At 7:30am on the morning of May 22, 2008 a team from Christ Church, Catt and Rob Courtney, Amanda Keith, Becky Killian, Kim Kirk, Ashlee Larrimore, Julie and Michael Wehunt, Amy Rogers, and Christine Rogers, set out for New Orleans to help with the hurricanes Katrina and Rita rebuilding effort.

Below are some of the experiences of our team:

Christine Rogers: "It was a very humbling experience to see the devastation that people went through and to see such a spirit to come back from all the destruction. We spent two very rigorous days of tiling--no, please don't call us! When you realize we only spent two days and these folks have been living in unthinkable conditions and working to get their lives back together for three years! As the old saying goes--when you think you've got it bad, there is someone in a much worse situation. I appreciate the opportunity to have been a part of the fellowship and helping in the very small way we did."

Amanda Keith: "The night I got back from New Orleans, I laid my head down on my nice clean pillow and enjoyed the reading light and quietness that was in the bedroom. I thought back to the foam bed I had left at the St. Paul's Center and the group of people I had just spent some 72 hours with and I smiled. That feeling of satisfaction mixed with exhaustion rested upon my thankfulness. At least for a little while, I have nothing to complain about.

Our group leader from the Louisiana Episcopal Disaster Relief was a 20 something year old who had moved down to New Orleans in February after finishing her teaching degree in Virginia. Erin was cute, hard working, and patient and I found myself looking up to her and sometimes wishing I could move from Sewanee, give up all my comforts, and help family after family rebuild their lives. Her last day in New Orleans was the Tuesday after we left and when she talked about it, she was sad but she would add on the fact that she was coming back in July and may come back to do another few months of internship. Erin's willingness to sacrifice her teaching career became my new American way.

So, tonight, after I cook a meal on my stove, watch some bad reality television and once again climb into my queen sized bed, I will think of the family we helped in New Orleans and how soon, very soon, they will be climbing back into theirs."

Rob Courtney: "Life in NOLA really is divided between pre and post August 29, 2005. It's also still largely divided between rich and poor, tourists and locals. If you watch television and see images of Mardi Gras celebrations, or the Saints playing in a newly refurbished Superdome, it's easy to think, "Well, things are back to normal down there. New Orleans is back!" In the tourist areas this is true. If you visit New Orleans and stick to the French Quarter, or the Garden District uptown then yes, all is for the most part well. What about the neighborhoods? The rich neighborhoods are doing great--the middle class and poor neighborhoods remain beaten down in many respects. New Orleans is a city with an interesting dichotomy. On one end you can experience the debauchery of Bourbon Street, and on the other the cultural life of the city rooted in religion, family, and community. It also a city plagued by crime and corrupt politics, alongside racial and class inequalities, all of which was laid bare by Katrina for the nation to see.

We helped a family of 11--mother, father, and 9 children. The wife lost her small catering business because of the storm, the husband lost his job as a security officer. They sold their interest in the catering business and used the money to buy a gutted house. Before the storm, they were renters--post-Katrina, rents are too high for them to afford. He's working in security again, and she is now cutting hair at a neighborhood barber shop that her uncle decided not to reopen himself. She has reopened the shop, and cuts hair as she is able while they fix this house. The whole family lives in a one-car garage with two beds, and most of them sleep on the floor. They installed a toilet and sink with a curtain, and they cook outside on a small grill. They shower in hotels and at relatives' homes. They've lived this way for several months.

They had a FEMA trailer, which was much smaller than the garage, but the government took it back. After 9 months FEMA must take back the trailers because they contain formaldehyde. FEMA would rather take back and destroy the trailers than risk a lawsuit because someone gets sick from the chemicals. As a result, the family had no choice but to move into the garage. Their neighbor, who is 75 years old, had her trailer seized while she was away. She has no place else to stay, and too little money, so she had to abandon her home. "