2008 Service Trip to New Orleans

I can’t believe the week is already half over. I feel like my eyes have been opened to so much in the past few days and I know there is still so much more I need to learn. I’ve been working at the St. Bernard Community Center and enjoying it mainly because there are so many opportunities to listen and talk to the people there. We get to fold clothes and clean, but we also get to listen to the stories of so many people.

One of the women I was lucky enough to listen and talk to for a few hours was an older woman named Mary. Her story more than broke my heart. She not only lost everything in Katrina, but suffered through a nasty divorce, lawsuits regarding flood insurance with her sons and many other things that no person should ever have to go through. All she needed was someone to talk to and it barely took us any effort to sit there and listen to her, but it made all the difference to her.  At the end of the day when she was leaving, she was in tears while thanking us for helping her and told us that we had truly touched her heart and helped her through one more day.

There was also a woman who was in a wheelchair who rode over 14 blocks to pick up groceries and needed help bringing them back to her trailer. Half way through the walk back the battery in her chair died, and three of us had to push her in her chair along with a full grocery cart of food another 7 blocks. As we were slowly but surely on our way, a man in a Jaguar honked at us to get out of his way. My jaw dropped. The stark contrast between the two situations shocked all of us. As we kept walking, I couldn’t help but think about the underlying question that keeps presenting itself over and over again—how can some people have so much and others so little? As we drive through neighborhoods that alternate between falling apart and run down houses from the storm and rebuilt mansions, I can’t help but wonder if the gap will ever close and what we can do it close it. It’s a great feeling to know that we’re making small but significant differences in these people’s lives and I’m excited for the rest of the week!

As a sophomore, I’ve been around the university long enough to hear about the amazing Wake Forest connection. It’s spoken about by the alumni, by the faculty and by the older students as a revered creed to the Wake Forest body. It’s that case where you meet a stranger, only to find out that he or she graduated from the university two years before you, and you wind up joining him or her for dinner the next night. Or you happen to jokingly ask for enough money to get a plane ticket to go to the Orange Bowl since you’re studying abroad, and fellow Deacs raise enough money not only for the plane ticket, but for the ticket to the game as well. It’s this special connection that you make with fellow alumni that make Wake such a special experience both as a student and after you leave campus to head into the dreaded “Real World.” While I’ve heard about this connection, it’s not necessarily something that I had experienced first-hand until this evening.

As Amy briefly mentioned, we ate dinner at Mrs. Kathy Vogel’s house this evening. She’s the mother of a current senior at Wake Forest, but she and her husband did not attend the university themselves. That being said, her connection to Wake Forest, not even a first-hand experience, motivated her enough to not only generously pay for our entrance into the New Orleans aquarium and spend the whole afternoon with us there, but also lovingly open her house to us for dinner. With about 5 hours of notice, Mr. and Mrs. Vogel prepared an amazing dinner for us and entertained us for the majority of the night. I just can’t express enough how excellent it was for this couple to willingly open up their house to us with such little notice. We came to find out that while some of the group knew of her daughter, none seemed to express that they knew her well, and yet here we were sitting in their house chatting for hours about the history of New Orleans and, of course, about our beloved university. I just haven’t heard of many incidents like this at other universities that my friends attend. Clearly we’ve got something very unique and extraordinary at Wake that most universities cannot match. So thank you Vogel family, not only for the afternoon and dinner, but also for giving me my first quintessential example of the power and beauty of the Wake Forest link. You were perfects hosts.

I guess we are about half way through the trip now and I have really fallen in love with the city of New Orleans. Today was sort of a different day, we went to the St. Bernard Community Center for about 2 hours in the morning but then at lunch we met with an amazing lady Kathy Vogel , who is a parent of a Wake Forest student. She is awesome, she paid for us to go the aquarium and see the IMAX hurricane of the Bayou, a film about the hurricane before and after in relation the erosion of the wetlands. The film itself was really well done, I felt, and the stories of what people lost in the hurricane were extremely touching. So much of what went on was never covered on the news and being here and hearing stories of people who are still just trying to come or move back into their house is shocking. The amount of emotional distress that these people went through is devastating and something that is very overlooked I feel. Most people really just need to talk and express their stories. And that is not something that has an easy solution or fix. It just needs people willing to listen and show that someone cares. I can not imagine losing everything like so many people did. Even though its just material possessions, it is people’s homes and memories.

