We honor the memory of the more than 1,800 people who lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  We recall the horrifying images of people stranded on rooftops, wading through the toxic waters, and packed into the Superdome and Convention Center.  We recount the hundreds of thousands of homes rendered uninhabitable, thousands of which were eventually torn down or still sit uninhabited.

However, today is more so a day for hope.

Families are rebuilding their homes–many, with the help of selfless volunteers from all over the world.  People are proud to call New Orleans home.  Businesses in Mississippi and Louisiana have reopened, schools are coming back, and some neighborhoods are bigger and better than five years ago.

The Gulf Coast has always housed a unique and vibrant culture–one that cannot be found anywhere else in this country.  It has also housed resiliency and a spirit that cannot be broken, no matter how tragic or unfair the conditions.  That resiliency is built upon hope, which can be found in both big and small ways today, the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.  Hope can be seen in…

a fresh coat of paint.

a championship!

public transport.

growth and new life.

the renewal of a city.

Today, I urge you to hope.

With eternal hope,

Gretchen

Photos: Amanda Spillman

Here’s some of the more small-scale progress:

Building a West Bank home

The completed West Bank home

Painting a retirement home in Gentilly

Hanging drywall in Violet

Cleaning up in St. Bernard Parish

Today, a few of her photos focus on Katrina’s destruction, which remained years after the storm:

Katrina's destruction

Katrina destruction

Katrina destruction

Katrina destruction

Katrina delivered the first major punch in 2005, a blow from which the region is still desperately struggling to recover.  As much as we would all love to believe the Gulf region is back to normal from this disaster, the frank truth is that thousands remain homeless and numerous neighborhoods still sit in shambles.

More storms, numerous levels of inefficiency and other disasters to divert media attention inundated the next several years, adding jab after jab to hardworking people just trying to rebuild their lives.

Then April 20 provided what some feel is the knockout punch.  The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster killed 11 workers and has since gushed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, hindering or wiping out the jobs of thousands of workers.  The water is the livelihood of so many residents who were on the road toward stability, and the widespread effects of this unnatural disaster will be present for years to come.

With hurricane season upon us, the uncertainty and tension has become too much for some residents to bear.  Mental health illnesses, already much higher in the post-Katrina Gulf, are fully coming to the forefront.

Here’s what we at Project: Katrina Hope would ask of you:

1. Don’t forget.  Just because there is a cap on the oil leak and almost five years have passed since the hurricane, it doesn’t mean problems just go away.  These men, women and children are struggling.

2. Volunteer.  If you have the time and the resources, go down to the Gulf Coast and get a sense of the morale yourself.  As we approach this critical anniversary next month, there is still plenty of work to be done, and volunteers are the primary source of rebuilding in Louisiana and Mississippi.

3. Write a letter of hope.  If you want to provide hope to a Gulf Coast resident directly, e-mail gretchen@projectkatrinahope.com, where we can set you up with a homeowner pen pal of sorts.  We’ll deliver your handwritten or e-mailed letter directly to a resident who is struggling, giving him/her hope for the future, despite circumstances that may currently feel insurmountable.

The Gulf Coast residents have been knocked down too many times.  It’s time for us to help them back up.

With hope,

Gretchen

August 29, 2005.  9:38 a.m.  The levees broke.  80% of New Orleans flooded.  More than 1,800 people lost their lives.

As I have worked for a rebuilding organization the past nine months, I have heard hundreds of horrifying tales from the homeowners who witnessed it firsthand.   These are two of the most compelling:

A Ninth Ward homeowner evacuated on Aug. 28, convinced by her neighbors that they would only be gone for one day.  She packed one change of clothes as some of her Ninth Ward friends taunted her for leaving.  On Aug. 29, she spoke on the phone to a friend who had stayed behind, who laughed at this homeowner for leaving when it was “just a bit of rain.”   Just then her friend screamed and said the levees had broken and a huge wall of water was coming toward her.  The phone line went dead.

A St. Bernard Parish homeowner stayed behind, unable to evacuate because she had to work double shifts at her job.  When the levees broke, her home quickly flooded with 14 feet of water.  She broke a hole in the roof with a hatchet and climbed up, only to find some of her other neighbors in the same position.  Power lines fell around her as water reached the bottom of the roof.  She heard a banging noise for eight hours straight…It was other neighbors trying to break through their roofs and be rescued.  Eventually, the banging just stopped.

