WWS staff member Grace Cooper recounts her “call to serve” after her experience in New Orleans earlier this year, aided by the University’s Humanitarian Relief Efforts Policy

In August 2005 Americans watched, awestruck, at the power and destruction unleashed upon the Gulf Coast when Hurricane Katrina crashed into Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana. Recorded as the costliest (almost $90 billion) and one of the five deadliest hurricanes on record in the United States, the storm has, even three years later, left much of the area still devastated.

Grace Cooper is the Office Manager at the Survey Research Center, one of several centers at the Woodrow Wilson School. This April, Grace volunteered with members of her local church for a week of physical labor, helping with the ongoing rebuilding of homes in hurricane-devastated New Orleans. Grace’s trip was made possible through her association with the Calvary Chapel Mercer County as well as Princeton University’s Humanitarian Relief Efforts Policy, which was instituted in September 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. The University recognized that many of its staff have unique skills and training that would be useful in the relief efforts, and made the decision that it would support the humanitarian efforts of its staff by instituting a temporary policy that may grant employees a period of paid leave to participate in relief efforts. Since the University instituted the policy in 2006, 35 University employees have been able to take advantage of the leave.

by Grace Cooper

This past April, I was privileged to travel with a group of 17 others to New Orleans, spending a week helping to rebuild homes destroyed by the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. The team that I travelled with was put together by my local church, Calvary Chapel Mercer County, which has been sending groups to help rebuild in New Orleans every year since the hurricane hit in 2005. My church partnered with the Calvary Chapel Metairie, who found us homes on which to work.

It’s hard to believe that three years have passed since the storm, and that so many still have not been able to rebuild. While there are many reasons for this, those reasons are not for me to delve into. My aim here is to tell how much still needs to be done.

During my week where we were assigned in St. Bernard Parish, we saw numerous groups from other organizations, all with the same mission as ours—rebuilding. Our team was assigned to work on two homes there. St. Bernard Parish is a middle-income parish that had been under 20 feet of water in 2005, and while the rebuilding process has been slow, there are signs of hope. The larger shopping centers are still boarded up, but many small businesses have reopened. These businesses are the key to life returning to normal in the area. 

The area in which we worked was in a small neighborhood of about 40 or 50 brick homes, and it appeared that about only about a quarter of the homes in the neighborhood had either been rebuilt or were in the process of rebuilding. It was strange seeing homes that appeared fine from the outside but were totally empty on the inside—many marked with a big red “X.” (FEMA hangs a bright yellow poster with a red “X” on the house if it is to be demolished.) While many homes were being demolished because they were uninhabitable, such as the foundation no longer being structurally sound, many were being demolished simply because the owners could not be located, had moved away and had no plans to return, or simply could not afford to rebuild. It was staggering to see how many homes in St. Bernard Parish were still standing but had that big “X” on them.

The first home on which our team worked was 900 square feet and belonged to a family with three boys. The mother and sons are living almost two hours away in a town to where they evacuated in 2005. The father has returned to New Orleans—a lucky one whose job was still there for him after the storm—where he is living in a FEMA trailer in the backyard of the property. His work schedule during the week, and traveling to see his family on the weekends, does not leave him much time to rebuild the family’s home. When we arrived, the house was a complete shell, just wood studs. In one week, we were able to insulate and sheetrock the whole house; we also were able to install new windows and a front door for the homeowner with support money raised by our church. By the time our week had ended, it was starting to look like a home again. The owner had tears in his eyes as he thanked us for the work we’d done. Although much work remains, he is very anxious to bring his family back home.

The second house on which we worked belonged to a pastor and his wife. Originally from Detroit, they were relocating to New Orleans after they themselves had previously visited as part of a rebuilding team. During their visit, they fell in love with the area and the people and saw the need for ministry. This house, approximately 1,200 square feet, was a little further along in the rebuilding process. Our group was able to finish the sheetrocking that had already begun, and help install flooring and kitchen cabinets. With these tasks completed, they were able to finalize the details of moving into the home so they could focus on their growing church and continue to help others.

We also were able to assist others that we happened upon—mostly neighbors’ homes where we helped clean out their yards and remove some of their trash piles. One woman was living on the second floor of her home because the first floor still had not been cleared out—the space was rat-infested, and there was mold growing everywhere. During the storm, she had been trapped on her second floor for 10 days with 10 others from her neighborhood. (They all did make it to safety.) This woman was now solely responsible for the cleanup and rebuilding, and like most Katrina victims, simply lacked the ability and resources to do much of it on her own. Although FEMA has provided some assistance, resources are thinly spread. She was very lonely and enjoyed the visit from us, and appreciated the limited assistance we could provide. I am hopeful that with other teams from other organizations still arriving in the parish, she soon will have assistance in rebuilding her home. 

All of the people we encountered that have returned and are living in New Orleans were so appreciative of the groups coming to help. Life changed drastically for them. Many lost family and friends, and many lost everything they owned—their possessions and their homes. Their old neighbors and neighborhoods are gone. They want their lives to return to some semblance of normal, and rebuilding their homes in their old neighborhoods is the first step. It is a sad reality of how horrible a disaster this was and how it continues to affect people on a daily basis.

Our team worked physically hard for a week, but it was probably one of the most rewarding workouts we ever had in our lives. With so much still to do, Calvary Chapel Mercer County has plans to send another team this November.

There are numerous other organizations that are continually sending teams to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding. A simple Google search of “rebuild New Orleans” will bring up links to many of these organizations. As a staff member of the Woodrow Wilson School, I was fortunate to have my trip sponsored by Princeton University. Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, the University instituted a Humanitarian Relief Efforts Policy that would cover many travel-related expenses and up to two weeks of paid leave for employees that wanted to assist in the relief efforts. This policy will remain in effect through June 30, 2009, and I am hopeful that other employees will read this and be reminded how much still needs to be done in New Orleans. 

For additional images or for more information about Grace Cooper’s experience, visit her Website. University employees interested in the Princeton University Humanitarian Relief Efforts Policy may visit the Human Resources Website, call Human Resources at (609) 258-3300, or e-mail hr@princeton.edu.