We went to dinner at Kathy’s house and she cooked us an AMAZING dinner, I learned how to eat an artichoke. We also went to the aquarium which was so fun. We saw penguins, sea otters, jelly fish. We all basically acted like 5 year olds it was great. Even though we didn’t do much volunteering today I feel like it was a really great experience to just enjoy this city. Learning about the culture has been an awesome part of this trip. I really love the atmosphere of this city with all the live music and the attitude its just very laid back. I can’t wait to see more of the city!

This is what we heard after working in the Community Center of St. Bernard Parish for seven hours today. After working in the county which was destroyed the most by Hurricane Katrina it has become clear that this area is one of the districts most in need, and yet it was hard to come across volunteer opportunities. From the moment we arrived to this Community Center, it was truly eye-opening. It took us a few hours to find the location, and in the process we came across more than a handful of boarded-up houses and streets which had been completely shut down, yet this didn’t compare to what we saw once we reached the St. Barnard’s Parish; nearly all of the houses were still in poor shape and most of the families were still very much in need.

I spent a lot of the day working with the family members of this traumatized area. When we first arrived, I had two young children run up to me and immediately started to play hide-and-go-seek and goofing around. Seven year old Heather and six year old Hayden were home-schooled by their mother, but we were soon to find out that they spent most of their time in the center, playing with the volunteers who come in and out of the doors every day in the place which they call home. For the first few hours of the day we colored Lilo-and-Stich color books and played outside on the swing set, and later, they were more than excited to be able to help me bring canned food into the distribution area, where any family from the district could come in to pick up food for themselves and their family. Once they returned home with their mother, I began speaking with some of the older visitors to the center. This was the first account I had with anyone who had truly experienced the storm. One of the ladies, Mary, spoke to me about how she had nothing left after the storm hit and hated to be so greedy by taking the food from the center, but explained, “what else can you do when you had to sit outside on your roof for a few days, hoping that someone would come and rescue you.”

As much as Rosemary’s story resonated with me, I felt the most emotional connection with Stephen. Stephen is one of the directors of the Community Center and had spoken to me on-and-off throughout the day. He recounted to me his experiences from the story, and was very happy to explain the lies that the media portrayed… they had measured the height of the waves incorrectly, they were really much higher than the measurements which the media had reported. Later on in the afternoon, he shared to the group his experiences via DVD, which had been put together from his own pictures, as well as other photographers who had witnessed the storm first-hand. This was truly the most eye-opening experience for me. I had seen many pictures over the course of the past two years, but these made the devastation come alive. I had never had someone account the stories behind the pictures while they flashed in front of my eyes. Stephen began to tell me the story of his escape and how he lost not only all of pets (who were replaced by volunteers throughout the months), but also how he lost his wife, who he no longer had any pictures to remember her by, because his house was completed submerged underwater after the storm. In conjunction with these stories which had already touched me, on the drive home, I witnessed so many more neighborhoods which had been hit extremely hard by the storm. Nearly all of these areas had been shutdown, and very few businesses have opened up nearly three years later. This day was truly moving and I look forward to speaking more with the residents of these devastated communities.

