Vol. 3, No. 2 Spring 2006

Experiencing New Orleans

Loyola College President Brian Linnane, S.J., has declared 2006-2007 to be the "Year of the City" and urges us all to get involved in service to the community. He and Loyola College gave me the opportunity this January, along with 15 other people from the Loyola staff, faculty, and administration, to spend a weekend helping some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

We flew down on Friday, January 13, and stayed at a school run by Catholic Charities. Friday night we went out and assured ourselves that Bourbon Street was still alive and kicking. Saturday morning bright and early we drove through the streets of New Orleans for the first time. It was heart-wrenching: houses boarded up or hanging open, electrical wires trailing, abandoned cars with waterlines halfway up their windshields, and empty streets everywhere you looked.

We spent the next two days tearing out the interior of a home. The residents, an 87-year-old woman and her 50-year-old son and daughter, were there with us for both days as we worked. We listened to their stories, hauled rubble, and ripped out everything from the ceiling down through the hardwood floors. These people were wonderful; they were strong and had so much hope after having lived through the devastation of their city. On Saturday night we had dinner at a church school. The community made delicious New Orleans Catfish and we were able to meet others from The Big Easy, as well as a few other Catholic Charities groups that were down there helping.

Seeing what the hurricane had done to the city of New Orleans, meeting a family, and working with the team on the house brought home to me just how enormous the devastation was and how much needed to be done. I spent four days with the group, serving, playing, reflecting, and sleeping; the closeness, teamwork, and camaraderie are things that I will cherish forever.

Click to see a presentation of the New Orleans service learning trip.