August 7, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 14Oakland, CA

Volunteers still needed to help in New Orleans

By Catholic News Service

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNS) -- Catholic Charities agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi are in desperate need of volunteers to clean or repair homes damaged nearly a year ago by Hurricane Katrina.

An estimated 92,000 houses in New Orleans and 200,000 houses in the surrounding area were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In Biloxi, Miss., where more than 65,000 homes were flood-damaged, people are still living in tents and trailers as they wait for aid.

Houses that need to have moldy drywall and debris removed before they can be cleaned and renovated remain in poor condition because no one is available to do the initial cleanup work.

“We’re hurting,” said Deacon John Ferguson, director of field operations for Catholic Charities in New Orleans. “We would normally be gutting 20-25 homes per week, but for the past several weeks, we have not had any volunteers.
Perhaps it is because of summer vacations; perhaps it is because of the heat. But we are totally dependent on volunteers.”

“The need is greater than ever,” he said.

The rebuilding effort by Catholic Charities in New Orleans is coordinated through its volunteer program, Operation Helping Hands, established to mobilize volunteers from across the country to help seniors, the disabled and those with little or no flood insurance to gut their homes so they can begin the rebuilding process.

More information on volunteer opportunities in the Gulf Coast is available online at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org. Interested volunteers should phone the volunteer coordinators of Catholic Charities agencies in New Orleans at (504) 310-6960, in Biloxi at (228) 234-3901, and in Jackson at (601) 326-3758.

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