The people of New Orleans are still feeling the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. During spring break, a group of Cabrini College students and the Rev. Carl Janicki traveled to New Orleans to help rebuild the community.
“I really wanted to go on this trip because I had a huge urge to make a difference,” Renelle Turgeon, senior human resource management major, said. “My mother went on a similar trip and when she returned I noticed the inner growth she developed during her trip. I wanted to experience that, help others, and apply myself to a good thing.”
The trip was set up through Campus Ministry.
“At first, I wanted to fully understand the destruction of Katrina. I wanted to feel what they have been through,” Ashlee Grazier, junior business administration major, said. While in New Orleans, the group of Cabrini students did volunteer work to help fix houses that are still affected by Hurricane Katrina. It is estimated that 300,000 homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina.
“While [we were] there we helped a woman named Sande Grantz,” Turgeon said. “She was like a grandmother to all of us.”
The work that was done to Sande Grantz house was mainly manual labor. The students did a majority of flooring, painting, tiling, and cleaning. She was unable to rebuild her house for the past six years. Her husband died while he was in the middle of working on the house and after he passed, she was unable to do it on her own. The effort was to rebuild Grantz’ home so she could comfortably live there again.
“Her house is so close to being done and I couldn’t be happier in knowing I helped get her so much closer to being home after not being home for six years,” Victoria Werring, junior social work major, said.
“My favorite part about New Orleans was getting to know the home owner of the house we worked on, Ms. Sande,” Werring said. “She has such a great outlook on life even after having a hard time for the last couple of years. It was a blessing to be able to spend time with her and help her get a little closer to getting to be back home again.”
Most students left with a sense of satisfaction, even though they gave up their spring break to do service. They helped a woman get one step closer to living in her house again, seven years after one of the most destructive hurricanes hit the States.
“The trip [was] amazing. It has been a life-changing trip that has challenged me as well as my career,” Grazier said. “The trip gets you to understand people’s stories. It has been the best five days of my life.”
