need to get to Mass at Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos. It is like home since we have worshipped here many times in our past trips.

After Mass we have a chance to chat with Fr. Joe Benson, the pastor, and catch him up on the latest news of our efforts on this trip to New Orleans and our trip down to see Fr. Gerry , his seminary classmate. We can't get out the door without seeing Arthine, the pastoral associate. We know her story from past visits, but we stop to hear the latest installment - her marriage to Bear (his nickname fits him well), a New Orleans police officer; their housing dilemmas, the struggle to get furniture; the travails of filing an insurance claim for $36,000 only to get $10,000 - take it or leave it - because an appeal could take years...and time is not on their side. They are not alone, losing out to the fine print and the interpretations of the insurance company. These are amazing faith filled people!

And finally, a shower and a warm bed (things we take for granted) and the freedom to sleep late in the morning. Thankfully, Sunday is a day of rest and some time to take in the sights of New Orleans. We are off to Audobon Park and the zoo tomorrow.

January 11,2008

This morning, Barbara, Fr. Bob Stagg and I are off to Port Sulphur, LA to meet Fr. Gerry Stapleton, pastor of St. Patrick's Church. Port Sulphur is on a peninsula with the Mississippi River on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. It is all below sea level with levees holding the water back. There are basically five livlihoods here - citrus groves, sport and commercial fishing, cattle raising, sulfur mining and oil and gas drilling. I took months to recover, move the fishing boats off the highway and back to water, rebuild the oil and gas platforms in the gulf and re-invigorate the fishing industry. These are hardy people!

I met Fr. Gerry through his seminary classmate, Fr. Joe Benson. They were both ordained at the Waterford Seminary in Ireland. Fr. Joe is pastor of Blessed Xavier Seelos a few blocks from mt brother Ed's house. You can read about him on some of my earlier posts. Despite having many needs himself, Fr. Joe told me that Fr. Gerry was in more dire straits than he. Port Sulphur was under water for weeks wiping away many houses, government facilities and commercial businesses. While some of these sectors have been rebuilt, 2 1/2 years later the high school campus is abandoned with classes held in trailers. With the attention focused on more populated areas, Port Sulphur still has few services that people need - medical care, banking any significant retail stores are 50 miles away! A trip for these services is like going from Exit 135 on the GPS to Exit 85 in Toms River!

Fr. Gerry is an amazing guy with an Irish brogue and a hearty laugh. He is alone with all the responsibilities of serving the small number of people who have returned while re-building the parish. Several of the mission parishes are no longer in existence, so St. Pat's is the only church around for many miles.

When the storm struck and people were evacuating, the parish secretary left the church open because she knew the choir loft was the highest point around. It was the sanctuary for almost three days for about eight people before they were rescued from the 16 feet of water that filled the church.

The church and rectory have been redone, but the two steel buildings where parish activites take place still need major repairs. One has a new kitchen and bathrooms with tables and chairs ready for the bingo games that will soon be held to raise funds. The other building is still gutted and awaiting funds to rebuild classrooms for the faith formation program.

Labor is hard to find and as we toured the site we found the trustees working. Barbara wondered how they had the energy and time away from their jobs. She was thinking about our parish trustees like Jane Egan and Bob Dillon. When we turned the corner we came face to face with four "trustees" in orange jump suits working and watched over by an officer from the local sheriff's office! These inmates had plenty of time to help out. The sheriff's office was a great help.
In the early days after the hurricane, volunteers from as far away as the Midwest came to clean up the muck and mire, rebury the caskets found floating in and around the parish cemetery. Some were never recovered and one was even found in a nearby tree surrounded by a pool of water filled with poisonous snakes. A typical post hurricane day in Fr. Gerry's life. Lack of funds, lack of labor, lack of materials, lack of parishioners were all obstacles still to be overcome 2 1/2 years later. Fr. Gerry is an amazing priest.

We are looking forward to hearing his story when he comes to Holy Trinity the weekend of March 1-2. I hope all who read these words will come as well!

