University students help in New Orleans cleanup

HOUSTON (3-10-2006) - Sister Clare Hunter, FSE, Director of Campus Ministry at the University of St. Thomas, and Matt Gustafson, assistant director of recreational sports, led a group of ten students on a relief mission to New Orleans to help Hurricane Katrina survivors rebuild their homes. The group included eight undergraduates and a graduate student from the University of St. Thomas, and an undergraduate student from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.

As part of the Operation Helping Hands program, a relief effort of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, the group focused on residential cleanup for disabled or elderly persons and those without the financial means to reoccupy their homes. The volunteer team was one of more than 82 groups that are scheduled to contribute more than 2,600 volunteers to Operation Helping Hands over the next six months.

"This experience has really put into perspective all the things we take for granted," freshman Nanette Platter said. "I will keep this alive in my mind and remember every day how much I have and all the things these people have had to live with."

The group helped remove appliances, furniture, damaged walls, ceilings, floors, wiring and other household goods from homes. Once a home was cleared, students sprayed the residence with a sanitizing solution to kill bacteria and mold. An estimated 92,000 houses in New Orleans and 200,000 houses metro-wide were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina . Click for more photos.

A view of a home after it was cleaned by the student volunteers.

The students felt they received more than they gave during the intense week of work. Sister Clare explained, "We personally met the people in whose homes we worked and we were humbled and touched by their stories of escape and tragedy, as well as by their gratitude." Sister Clare relayed the following incident as an example of interaction among the home owners and the young workers: "The house was owned by an elderly woman who raised her family here. She lost most, if not all of her possessions. We did find some valuable pictures , the only ones that existed of her beloved aunt and her mother. We all cried as she wept with joy. As we emptied her house of all her earthly possessions, she was so strong and grateful. We learned that if she hired someone to do the work we did, it would cost her about $8,000. She had left her house with one change of clothes and lost everything, including her car. She was so appreciative that she and her son bought us fried chicken for lunch and her cousin brought over a big pot of rice and beans. It was an incredible experience to hear their stories of survival. Each family has such hard stories."