Instead of relaxing during spring break, a group of ten NEIU students helped victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes and their lives.
“You don’t see it on the news now, how it really is down there,” says Politics Club President and trip organizer Jonathon Winkler, who led the group of Politics Club members and Honors Society members to Pearlington, Mississippi, a town 45 miles east of New Orleans. Winkler is also a staff photographer for the Independent.
Winkler saw a virtual war zone in Pearlington and New Orleans; even a year and a half after the storm had passed through. Winkler spoke to Pearlington residents who said some homes in town were only beginning to be rebuilt in March, 18 months after Katrina struck. According to Winkler, the mood in the town, while not downtrodden, was “very intense.”
From the day the students arrived, they were put to work in conjunction with the Pearlington Recovery Center (PRC), which organized the various church and school groups that volunteered their time in the town. The week of March 18-24 there were approximately 200 volunteers in town, according to Winkler.
Winkler interviewed local residents like Lester Dell, who reported that the only governmental responses to the hurricane were brief and came directly after the storm. Dell told Winkler that large military vehicles came in and cleared debris to the sides of roads, and there were emergency supplies dropped off two days after the storm.
Requests were taken for additional supplies, but those supplies were never delivered, according to Dell. “Something’s not right,” Dell said when asked about the federal response to the storm. Dell went on to tell Winkler that the United States government’s use of resources in Iraq was mind-boggling when basic needs weren’t being met at home.
Dell’s actions in the wake of the storm earned him the nickname the “Pearlington Power Ranger,” as he rode a jet-ski into flooded areas to rescue eight people directly after the storm. Dell’s home was not worked on until this March 1, and he received a citation from inspectors who fined him $100 for attempting to repair his own roof after his house had been condemned. The fine was later rescinded.
Dell and his family currently live in a FEMA trailer while they await the rebuilding of their home. Dell also lost an auto mechanic business he owned in town that was not insured.
Pearlington was hit by the eye of Katrina, and the most powerful part of the storm battered the town for an hour and a half. The students saw more than one home in the exact condition it was after the storm subsided, with water lines ten feet high in some homes. Many homes in the town were abandoned altogether. Dell reported that many homes destroyed by Katrina haven’t had new ground broken on them yet.
One of the most immediate tasks was cleanup of debris. General construction was also a common task, with flooring being laid, decks rebuilt and drywall and sheetrock hung on new house frames.
All the volunteers slept on cots and bunk beds provided by the PRC at a local elementary school, and meals were provided by the PRC, with donations asked for to help pay for the food.
The students participating in the trip along with Winkler were Neeshia Macanowicz, Paul Harris, Kevin Roberts, Nelson Chavez, Aaron Kaufman, Katherine Alexandris, Nadia Rodriguez, Dragan Mackovic and Corina Oala.
Funds for the trip were provided by the NEIU Student Government Association (SGA), which funded over $2,000 for the trip. The Unity Church of Chicago also provided funding. Winkler added that there was more than $800 in leftover funds from the Unity Church that would be split into two donations, one for the PRC and the other donation going to a local Baptist church that is aiding in recovery efforts.
Winkler hoped the group’s effort would be an inspiration to others to help in the region, which Winkler described as “at least five years,” from a full recovery. Those interested in volunteering in Pearlington, Mississippi can go to www.prcvolunteers.
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