Many of the locations that we’ve visited have visible water marks that reach as high as 15 feet. A local man told us that these marks were formed only after the flood waters had settled several weeks after the storm had passed. All of the folks that we’ve spoken with have stressed that these marks do not even begin to reflect how high the flood waters reached at their highest levels. On our drive to the St. Bernard Parrish community resource center, I noticed that the vast majority of houses have been marked with a large “X”. We were told that these marks signified that the house had been checked after the storm. We also learned that that number found just below the “X” represents the number of people that clean-up crews found dead in each house. Our drive home after our work for the day was complete took on a much different tenor than our morning departure. I found myself paying more attention to the large, spray-painted numbers and water marks on the houses we passed than to the road and heavy New Orleans traffic in front of me. Many of the houses we passed had numbers other than zero on their fronts. I found strange irony in the fact that many of these very visible X’s were painted in blood red. I cannot understand how a city can be expected to heal after such a great tragedy when such visible and macabre reminders of the day that permanently altered the lives of so many remain present on nearly every street corner two and a half years later. The people of New Orleans seem like a VERY resilient group but I think that even they would admit that seeing these marks on their morning drives to work, on the way to the grocery store, and in nearly every other public space conjures up memories and images that by now they’d rather forget. With each day and with every new encounter, I am reminded of how truly blessed and fortunate I am.

So instead of recapping the day’s events, I just wanted to let everyone know how great this group of people we have compiled down here in N.O. is. Every day we spend together is another day we come closer, learn more about each other, and the more I am impressed by them. From the small things such as volunteering to make the pb & j sandwiches or wash the morning dishes, to taking the responsibility to drive a packed car/van for hours around an unknown city, we each contribute in a different way. This whole group seems to work so well together, so that you are bound to have fun, whether we are touring the city, staying in and playing an intense game of cards, or just driving around–lost. The leaders are fabulous as well, working so hard to keep everything organized and the rest of the group motivated, thinking, and having fun. I also love how passionate each one of us are about what we are here to do. Each of us have put our hearts into our environment, tasks, and to the people we are helping. It is not every day that your group tears up after listening to a survivor’s life story, or is willing to be a shoulder for another survivor to cry on. I am so impressed in how this group wants to do whatever it takes to make a difference, from a seemingly insignificant task of weeding a garden, to talking to a victim of a crook and spontaneously deciding to go and put up sheet rock in her house. All in all, I am having a great time, both working and relaxing, and this whole experience is even better with the people who I am sharing it with.

Today was probably the most exciting day I’ve had on the trip so far. After getting up bright and early, we all headed to St. Bernard’s Community Center where we spent most of the morning restocking shelves and organizing clothes. Around lunchtime several members of the group had the opportunity to chat with a local resident who told us her moving and tragic story. After speaking with her for some time, eight of us followed her to her house and helped clean up a bit and hang some sheetrock.

More than anything, today’s work made me realize just how much work was needed and how important every single volunteer is. As we rode through portions of St. Bernard’s Parish on our way to the Community Center and to the house we worked on, I couldn’t stop myself from staring out the window at the empty houses and damaged neighborhoods. Perhaps even more unsettling were the empty and gutted stores. It’s easy to forget as we watch news coverage of natural disasters and devastation on television that there are real people behind the faces and names. Today helped me begin to appreciate the reality of the situation. I was so excited after experiencing these emotions to be able to really do some work helping out. There’s so much need in New Orleans, and it’s difficult to get volunteers to the right places, but our work today really felt “right.” Before coming to New Orleans, I had convinced myself from the news coverage and articles I had read that the city would never be the same again. Tonight, however, I really have a feeling that this city will be thriving one day, and it will be because of the efforts like our group took today: working on one house at a time in one neighborhood at a time.

After a group reflection last night, a few important questions were raised by students about issues/topics that we encountered –

Why wasn’t I here 2 ½ years ago?. Why are areas like St. Bernard Parish not a focus for volunteering programs if they are the areas that have the most damage? Why are we having a difficult time finding volunteer opportunities if there is still so much need? Why is there disorganization amongst many of the agencies still 2 ½ years later? If everyone is focused on rebuilding, who is volunteering at common community organizations similar to those in Winston-Salem?

