Hope, help still arriving after Katrina

Transcription

1 Hope, help still arriving after Katrina One year later, area groups haven't forgotten survivors By NICK BIRDSONG Posted: Aug. 26, 2006 When Pauli Taylorboyd began asking her colleagues to donate non-perishable food items and household supplies to Hurricane Katrina victims, she hoped to fill one truck. Advertisement

2 Katrina: One Year Later Photo/Jack Orton Trash remains piled up in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, a neighborhood that had struggled with poverty before the hurricane. Photo/Jack Orton Frederick Ross, 49, and his wife are living in a trailer provided by FEMA while they rebuild their home in New Orleans. They returned last year, determined to resettle in a neighborhood where many have abandoned their homes. More photos Related Coverage New Orleans: Buoyed by faith,

3 some return to rebuild Business: With a little help, New Orleans university back on its feet Milwaukee: Hope, help still arriving after Katrina Perspectives: Katrina's legacy Travel: World War II Museum survives hurricane, looters On the Scene Coverage from the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Biloxi Sun Herald, which shared the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Times-Picayune Biloxi Sun Herald More Coverage AP SPECIAL SECTION: Video, photos, audio interviews and stories from the Associated Press. Wire Service

4 To her surprise, the group filled six trucks. "The outpouring was enormous," said Taylorboyd, director of employee development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. UWM efforts have not stopped. The school has since unveiled a three-year commitment to preserve the culture of areas hit hardest by Katrina. Nearly a year after Katrina marched across the Gulf Coast on Aug killing more than 1,600 and displacing thousands more - local agencies, churches and volunteers continue efforts to rebuild. Friedens Evangelical Church in Port Washington has been sending volunteers south since November to gut damaged homes, clear debris, distribute water and conduct prayer walks to connect to those in need of outreach, said Mark Voll, senior pastor. "That'll go on for the next six to 10 years," said Voll, who traveled to New Orleans with the first group of volunteers. "There's a tremendous need to come alongside people whose hope is gone or nearly gone.... This is a huge disaster beyond what most people can imagine unless they see it for themselves." Elmbrook Church in Brookfield initially raised $35,000 for Katrina victims. But after witnessing the destruction and hearing heartwrenching accounts, the congregation was compelled to do more than send money, ministry assistant Mary Ann Lee said. On Sept. 11, 16 members drove to Biloxi, Miss., to hand out food and water. But for five days, they worked out of a sheriff's office in Louisiana because of mold and blood-borne pathogens in the city, Lee said. Each month, Elmbrook Church sends a team of volunteers to Mississippi, with the teams paying their own way. In January, volunteers worked with a Baptist church in Biloxi to help rebuild the destroyed edifice. Coverage Mississippi : Cashing in may be key to recovery Weather: Meteorologists will study Katrina for years Media: Overlooked storm in Mississippi, critics say Health: Katrina continues to take mental, physical toll Levees: No sure thing, experts say Archived Coverage Stories: Hurricane Katrina Coverage Photos: Journal Sentinel photographer Rick Wood Audio: Columnist Mike Nichols reports Video: Nightly coverage from TMJ4 Interactive: Katrina's Impact Groups range in age from 11 to 80 and do whatever is needed, including drywalling and painting roofs. "I actually can drywall now," said Lee, 62, who coordinates the monthly trips. "When I first went down there, I didn't know anything. Now, I can do a pretty good job."

5 Volunteers never leave Mississippi without touring U.S. Highway 90 near the city of Waveland, where the eye of the storm passed. "If you don't leave the area where you're working, it'll just look like you're building houses," Lee said. "People need to see that and experience that. We've had grown men cry when they see it." Counselors also travel with the group to the damaged areas. "It's August, and people still want to tell their stories of what happened. There's still a lot of healing going on," Lee said. The next group from Elmbrook Church will be one of its largest, when 52 members will offer their services. "We told (the people in the affected areas) as long as they want us to help and we have helpers, we'll be there," Lee said. Last year, the Milwaukee chapter of Habitat for Humanity partnered with the City of Milwaukee to launch "Operation Home Delivery." Through the initiative, the agency and the city sent a semitrailer of materials needed to rebuild houses, including lumber for framing, doors and windows, as well as volunteers. Although contributions have slowed significantly since September, Habitat plans to build at least one more home, Habitat Executive Director Sara Kierzek said. "We're hoping that funding continues," Kierzek said. "From what I hear, the need is going to be there for quite some time." At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Marquette's University Ministry will hold a prayer vigil at St. Joan of Arc Chapel for the victims of Katrina. The ministry also is planning a roundtable discussion with Marquette students this fall to discuss needs in the Gulf Coast. The ministry will continue to go and lend support. But now, they're appealing to a higher power in hopes of repairing spirits that broke along with the New Orleans levees, said Stephanie Vaske, a graduate intern with the ministry. "It'll be a very simple prayer service to let people know that God is still in the region, and that we need to pray and be in the service of those who are still being affected by Hurricane Katrina a year later," Vaske said. From the Aug. 27, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Have an opinion on this story? Write a letter to the editor or start an online forum. Subscribe today and receive 4 weeks free! Sign up now.

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