January 10, 2008

"Hey, its good to be back home again" are the words from one of John Denver's songs. For us, New Orleans does seem like "home", in a sense, because we have been here many times since Katrina and have formed new friendships along with the people we already know here. Ed and I look very much alike, except that he carries about 75 lbs more than me, but our faces look so much alike that when I go to some of his haunts for breakfast they think I am him. I have found the people here much more friendly than in the North. Post Katrina has made them moreso, I believe, because they meet many volunteers who come to help, forming an immediate bond with those who come from the goodness of their hearts to help someone in need.

We arrived on a beautiful warm sunny day on a flight that had about 30 people. We landed in New Orleans and faced hundreds returning home from th LSU/Ohio State championship game - smiles on the LSU fans and frowns on the OSU fans. The event is a great boost for NO as it struggles to regain its economic footing. Ed was very happy to see us and our visit turned out to be very timely. Ed's partner, Wayne, has some serious heart issues and ended up being admitted to the hospital the next day. Three days later, he is still waiting for a bed in ICU. The health care options we take for granted in Westfield, are a real challange here. You don't want to get sick in NO! What was once a thriving medical treatment, training and research center cannot meet the basic needs of a reduced population now. Truro and the "knife and gun club" at LSU are two of the few key care centers. The "knife and gun club" is the nickname for the trauma center that was just re-opened when I was last here a few months ago. Long waits and "lock downs" and diversions to other facilities are almost routine while the political and bureaucratic battles are fought over which hopsitals should be re-opened or where new hospitals should be built. Powerful halth care corporations have a strong voice in the decisions which in some cases do not work in favor of care for the poor and uninsured.

Yesterday , Barb and I met with Fr. Bob Stagg and Bob, one of his parishioners from Church of the Presentation (CP) in Upper Saddle River. This 6000 family member parish has organized several volunteer trips working on the St. Bernard Project started by a lawyer and his girl friend soon after Katrina struck. One note - parishes in Louisiana are political divisions akin to counties in NJ. We are exploring how we can better cooperate with other parishes in the Newark Archdiocese and CP is a leader. We compare notes on what we have done, who we know, what we are doing and what needs to be done.

This morning Fr. Bob and I met with Deacon Jesse and Deacon Drea working for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on Katrina relief. They brought us up to date on where they are and the many unmet needs among the almost 150 parishes. Each church parish has just completed a viability study that the archdiocese will use to determine how to re-organize in light of the many pastoral and financial challanges it faces. It is an evaluation process similar to the New Energies Program that Newark is completing. It is a real challenge given the multi-ethnic, racial, economic and cultural churches in New Orleans.

We discussed some of the resources we can tap into and a conceptual approach to match our resources with their needs. The parish viability report decisions are due in the March/April timeframe and so we agree to go back and fine tune some approaches to help out after there is a better sense of what the parish priorities are.

Tomorrow, Barb, Fr. Bob and I will head south about 100 miles to visit with Fr. Gerry Stapleton, pastor of St. Patrick's in Port Sulphur. The church was recently re-dedicated. Holy Trinity helped St. Pat's with a donation to buy religious education materials through Project Backpack. We have invited Fr. Gerry to vist us the weekend of March 1-2 to share his story and seek our support. I'll fill you in on our visit after our return.

In the meantime, keep the people of New Orleans in your prayers. They are amazing people committed to returning home so like the John Denver lyrics, they too can say, "Hey, its good to be back home again."

January 7, 2008

It has been almost a year since my last post. Stay tuned for more info. Barbara and I will be leaving tomorrow morning for New Orleans to do more Katrina related relief work. We will be staying with my brother, Ed, and have a busy schedule for the week. Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River has sent many volunteers to work on the St. Bernards Project and is interested in expanding thier efforts. Ed got to be Santa Claus for the 9 families that CP helped rehab their homes. CP gave each family gift certificates for a local chain store. Ed's experience is described below:



Ms Catherine Davis called today. Said her brother gave her my number. She was on her way home from uptown and would be glad to stop by and pick up the gift.You just feel good seeing this lady. She was so grateful that you still remembered her. She remembers all of you. When she was feeling so down you appeared and brought light to her life. Her words. And she taught dem boys how to eat seafood.She was even more pleased with the ornament. "This is very special and I will keep it forever and remember ya'll every time I look at it. And my grandchildren will know how important it is and how important the people that sent it are."God is wonderful and now her grandchildren can have a real Christmas. They have put every cent they can to put their home together as it must shelter her, her husband, her mother, her brother, her sister and three grandchildren. Talk about a big heart in a small body. Thank You again! This IS what it is suppose to be about. Thank you for the gift you gave me of seeing this joy.



