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After Katrina: Meyer Employees
Help Rebuild
Three other Meyer employees flew out of town the next morning and the group was united early Thursday afternoon at the Faith Bible Church in Slidell, LA. Jennifer Gould, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Phil Burkett AIA, Studio Manager for Meyer, spearheaded this volunteer effort and coordinated all major details involving the trip as well as collecting donations for the Gaubert family, one of the families who lost their entire home and belongings to Hurricane Katrina. The trip was made possible through a generous nod of support in the form of time off and financial assistance from Meyer Design's management. Following a brief orientation after our arrival, our entire crew put on their work clothes, rolled up their sleeves and got right to work removing the damaged roof of the church and putting the used shingles and tarpaper into a dumpster. Heavy work boots were absolutely necessary for walking around the nails littering the roof and ground. Pulling them out of the heavy soles sometimes proved to be a challenge. Shortly before dinner, as sunset approached, the biting bugs came out in full force. The church was prepared for this, and we gratefully sprayed ourselves with insect repellent. Although this small church was seriously damaged by the storm, they were well prepared to address as many of our needs as could possibly be expected, including a seemingly endless supply of hot water for our showers.
Sleeping arrangements were dormitory style on cots in the church's sanctuary. The room was divided in two by a plastic tarp, men on one side, and women on the other. Faith Bible provided a large fan during sleeping hours that helped drowned out unfamiliar sounds (like snoring). Friday morning the group was up at 7:00 a.m. and we were divided into several teams, two hanging dry wall at two different homes, one laying a laminate floor at a third home and one to remain at the church and continue working on the roof. Driving through the community, we began to take in the extent of the damage. Almost half the homes had tarps on the roofs and a new landfill had been opened a few streets away from the church, in a primarily residential neighborhood. There were heaps of flood-damaged belongings piled on front lawns, where there were also countless FEMA-issued trailers where homeowners were residing. It seemed at least half of all businesses were closed and many of those that were open displayed 'help wanted' signs. Part of the problem in Slidell is gathering enough manpower to get work done and it doesn't seem likely to change until workers have a place to live. Both crews hanging drywall had the opportunity to meet with the homeowners, who came by to introduce themselves and express gratitude for the team's efforts in getting them closer to returning to living in their homes. Homeowners were open and friendly, but still visibly traumatized by their experience. All teams were able to more or less complete their objectives by the end of the second day….laminate floor installed, drywall hung, and roof prepared for the professional roofing crew due to arrive the following week. It was truly amazing what a group of determined non-experienced construction workers can accomplish in such a short time, with lots of laughs and no serious injuries. If this process is repeated by groups from around the country, again and again, for a very long time, the area so severely affected by Hurricane Katrina, could begin to return to a new version of normal. Thank you to the following companies for donating food, money and other items to make our trip possible: Dakota Pizza Co Meyer Employees who participated in Volunteer Effort: Suzanne Nicholson,
Executive Vice President
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On
Wednesday, February 16, sixteen Meyer employees, and 9 of their friends
and family, drove 5 vans 1800 miles though 9 states overnight. 
The
group cleaned up and we had our first meal in Louisiana, jambalaya prepared
by a member of the church! Team leaders were selected and briefed on
the work assignments for the following day. Although the day had been
long and tiring, about half of our group loaded back into the vans and
made the 20-mile trip into New Orleans for a quick tour of Bourbon Street.
