Peter's Story - St. Bernard Project

Volunteering in New Orleans' St. Bernard Parish was an amazing, eye-opening experience for me. Before Katrina hit, it was a thriving middle-class community of more than 68,00 people, many of them fishermen, oil workers, natural gas workers, and construction workers. A tightly knit community of normal, hardworking people, St. Bernard Parish was home to generations of families. Neighbors all knew each other well, families lived within minutes of each other; it was a true community.

Since the hurricane, less than a third of the people have returned. The ones that have, found their neighborhoods destroyed, their friends scattered, their families moved to other towns and other states. While there, I rarely saw a street that wasn't missing a few houses or that had several others under-going reconstruction and still others slated for demolition.

I was honored to meet and work with the Perez family. The dad is disabled and couldn't do the backbreaking work himself. He and his wife have two teenagers. We were one of the first teams in their home since the storms, so we did lots of demolition and mold treatment. It was dirty, filthy, hot work. AND at the same time, so much fun! Go figure. I'd hire someone to do it at my own house, but I loved doing it for someone else who truly needed the help.

I stayed at a place called Camp Hope. It was such an incredible place -- all staffed by volunteers and housing up to 1,200 volunteer workers at any one given time. It used to be a middle school, but when I was there, the classrooms were all being used as dorms, sleeping 20 to a room on bunk bed cots made by volunteer carpenters. We took cold showers and ate in chow lines. It was one of the best weeks ever! Very much like summer camp for grownups. I miss it so much already. I understand that it's closed now, which is really sad on one level, but really cool on another because it means that the school is re-opening.

I feel lucky to have worked with the St. Bernard Project. My experience was beyond explanation and words can't really do it justice. I think The Perez home was roughly house number 154 for the people at the St. Bernard Project. With little money and all volunteers, they make a difference every day. They are my new heroes. It was fun, hard, moving, gross and I'd do it again in a minute. In fact, I'm hoping to make it back early next year. Want to join me?

Peter Barton --