Then the best thing in the world happened. I met Hellen Hampton and LC Bingham. I was in an area that one would not feel comfortable in. Called Ms Hampton and she went into the street to show me where she was. When she opened the gift she cried. She said she could now have blinds and curtains in her house. She excused herself and went back into her trailer. Her husband LC explained to me that they had lived in a gutted 60' trailer after the storm. He is a carpenter and began to build their home with what savings they had and with what money he could spare. He thought he had hit a wall and your group appeared. He was in tears explaining all you had done for him and his family. He proudly showed me his home again declaring how good GOD had been to him and his family. I received some much love and warmth from him. He cried as he explained how proud he was of his daughter who had a full academic scholarship. and she would have her own room as would his grandson that they are raising. We hugged, we laughed, we cried. He then got into my truck to show me where my next stop was. A block away. He knew Ms Bell. He told me to call tomorrow. He is off work and knows where the other stops yet to be delivered are and would love to go with me. His way of trying to do something to pay back for all the good done for him.

Ed Pluta



We will be meeting with both local parish priests and the archdiocesan pastoral services office. Two brother deacons, Drea Capaci and Jesse Watley, are very involved in coordinating relief efforts. Fr. Bob Stagg, pastor of CP will also be meeting with Archbishop Hughes to discuss possible cooperation efforts.


Barb and I will be visitng Fr. Gerry Stapleton, pastor of St. Patrick's in Port Sulphur, about 100 miles south of New Orleans. He will be coming up to Holy Trinity the weekend of March 1-2 to speak at all our Masses and to solicit our support.


Stay tuned. The next blog you read will be from the "Big Easy"!

March 1, 2007
"Bring home lots of beads and leave lots of nails." After reading my posts, one of our parishioners with strong ties to New Orleans (he met his wife, fell in love and got married there) sent me a copy of a letter he sent to the Leader. He was there at the same time, but our share it with you below. If, after reading it, you want to play a resurrection role in New Orleans contact me.

About a week ago, my little girl was enjoying Miss Annie's homemade grits at the Creole Gardens Bed & Breakfast and making plans for her first day in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Later that night, I would help her catch her first set of beads and see dozens of floats with hundreds of elaborately costumed riders and countless marching bands.
In the meantime, less than six miles away, I was sitting on a roof in the Upper 9th Ward taking in an extremely different view. Out here, there are no beautiful courtyards like the one at our hotel. Indeed, even the street signs had blown away making it a bit tricky to find my way to the Musicians' Village --- a Habitat for Humanity project to build over 70 homes for displaced New Orleans musicians. After driving around a bit, and seeing nothing but the rotting remains of destroyed homes, it became clear that the few hundred nails I planned on hammering were not going to change the world, or even make a noticeable difference in the emptiness of this place. Still, I decided to stay. I got a crash course in shingling and started hammering.
Nearly 800,000 people visited New Orleans during Mardi Gras. If every visitor spent just one day helping to rebuild the city, more than 2,000 new homes could be built from scratch ---- enough to house every family with a child in Westfield High School.
By day's end, the roof was complete. My few hundred nails were gone. While they did not change the world, they joined with nails from five other people to add another dry roof to the city. At some point, a musician and his family will return to New Orleans to live in the home. He will repay Habitat the construction costs through a no interest mortgage and 350 hours of service.
Unlike many of the volunteers, I did not return for a second day. Having left my few hundred nails in the roof, I turned my attention to leaving a few hundred tourism dollars in the hands of restaurant owners, cab drivers, and perhaps a bartender or two. I spent Mardi Gras catching beads with my family. I saw large crowds enjoying themselves on the same streets that were the scenes of misery and suffering not that long ago. I never saw a single incident of crime or felt unsafe in any way.
New Orleans is rebuilding. It is a historic effort in one of America's most historic cities. It is all taking place right now. Be a part of it. Visit New Orleans and have a great time. Bring home lots of beads and leave lots of nails.