5 years post-Katrina, the Gulf Coast can still use your help

The author in New Orleans, 2007.

On August 29th 2005, almost 5 years ago, hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of North America. It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by, as the people of the area are still recovering from the disaster.

In 2007 I took a sprawling North American road trip that landed me in New Orleans, a city very dear to me, for a period of several weeks to volunteer with the recovery effort. I spent my days tearing up soggy carpeting, breaking down walls with crowbars, and gutting houses and reducing them to little more than a skeletal frame. I wheeled wheelbarrows full of heartbreakingly intimate things out of these houses, rescued old photo albums, and even found a skeleton of a cat hidden in the roof of a house, its bones perfectly intact.

After scouring the internet for possible organizations to work with, I ended up volunteering with ACORN. In the Elysian Fields Avenue office I found a family of resilient and remarkably jolly people to work for. It sounds cliché but the organization really is something of a family. I enthusiastically suggest ACORN to prospective volunteers, but there is a slew of other organizations to get involved with. Those interested can register at Volunteer New Orleans to receive updates on relief opportunities as they are listed. Some other noteworthy organizations include Habitat for Humanity, and HandsOn New Orleans. Volunteers can continue the Katrina effort or help with Oil Spill recovery.

At ACORN they have a saying, “15 years to rebuild New Orleans,” and this saying is pretty accurate. There is still a staggering amount of work to be done. For those travelers who might be in the area, or if you’ve always wanted to see New Orleans or try your hand at relief work, now – at nearly the 5-year anniversary – might be a good time to make the trip, see the city, and do a little volunteer work.

And if you’re in New Orleans during the month of August make sure to read Jill K. Robinson’s recent blog post so you don’t miss out on any great shows while in the city.