writer: hannah riesgraf
photographer: leslie spurlock
interviewer: kyra carpenter
"The only way that we are making
it down here is from [volunteers]
like you. That is the only way we are surviving. You have no idea how
important it is that you are here."
-Patricia, New Orleans resident |
prior to departing the good news camp, volunteers sign an american flag poster that is displayed in the cafeteria tent. |
a common ground volunteer brings a wheelbarrow full of debris out of a house in the upper 9th ward.
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boards are hauled out of a house in the upper 9th ward by a common ground volunteer.
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A team on assignment with NEED magazine over a two-week period in July 2006, witnessed firsthand the hurdles that Gulf Coast residents and volunteers from across the country have to face every day. The team saw neighborhoods that remain disaster zones resembling Third World countries in the US.
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“Most of this country really thinks that this is over, but when they find out [what it is really like], they want to come and help.”
—JD, North Carolina
Impact Ministries, God’s Katrina Kitchen |
“There are three different types of mold, but in these houses I have seen black, brown, green and white. They also have lead, asbestos and arsenic.”
—sidney, california founder of relief spark |
a common ground volunteer helps gut out a hardware store in the lower 9th ward.
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“You see so many needs, you’re wondering where do you begin? It’s a little overwhelming. It’s definitely changed my life, and you know, I just love the people here. They’re incredible.”
—wendy, oklahoma
with oklahoma city life church partnering with celebration church |
“We’re rough around the edges. We’re like gunslingers, but we’re fun. We got residents, and we got [volunteers] sitting down and talking together. We don’t have much, and they don’t have much ... but we can laugh.”
—jack, volunteer for emergency communities |
a volunteer from littleton, colorado works with the owner to level the structure of his home. |
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