Habitat for Humanity Club Makes a Big Difference
When Huntington High School’s Habitat for Humanity club sinks its teeth into something, it doesn’t let go until its work is done. A recent trip to New Orleans highlighted this in a dramatic way.
Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern city, the energetic sounds of jazz and tourists once again spill out onto the streets of the French Quarter. But, travel north toward Lake Pontchartrain or east toward St. Barnard Parish and you will find flat stretches of land washed clean of residences and trees by the floodwaters. This is where a group of 12 students from Huntington’s Habitat for Humanity club traveled to help rebuild homes and hope.
This marked the third such trip to Louisiana for the Huntington club, all under the direction of faculty advisor Robert Gilmor, a dean at the school. The journey even included a visit to the first Habitat home a Huntington group helped to erect there in June 2007.
In addition to Mr. Gilmor, science teachers Rosanne Brienza and Craig McKee participated in the week-long trip along with students Warren Buchholtz, Robert Gilmor IV (a student at John Glenn High School and Mr. Gilmor’s son), Jake Goldstein, Ben Jensen, Elizabeth McGovern, Victoria McKee (a student at Kings Park High School and Mr. McKee’s daughter), Lori Messina, Dylan Payne, Jack Russo, Molly Smith, and Jenna Wallshein.
Making a Difference
While a cold rain fell back home in New York, the Huntington contingent spent a week making a difference and exploring New Orleans. On “build days” one to three, the group joined a New Orleans area Habitat for Humanity construction project as part of the Parish Recovery Effort, framing all the exterior and interior walls of a brand new three-bedroom home. They also assisted in building porch stairs and closets.
Working on a project coordinated through the Episcopalian Diocese, on build day four, members of the Huntington Habitat group worked at a house owned by a woman who had been weeks away from completing everything needed when a fire next door spread to her home. All the work the homeowner had finished was ruined. Out of money, she went to the Episcopal Church recovery group and they agreed to repair the damaged areas.
“When we walked into her home, we saw the extent of the destruction,” Mr. Gilmor recalled. “Everything had to be redone, and the neighboring burnt-down house was still shuttered. Here, the boys spackled and sanded dry wall, and during a break, played some basketball with a neighborhood boy who was shooting hoops down the block.”
Mr. Gilmor has been involved with Habitat for Humanity for the past 12 years. This latest trip proved to be a valuable experience for students and teachers alike. “It was an adventure for everyone who went,” he said. “None of them had ever gone on a Habitat build in New Orleans before and so their energy level was high and their enthusiasm was great. Our side visit to the Tulane University campus was great and all the students really enjoyed the brief tour, as well as the bus tour of the city.”
Gratifying to see Progress
It was “gratifying” to see the changes that have taken place in New Orleans during the years since the devastating storm, Mr. Gilmor said. The city is making a remarkable effort to encourage all residents to clean up their properties and the Huntington group noticed the once-abandoned strip malls in some areas are slowly getting stores to move back in.
After they had washed off the dust, mud and plaster from their workdays, the Huntington group enjoyed walking down to the French Quarter and Bubba Gumps restaurant, catching sight of Mardi Gras beads draped in the trees at Tulane, playing Forrest Gump trivia and ultimate Frisbee at Audubon Park, sampling the Vietnamese Po’boy sandwiches, and eating Café Du Monde beignets.
The teenagers even had an opportunity to see Jesse McCartney perform live, for free—even though he went on at 6:30 a.m., rehearsing for a concert later in the day. The teenagers were up and out, because their days at the work sites started early.
Before leaving the city, Mr. Gilmor took the group to visit the owner of the first Habitat home a Huntington High School group had helped build. It helped put the past four years into clear perspective.
“With the address plugged into the GPS, we set off to call on Sandra, whose home we started during our trip two years ago,” Mr. Gilmor recalled. “We arrived and the house looked great. Two of the ten houses on the block had been bulldozed; another would be knocked down soon. The house to the left of Sandra’s was being worked on continually and across the street, a residence that we had thought would never be lived in again, had been made habitable. Sandra agreed to share reminisces about her survival during and after the floods, and added that she can never thank the volunteers enough for all they have done for her and the people of New Orleans.”
Huntington Contingent Embraced
Sandra’s gratitude was mirrored by many that the Huntington group met from the “Big Easy.” Wearing Huntington High School Habitat for Humanity t-shirts, the students attracted attention.
“From the moment we reached LaGuardia Airport for our flight out, we had New Orleans’ residents come up to us and thank us for all we were doing,” Mr. Gilmor said. “Mr. McKee was pulled aside at LaGuardia by a New Orleans man who said he appreciated our work. During the trip, Molly lost her eyeglass case with money in it. The next day we received a call from New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity stating that someone had stopped by their office and dropped off the eyeglass case with all her money still in it, and shared with the office that they had had a wonderful conversation the night before with some of the students and they wanted to make sure that we got this back. The person also said that they were not able to ever build with Habitat, but they hoped that returning this might make up for their non-involvement thus far. The Ambassador Hotel did all they could to make our time with them enjoyable and affordable and the breakfast place where we ate always had people in there that thanked us for showing up. The compliments were never in short order.”
This outpouring of gratitude and the richness of their experiences in New Orleans gave the Huntington students and teachers added enthusiasm to build again with Habitat for Humanity, this time in New York.
Earlier this spring, Huntington’s Habitat group was at work once more, this time in Westhampton. It’s not surprising because the teenagers are simply indefatigable in their quest to help others.
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