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New Orleans, Louisiana Trip - Brian's Journal
Brian Casey - Director of Government Affairs, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Days 1 & 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Final Thoughts
Days 1 & 2
Holy heat and humidity, Batman!
That was my first reaction Saturday when we walked out of the New Orleans airport and into a climatic wall. Despite growing up on the Gulf Coast, I now react like every other Midwesterner when confronted with the oppressive temperatures of the Deep South. Ninety-two degrees greeted us on the van's digital dash as we headed into the city.
At first, you couldn't really tell anything was amiss. Annoying stop-and-go traffic on the interstate was the first surprise, as we'd heard that so much of the New Orleans population had not yet returned after the hurricane. Moreover, commercial areas near the highway with grocery stores and big-box retailers seemed, well...ordinary. Even when I saw a dilapidated building, it didn't appear to be anything more than evidence of the challenges faced by any major city.
But as we crossed into Orleans Parish, evidence of the damage became clear. Abandoned homes began appearing with more frequency, often with the tell-tale spray painted markings—"Katrina tatoos"—left by rescuers. When you see even one house with the "x" -- indicating in different quadrants the date of rescuers' searches and the number of dead or survivors in a home—you can't avoid being snapped into the terrifying reality of what happened here. (For an interesting look at the Katrina impact timeline in New Orleans, click here.)
These last two days have been about travel and acclimation; tomorrow, Monday, we start building. Our team of 23 volunteers is ready, even a little restless, to attend to the task at hand.
Fact of the Day:
Thrivent Financial members are organized into more than 1,300 local chapters, through which they can volunteer to help their congregations and communities. Whether pounding nails at a local Thrivent Builds home or raising funds for a family struggling with medical bills, Thrivent Financial members work through their chapters to meet grassroots community needs every day.
Day 3
The Thrivent Builds crew will sure sleep well tonight after our first day of construction in New Orleans! (I think I'll have to learn to pound nails with my left arm before this week is over...)
The day started when we left about 7:00 a.m. for the short drive to Musician's Village, which served as a staging area for Habitat volunteers. Musician's Village is a special project designed to recognize—and more importantly house—many of the New Orleans musicians who help give the city its character.
The depressing ride in, through the ruins of the neighborhood, left me unprepared for the energy of the morning gathering. Literally hundreds of people, many of them high school and college students, descended upon a wide swath of vacant land to receive their marching orders for the day. Habitat construction leaders scaled a storage trailer to give the crowd the mandatory safety lecture, and then the "bidding" started. They called out specific tasks that needed attending to and the approximate number of volunteers necessary for each, and people in the crowd responded by claiming the jobs. Fortunately, the Thrivent Builds crew was able to stay together and work on a home only a few blocks away. I'll share more details about the site and surroundings tomorrow.
If you only visit the French Quarter while you're in New Orleans for a conference, you might not notice that Katrina occurred. A few broken hotel windows would be evident, and if you really thought about it, you might realize that there seemed to be fewer street performers than you'd remembered.
But the Upper Ninth Ward and other areas that suffered serious flooding damage are like nothing most of us have ever seen. The sheer level of destruction, abandonment and despair in some areas is simply astounding.
So what struck me most about Musician's Village were the visible signs of hope where so few others existed. The work had been going on for a long time, so many new homes had already welcomed their families. They were painted in bright pastels, too, so you couldn't miss 'em. And seeing all those volunteers who showed up to help people they don't even know...that was moving.
Some relief workers I've spoken to expect to be here for 10 years. Ten years. That's both overwhelming, and inspiring.
Fact of the Day:
In 2006, Thrivent Financial members, other Lutherans and additional supporters volunteered an average of 1,500 hours of time each day to build more than 300 Thrivent Builds homes.
Day 4
Our second day of home construction found the Thrivent Builds New Orleans crew focusing on the finer details.
One might not think that finer details would be on the top of the list when there are few if any habitable structures as far as the eye can see. But as we moved inside two side-by-side Habitat homes under construction, finishing work dominated our day.
