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Vol. 5, No. 5 - March 31, 2006
| Smith's Vacation Provides New Career Path For some people a February vacation conjures images of Caribbean beaches, sunny days, and warm breezes. Rebecca Smith, project manager in facilities services, usually takes her vacation in midwinter, and typically looks forward to relaxing and recharging before the campus shifts into high gear on springtime renovation and construction projects. But not this year. This past February, Smith spent her vacation immersed in work that was harder and dirtier than anything she's encountered in her 15 years at Skidmore. She volunteered to work in St. Bernard's Parish, Louisiana, helping to clear out homes that had been damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The parish, located to the southeast of New Orleans, was one of the most devastated communities in the aftermath of the two hurricanes. St. Bernard suffered significant structural damage to 100 percent of its residential and commercial structures. Not only was it victim of torrential rain and winds, but a massive storm surge left nearly all of the parish inundated.
Smith was stunned both by the extent of the damage and the fact that so little appeared to have been done in the six months since the storms passed. She saw "streets, and streets, and streets of destruction, piles and piles of debris. I've never seen anything of this magnitude," she reported. She was struck by the thought: "These people are our neighbors. Why isn't more being done to help them?" Originally Smith planned a two-week vacation with one week devoted to working on the Gulf Coast, and a second week geared toward fun. But after arriving and getting oriented, she made a decision. She would spend two weeks volunteering on the clean-up project, and postpone any vacation plans. "When I saw the amount of work that needed to be done, I knew I couldn't leave," she said. She hunkered down with fellow volunteers as part of a team that gutted eight houses in 10 days. St. Bernard Parish officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are overseeing the effort to clear approximately 10,000 homes in the parish. Approximately 70 volunteers gutted 40 houses in the first week she was there; by the end of her second week, the number of volunteers devoted to the task had increased to 300, and they cleared 100 homes. In order to clear out all 10,000 homes, officials predict needing 2,000 volunteers a week for the foreseeable future. The work proceeded on schedule during March, but developments on the federal level threaten to hinder progress in the weeks ahead. Smith says the job is daunting. "People are so overwhelmed. The destruction covers 100 miles along the Gulf Coast. Do you bulldoze the whole thing? Or do you allow the residents back in to rebuild? There's no clear sense of what's the best plan. I definitely felt like there was no real leadership in the effort." Yet she was not defeated. "My focus after working on the first house was not what is going wrong, but what could I do to help. I have a lot of personal thoughts about how I might have handled things, and there's a lot of blame going on, but I was more interested in taking action and seeing what I could do," Smith said. The 2002 UWW graduate and longtime Saratoga Springs said she got a sense of the "small-town" feeling in St. Bernard's Parish. "I very much felt that in this neighborhood in this city, I was part of a good effort. It was like going to my own hometown," she said. Although she originally thought that her skills in construction, design, organization, and planning would be valuable, she soon discovered that the needs were far more basic. "My focus became helping people to clear their homes. If they need more than muscle, I'd be happy to go and give that." Accommodations for volunteers were far from the level that most New Orleans visitors might expect. Smith was one of 18 people sharing a tent in a "tent city" established by federal officials, who provided food and housing. In addition to orientation, volunteers received daily safety talks from local officials on topics such as chemical dangers and wildlife. "I never felt unsafe," said Smith, who noted that the situation evolved "into one extended family of workers and residents." She was astonished by the scope of the destruction. "There were no stores. Just one gas station was open, along with two bars. It's like a third-world country. To give directions to someone, people would begin by saying, 'Go to the first working streetlight...'"
Yet despite the obstacles, residents of the region were remarkably upbeat, according to Smith. She often heard parish residents say things like, "All my family is alive, and so I'll be OK." And there was deep gratitude for the work of the volunteers. "It was mind-boggling," Smith said. "There's sincere appreciation for the help of the people like me. We'd be working at a site, and suddenly, the homeowners would show up. I'd wonder if they would be angry at what we're doing, but instead, they looked at us with tears in their eyes and said 'thanks.' I'd be feeling guilty about how much suffering these people have endured, and they would give me gratitude for helping out." On more than one occasion she said that she promised residents "I would let people know that their situation is not forgotten." Many residents of the region - now living in tents or trailers provided by FEMA - are concerned about being prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. "There's anger, and confusion, and hurt about the lack of help from governments and insurance agencies," said Smith. And there's a lot of work that remains to be done. So much so that in the month since she returned, Smith has been considering how she might turn her stint as a volunteer into something more permanent. The answer came in the form of a job offer from Habitat for Humanity, which she has accepted. Starting in April, Smith will begin a year assignment as a construction manager for Habitat, working in Slidell, La., (just east of New Orleans). Her education and training will be put to good use as she oversees a staff of two, outside contractors, and numerous volunteers in the construction of 100 homes. The number of homes planned for construction is an ambitious goal for the Habitat organization, which customarily builds fewer homes in the same time frame. Smith feels energized and ready for the challenge. She said, "New Orleans and the region surrounding it present an incredible opportunity for people to build a new community." It's an opportunity that she finds irresistible.
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