It is because of this that Project: Katrina Hope exists.  But it is also because there are millions of people who have not yet forgotten about the Gulf Coast.  The volunteer efforts continue.  With hope and determination, the region is coming back.  Four years later, things are still rough.  I have seen and experienced this firsthand.  But these people deserve to be home.  They have been through enough.   The volunteers are one of the few saving graces down here.

I created a campaign called 4 NOLA a few months back.  It is all about the positive reasons to rebuild New Orleans, and it was inspired by the amazing people with whom Project: Katrina Hope works.  So, as we approach this fourth anniversary, I ask: Are you 4 NOLA?

With hope,

Gretchen

While searching through my parents’ collections, I came across a song that took me back to those deserted streets in the Ninth Ward, back to standing on cement porches with residents telling me horrifying tales, and back to the frustration I often felt surveying FEMA trailer after trailer. This song just seemed to portray all of the sadness the Gulf Coast still harbors when recalling the aftermath of Katrina, so it was added to the documentary. It was not until we wrote the credits, though, that we discovered the ironic name of this tune-”Song of Hope.”

While witnessing overturned cars, residents rescued from their rooftops, and boats floating through streets, the song manages to inspire hope that eventually, someday, things will be right again. These two minutes of the documentary tended to be the most touching for me, reminding me that with volunteer help, it can be overcome. Funny what a little tune can do.

With hope,

Gretchen

PS-Want to see and hear the ways hope is working in the Gulf Coast for yourself? Purchase your copy of Volunteers of Hope: Overcoming Katrina today.

Gulf Coast residents are strong, no doubt. Their durable spirits are inspirational in the face of adversity, and that is one of the major reasons volunteers continue to give of their time and skills in areas torn apart three years ago. Residents’ optimism, though–almost with a youthful innocence–is what strikes me the most. They step up as a community because they believe that their town, their parish even, could one day return to a level of normalcy that formerly felt like home. The backyard cookouts could take the place where piles of rotted out furniture currently lay, and their neighborhoods would be full of playing children instead of moldy FEMA trailers.

With your help, these hopes can soon be turned into reality. If you want a clearer picture of what the volunteers do for the Gulf Coast, purchase a copy of Volunteers of Hope: Overcoming Katrina. You’ll be helping residents rebuild by donating your money to groups itching to step up and get things done. If you feel called to be part of one of those groups, drop us an e-mail or visit the “How to Help” tab, and you can learn more about a few of the great rebuilding organizations of which you can be a part. We’re raising the funds to raise the walls of homes. Step up to raise the residents’ spirits once again.

With hope,

Gretchen

It’s mind-numbing to think that anything could be compared to Hurricane Katrina. I’ve talked with a few people who have evacuated, and they all say how surreal it seems that Gustav could come after just three years. Jeff, our Project: Katrina Hope Insider from New Orleans, has left with his family, but they weren’t sure where they were going. I’m thankful that he’ll be safe.

As of this writing, Gustav is expected to make landfall in a bit more than eight hours. The most agonizing part right now is the waiting game we all must play. We can’t fathom how the residents feel in this moment, but a piece of the rest of the Insiders is there in the Gulf Coast.  The same goes for many of you who have volunteered there before. However, know that this feeling of helplessness can soon be turned into action, dependent on the strength of Hurricane Gustav. The volunteer force that we’ve been working to recruit this past year may prove to be twice as vital in just a few days.

In the meantime, please keep them all in your thoughts.

And with that, I would like to introduce the Project: Katrina Hope documentary, entitled Volunteers of Hope: Overcoming Katrina. After hundreds of hours of work and the support of hundreds of people, I am proud to direct you toward the right sidebar of this website, where the DVDs are now on sale in the Project: Katrina Hope store for only $10 plus shipping costs. Every penny of this money is going to volunteer groups just like the ones shown on the documentary who are called to make a difference in the lives of Gulf Coast residents. You can also purchase a Project: Katrina Hope t-shirt, if you haven’t already.  For more detailed photos of the products, visit the PKH Gear tab.

Volunteers of Hope: Overcoming Katrina tells the stories of groups from across the country that have traveled to rebuild the area. It shares the emotions of homeowners as they realize that a return to normalcy is imminent. Most importantly, it presents a call to action. The Gulf Coasts needs volunteers–just as much now as it did three years ago. In the United States, there are tributes on TV today recalling the anniversary and preparing for Hurricane Gustav. Know that the rebirth of New Orleans, the rest of Louisiana, and Mississippi is a direct result of volunteer efforts. The documentary will show that more clearly than I can write.

Get your copy today, and support the Gulf Coast’s rebuilding efforts.

With hope,

Gretchen