Thirteen Brookdale Community College students plan to forfeit their would-be relaxing spring breaks for a chance to rebuild the storm-ravaged homes left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"These people have been completely forgotten, it seems," said Katie Feeney, 22, organizer for Brookdale's chapter of New Jersey Water Watch, which is sponsoring the trip. "I'm just most excited to help get at least a few people back in their homes."
Thirteen Brookdale students and two faculty members plan to head to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods that was among the worst hit by the August 2005 storm. The group will leave March 9 and return March 18.
The volunteers will be working with a national nonprofit group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Feeney said, which arranges housing and food and sets up projects for them to complete.
Feeney said the group will be involved with the rebuilding storm-damaged houses.
Many of the residents in those homes have been living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers since the disaster, she said, and have received little or no assistance from other volunteers or agencies.
"The houses that we're going to be working on haven't been touched since Katrina hit," said Feeney, of Sea Bright. "They've been sitting in water for like two years."
The trip, however, will not be free. The group must collectively raise around $4,000, which includes travel expenses, housing, food and equipment.
Because of the expected presence of black mold in the houses, the volunteers must buy respirators to ensure the air they are breathing is safe.
If the group raises more than it needs to cover its own expenses, it will likely donate the extra money to ACORN for the support of Katrina cleanup efforts, Feeney said.
Brookdale student John Turnea said it is upsetting to see how slowly the federal government has worked in response to the disaster.
He hopes by visiting the area, it will bring the face of the disaster to reality.
"I've heard that entire streets have been wiped away and that there are sidewalks and driveways leading to nowhere," said Turnea, 19, of Englishtown. "Seeing it myself will really bring gravity to the situation."
This is not the first time members of Brookdale's Water Watch chapter have been to the Gulf Coast to help with cleanup. The group sponsored a trip in March.
Feeney went to Mississippi in November on another trip sponsored by Water Watch.
"I got to do a lot of rebuilding and painting but it was in neighborhoods that weren't hit as hard," Feeney said of the November trip.
Brookdale student Alex Holodak, a March trip participant, said he is looking forward to being part of a relief effort that has been largely forgotten by the news media and many Americans.
"They're saying it could take seven years before the area looks somewhat like it used to," he said. "By that time there could be another hurricane."
Although New Brunswick-based Water Watch, which has 10 chapters in the state, is generally involved with cleaning up waters and the environment closer to home, Feeney said the organization's mission includes community service.
The group could not pass up the opportunity to help other Americans in need, she said.