We're working in the Upper Ninth Ward, an area that sustained severe damage. There are many homes and buildings still standing, but few people seem to live there. Home after home is empty. Many appear to have been gutted, and piles of debris remain near the streets. Still others host the infamous FEMA trailers planted in their yards. But there is frighteningly little traffic or activity. As I sit here, I'm taken by the realization of how little everyday life activities seem to take place in the neighborhood. (That must be why the Habitat leaders insist that we leave at 3:00 p.m. every day. The Upper Ninth is not a place they want people to stay into the evening.)
Yesterday, our first time on the build site, we worked outside. Whether we were hanging siding or expanding window cut-outs that were framed too small, there was no shade to be found. But today, we were a couple blocks away working on homes that had already been roofed and drywalled. We installed bedroom doors, erected closet door frames and began pounding base boards.
One thing about the construction process has really caught my attention: high expectations. The site leader who supervises our crew is focused on building quality homes. One team member called the garage he recently completed at his own house "project good enough." Well, the Habitat folks expect much better. Let's just say I've become more familiar with a level, tape measure and shims this week.
The dinner bell is ringing—literally—in the gym-turned-cafeteria here at Camp Restore, the very unique place we're staying. I'll share more details about Camp Restore tomorrow.
Fact of the Day:
In 2006, Thrivent Financial provided $138 million to help its members make a difference in their local communities. In turn, Thrivent Financial members raised an additional $178 million and helped multiply the impact.
Day 5
Progress is a wonderful thing, especially when you can see it with your own eyes. The Thrivent Builds team can definitely see progress on the two side-by-side homes we've been spending our days building.
A serendipitous reality of this build, and probably many other Habitat work sites, is that tasks can change daily. That means you get to try new things all the time. It's great to see people learn new construction skills and take pride in their work.
Another neat thing about these two houses in particular is that a different Thrivent Builds team worked on them just a couple weeks ago. Here's a special shout out to those of you who came before us!
I mentioned in yesterday's note that we're staying at a special place called Camp Restore. It's a former Lutheran church and school whose members and students were forced to leave the neighborhood in Katrina's wake. It's been turned into a facility that can bunk and feed as many as 164 people who are in New Orleans to volunteer for the rebuilding effort. The staff mentioned it takes $10,000 a month to run the place (and it was great to see Thrivent's Simply Giving program promoted as a way Thrivent members can help support the camp.)
Each day starts with a group breakfast at 7:00 a.m. that often includes a reflection by pastors who talk about help and hope. Volunteers then head out to their respective tasks for the day. Showers are much-sought-after commodities upon return from a day of rebuilding, and then we end with a group dinner.
The facility has hosted 3,000 volunteers since its opening last October, and the retrofit from school to camp is easily recognizable. We're bunking in former classrooms; the one I'm in can hold 24 guys in bunk beds that resemble those I made for my college dorm room. Additional bunks are even located in trailers outside. In fact, the camp kitchen (provided by Orphan Grain Train) and a group of showers are located in outdoor trailers, too. The staff and longer-term volunteers are housed in still more trailers or motor homes out back.
We attended a small church service here on Sunday morning. Camp Restore visitors far outnumbered the local members, but they gave the service its character. Even though the flood waters in the sanctuary were not comparatively deep, water remained for three weeks and did a lot of damage. While much has been repaired, the sanctuary is far from grand or ornamental. You can see where the pews used to sit (replaced by chairs) and the artful wood walls have been replaced by sheet rock. It's interesting, though, how great a worship service can be in such austere surroundings. And let's just say we all wish we could take the seven-member gospel choir back to our home churches!
Volunteers couldn't help with this rebuilding effort without dedicated folks who are here providing shelter and food at places like Camp Restore. They are doing remarkable work under very challenging circumstances, and we're thankful for them.
Fact of the Day:
It will take roughly 1.4 million volunteer hours from more than 159,000 volunteers to complete the 355 homes planned in 2007 through the Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity program.
Day 6
Have you ever had one of those powerful encounters that stops you in your tracks? One of those moving experiences that grabs hold and won't let go? Some of us on the Thrivent Builds New Orleans team did yesterday.
Yesterday afternoon, the team decided to visit the Lower Ninth Ward, the scene of the disaster's worst levee failure. The flood waters that rushed through the area left horrible destruction in their wake.
We drove to a spot in front of the new levee, and it was eerie. The quiet and emptiness of the area cast a somber shadow over our usually boisterous group.
