Hurricane Katrina - Nov 2006
I had a very unique opportunity this past weekend, but first, some background.
Inetium is a member of the Pohlad family of companies, which you would most likely recognize as the owner of the Minnesota Twins. They own many different businesses, spread across the country. They also have a charitable foundation. On Friday morning, about sixty Pohlad employees flew to New Orleans to spend 2 1/2 days helping victims of Hurricane Katrinia.
I wrote a brief summary of the trip to the coworkers in my office this morning; the rest of the blog entry is the content of the email. I've modified it slightly to protect the privacy of the people we helped out.
As most of you know, Phyliss, Jon and I were selected to participate in the second Pohlad Family Foundation trip to New Orleans, which we just got home from last night. I’m sure I speak for all three of us in thanking the Pohlad foundation for the opportunity to serve in this way. The trip was simultaneously humbling, saddening, and also inspiring. It will be something none of us will ever forget.
There were approximately sixty employees representing the different business units, coming from all corners of the US. We were divided into four teams of fifteen, and were each assigned a home to start the rehab process. The families chosen to receive our help have neither the financial means or the physical ability to repair their homes.
Both homes we worked on had water damage from floodwaters that were probably chest-high while standing on the home’s first floor. After a year, there is so much mold and rot that the house has to be stripped down to the studs and bare floor. If the home is structurally sound, the wood can be treated and the process of rebuilding the interior can begin.
Our first home was owned by a seventy year old man named Eugene. He was born and raised in his same house, and he wants nothing more than to live the rest of his life there. It’s a safe assumption that Eugene has lived in absolute poverty for many years; the hurricane was just the final straw. We spent a full day removing clothing, belongings, wood and drywall. While Eugene’s home may never be livable in the way we would think of it, we did the work that he probably wouldn’t have finished in his lifetime if he were to do it alone.
The second home that we worked on, we spent both Sunday and Monday morning on. We didn’t get a chance to meet the homeowner but her son worked alongside us both days. His name was Jerome. This house was in much better condition structurally – we all knew when we left that the house would someday be livable again. It was different in that from the amount of possessions, a whole family had clearly grown up there. Jerome, too, had grown up in the house we were working on, and he shared a couple of stories with us as we were working.
Along with the organizers from the Pohlad Foundation, we worked exclusively with Americorps volunteer assigned to Catholic Charities. These volunteers were college students or recent graduates, who had set aside a part of their lives to work in the toughest of conditions. In addition to organizing and leading the work crew, they in many cases outworked the rest of us. They were an inspiration.