Our group was split in half between City Park and The Community Center of St. Bernard Parish. We began work at City Park with little background to the history of the Hurricane and its relationship to the area. We did a lot of maintenance and weeding to an area that is central to the park’s revenue and a beautiful main attraction. Halfway through the day, the head of City Park informed us that the area had been flooded with over two feet of water for three weeks, killing all of the trees, flowers, and grass. Many banquets and weddings are held in this area and these special occasions are one of the leading ways revenue is collected for the entire park. The City Park director’s information also helped reinforce what it means to be a volunteer. She expressed that thousands of volunteers have traveled to New Orleans this year imagining themselves building a house with hammer and nail in hand. But the present need is more related to maintenance and detail work for the upkeep of these aesthetic gardens. Hearing her insight allowed us to find more purpose in our work, and also sparked conversation amongst our group to think about how we might keep an open mind with our volunteer opportunities throughout the rest of the week.

The group that worked with the Community Center had a powerful experience in that they were exposed to one of the more visibly affected areas from the storm. St. Bernard Parish is the only U.S. County in the span of history that was 100% under water. The community center acts as a networking resource that serves the needs of the local people. Similar to a food bank, the center provides non-perishable food items as well as clothes for those residents that qualify. The distribution coordinator provided us with information about the incredible need in the St. Bernard Parish. Stephen, a local resident, gave his personal experience as a victim of Hurricane Katrina. His loss included his home, possessions, and his wife. He has now dedicated his life to rebuilding his own community. He told us that he felt like the volunteers were the true heroes of the storm. This empowered our group to become more motivated to serve our own local community of Winston-Salem.

I, too, had the opportunity to work in the Botanical Gardens. While I will let my co-workers’ brief synopsis of our endeavors there speak on behalf of what I did, I would like to take this time and say what all of what we did today meant to me, and to our services as a whole. Any ambitious volunteer coming to New Orleans might be a little disillusioned when faced with the, what some may interpret as, menial or insignificant tasks which occupied our time at the Gardens in City Park. Although, over the course of finishing our hours at the site, all our efforts came into perspective. One of the park employees let the volunteers look through a photo album of before-and-after shots of the park attractions. We were simultaneously shocked and delighted, for where we were was a direct victim of Katrina, mainly in the areas of flooding and water damage. The pictures showed how all of the bright greens of the grass and plant life faded into an ugly shade of brown, with broken tree trunks and limbs scattered throughout the acres. Having seen this, we could then realize the importance of what we were doing.

This historical park was always maintained mainly through volunteer efforts, and, were it not for the volunteers in the years following the storm up until now, City Park and the Botanical Gardens may have possibly been lost amid the larger concerns of the city. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to give our time and labor to this important location, as well as, for the first time on this trip, witness first-hand and contribute to an affected area. It may have just been weeding, but it is still one small problem among many small and large in this area, so anything we can do can help. It was a great first day, and now we wait in anticipation for the busy week ahead of us.

Today I worked in Greg’s group at the City Park Botanical Gardens. When we first got there, everyone was a little confused about what exactly we were supposed to do, but instead of sitting around looking at the gardens, we dove right in and started weeding the gardens. It was a gorgeous day and I was very happy that I could be outside in the beautiful weather.

After about an hour, the volunteer coordinator for the park, Lisa, came out and spoke to all of us. She explained to us that, while unknown to most, City Park in New Orleans is actually bigger than Central Park in New York City and commands an annual budget of over $10 million a year. The park was completely flooded during Katrina, under almost two feet of water. Not only that, but the water stayed in the park for over 3 weeks, killing any and all living things.

Lisa explained that after that the park finally drained, it was taken over by squatters and because the local authorities had much bigger problems to address, these squatters stayed for a long time, trashing an already extremely damaged park. Before the storm, City Park had four 18 hole golf courses, a conservatory, children’s park, Botanical Garden and amusement park. Even after the storm, Lisa told us that almost 2,000 children come to the park each weekend.

After weeding in the children’s park for about four hours, I felt as though I was working in my own city, making small but necessary improvements to a park that thousands of children will enjoy in the future. It was a small change, but a small change in the direction of bringing this city not only out of the destitude that Katrina left it in, but restoring it the full height of it’s beauty before the storm, maybe even making it a bit better.