When the flood occurred, the torrent was so strong it literally washed homes off of their foundations. All around us yesterday were empty slabs where the houses once stood. While the area we're building in is full of crumbling homes, this neighborhood adjacent to the levy is just empty.
As we were milling around the site, one team member kicked up a piece of clay pottery that had writing on it. Some more of us gathered around, found other pieces and soon, like a puzzle, the original work began to emerge.
The assembled pieces formed a simple wall hanging entitled, "Kitchen Prayer." It was the kind of small, inexpensive meal-area decoration any of us could have in our own homes. Or we could see it on the wall at our parents' house, or our grandparents'. Maybe even remember it hanging above the table at our best friend's.
The Thrivent Builds New Orleans team has been surrounded by destruction and hardship all week, but stumbling upon this moved many of us. It brought into sharp focus the violence unleashed by the flood. And an image of the houses that once stood on those empty foundations and the people who lived in them instantly became clear and real.
We gathered up the pieces of the wall hanging, and one of our team leaders plans to have it reconstructed and preserved. Among the lasting reminders of what we've seen in New Orleans this week, it may prove to be the most powerful.
Fact of the Day:
On an average day, Thrivent members participate in 205 community projects. The average amount raised, matched and donated by Thrivent and its members per day is $866,300.
Final Thoughts
I'm back in my office at Thrivent today. I've traded in the tool belt for my brief case, but New Orleans is still very much on my mind. It will take more time for the everything we saw and did on the Thrivent Builds New Orleans trip to truly sink in.
While it's difficult to capture a whirlwind week's worth of experiences in an email, one way to look back on the trip is through some of the people our team met along the way. Very different folks, from all around our great country, but all in New Orleans to help rebuild it. People like:
- Pastor Curtis, who ran Camp Restore this week and shared many accounts of the four catastrophes collectively known as Katrina. (Those four were Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the floods and a refinery spill north of New Orleans that released more oil than the Exxon Valdez shipwreck.
- Andre, the local man who delivered a piece of missing luggage. In a cathartic way, Andre told a small group of late-niters about returning to New Orleans to find his home destroyed and the cleanup job he took emptying weeks- or months-sealed refrigerators that had to be treated like toxic waste.
- David, Chance, Tara and other Habitat site leaders who take on the unenviable task of shaping rag-tag volunteer teams into construction crews. These folks represent a very special group of young people who, as far as I could tell, make up the backbone of Habitat's rebuilding work.
- Lawrence, an electrician who lives in the neighborhood we were building in. He spends his days working on one house and his evenings working on an elderly relative's. He told us about surviving the flood and helping others survive as well. The pain was still very close to the surface when he discussed an elderly neighbor he could have saved if only he'd known the man was still in the house.
- John and Loren, from Hawaii and New York, respectively, who joined us for several days of the build. Each had taken time off from work and traveled alone to New Orleans because they wanted to do something to help. Remarkable.
- Miss Margaret, who lived in a small trailer around the corner from our build site. She appreciates so much the volunteers who come to her neighborhood that she leaves her door open so folks have an alternative to the portable toilets that aren't cleaned very often. From the looks of things, Miss Margaret doesn't have much, but she's willing to share what she does have.
I'll end with the story of Alvin, a 32-year-old former Navy seaman and truck driver. I met Alvin when he showed up with his little truck pulling a little trailer to mow the overgrown yard next to the build site. Some folks still make the effort to maintain their yards even if they can't live in their homes, and Alvin the entrepreneur saw an opportunity. He thinks his business will grow as the city recovers, so ultimately his son will be able to choose whether to join him or go to college. He has a dream and a plan.
Alvin and I talked openly and honestly about Katrina, the rebuilding effort, racial divisions, local government and conspiracy theories. After we shook hands and began to part, Alvin looked back over his shoulder and said something I'll never forget: "Hey, don't give up on us. We're gonna get this right."
The rebuilding of New Orleans seems like an overwhelming challenge with many long years of struggle ahead. And I'm sure many serious public policy issues will have to be confronted along the way.
While I clearly won't profess to have the answers, I do know this: After doing a very, very small part to aid in the recovery, I'm compelled to take Alvin at his word.
Thanks for taking the time to read my updates from the Thrivent Builds New Orleans trip. And please, keep the people who are rebuilding the city in your thoughts and prayers.