OnSite Relief Blog - Volunteer in New Orleans

After the work day is done we make a point of showing our volunteers around the city. This way they can get a better feel of what the people, food and culture is all about.

Here are some photos from the month of May.

Susan and Randi get the real New Orleans tour in the back of Jamie’s truck.

We took an extra long lunch one day and
had a picnic beside the Mississippi River.

It’s not a picnic without some spicy crawfish.

We saw this cool vintage VW Bus parked in the French Quarter.
It was covered with beads and other decorative items.

Randi enjoys a beignet (or two) from Cafe Du Monde.

Darren took our volunteers out for lunch at Crabby J’s.

A sign that clearly states how most returning residents feel.

Since the storm the saying below has become very common.
It was painted onto one of the levies. It translates to
“New Orleans gave me patience and passion”.

These signs are now being posted on many homes indicating
that the city will be tearing them down shortly.

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The week of May 26th we had a number of volunteers come in to do a variety of work.

Thanks to Sarai, Blair, Crystal, Virginia, Diane, Dee, Susan, Randi, Sai and our project manager Jamie. 

We started off by building ceiling supports to allow us to replace studs
in one wall that was plagued by termite damage at the Onsite house.

Crystal nails a 2×4 into the temporary ceiling support.
While this was happening Diane decided to joke around
and sing “When the walls come tumbling down…”.
The supports worked well, but after they were up we
realized that they blocked the front door from closing.

Here Blair uses a power saw to cut holes for the new electrical outlets.
She did a great job with the help of her friend Sarai.

Another project going on this week involved putting together a fence
at Darren’s Aunt’s home in the lower 9th ward. Darren is a very handy local
that has lived in New Orleans all his life. Many of his family members have
returned home and are counting on him to help them rebuild. He’s so busy that
he rarely has time for himself so we try to send him volunteers whenever possible.

We also worked at another house this week. It was owned by a local
Doctor that was one of the first to return after the storm to run
a needed medical clinic. The Doctor put fixing his own home on hold until
this year in order to help returning residents. He too is living in a FEMA
trailer until his home is fixed. We helped the Doctor by installing insulation
and prepping the home for new floors and walls.

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We had a good week with 8 volunteers. We had them repair siding and studs at the Oniste house and finish tiling and painting at the Guidry’s home in the lower 9th ward.

Thanks again to Ara, Myk, Krisen, Paul, Ross, Ned, Travis and William.

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We had a group from T-MOBILE help out for a day in May. They cleared out debris and removed overgrown weeds on the side of the Onsite house. Thanks again for all your help!

An old brick sidewalk was uncovered after the weeds were removed.

The group rented a power washer to complete the job.

Ben, our project manager, shows us how to hammer a nail.

The entire group from T-MOBILE

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Susan and Larry came from Florida for a week to help Onsite with the rebuilding of its volunteer house.

As the week progressed more termite damage was found in the home adding to long list of things needed to be fixed to have it ready for the month of July.

Susan and Larry helped by taking down water damaged plaster and wallpaper. They also bought items to help Onsite’s project manager, Justin, feel more comfortable as he stayed in the house.

Thanks again for setting up the outdoor shower and supplying the chairs. It really made getting through a difficult first week a whole lot easier.

Here is the first side of the house with all the wallpaper taken down.
Susan & Larry suggested that we keep the walls as is to give the
house a rustic old look. Maybe we’ll leave one room this way.

Susan takes a break to buy some fruit from Mr.Okra’s truck.

Susan & Larry in front of the Onsite house.

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We find that an important part of our volunteer’s overall experience is to have a chance to meet and speak with the homeowners that they are helping. Hearing first hand stories from these families provides our volunteers with a personal connection that makes the work they do more fulfilling.

Below: Our volunteers get the chance to speak with Dorothy and Lyndon Guidry.

Below: Lyndon Guidry tells our group about what
his family went through following Hurricane Katrina

Below: Jennifer, Cristina and Emma soak up somes rays just after lunch.

Below: Our UCONN volunteers get a chance to to hear Ms. Carolyn Parker’s story.

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The last 2 weeks in March our volunteers worked on finishing the siding at the Guidry’s house in the Lower 9th Ward. A few of them had experience while most had none. They soon found out that siding is not that difficult once you get the hang of it. Great work everyone! The Guidry’s were very pleased.

The 2 photos below are from the frame around the back doorway before it got trimmed. Cristina and Jennifer worked so hard and got to know the Guidry’s enough that they felt the need to leave something behind.

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From time to time we show up with some crawfish for our volunteers to try.

Below: Mr. Guidry shows our UCONN volunteers how he eats crawfish. First you seperate the tail from the head. Then you suck out the head…that’s where all the flavor’s at! Then you pull the meat out of the tail. They’re spicy but once you start you can’t stop.

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