No Mardi Gras for
Holy Family students

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

It was a ghost town of sorts — desolate shopping centers where once bustling Wal-Marts, McDonald’s and Taco Bells worked to feed and clothe the community and where a movie theater’s marquis still listed show times for films it presented in August 2005.
That’s what 10 Holy Family University students and two chaperones saw as they drove through the St. Bernard Parish, just outside of New Orleans on a volunteer vacation earlier this month.
"It looked like the hurricane just hit," said Marissa Donatone, 19.
The students and chaperones prepared extensively for the trip with meetings and discussions about the project and related issues, such as the psychological impact of the hurricane on Louisiana residents and how the student volunteers might be received. However, with all the preparation, the magnitude of the devastation was beyond anything they expected.
"Literally nothing has been touched since August a year and a half ago," said Ashley Sbarbaro, a chaperone and assistant director of activities and wellness.
Funded by a grant from the university, the students worked with other college students as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Collegiate Challenge program, a year-round alternative break program that provides opportunities for students from youth groups, high schools and colleges to spend a week of their school break building a house in partnership with a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the United States.
The students, Sbarbaro and Professor Megan Meyer lodged at Camp Hope, a former elementary school now used to house volunteers.
The students worked hard during their time in New Orleans. In fact, during their first working day in the Ninth Ward, the students shoveled dirt for eight hours.
Donatone spent the second and third days of her tour painting finishing touches inside a house, and the fourth and fifth days putting up a fence for a family whose home had been completed.
Holy Family senior Dustin Gremo, 21, of Morrell Park, worked on installing doors and their framework — not an easy task.
For Gremo, more surprising than the difficulties of his task was the fact that thievery was rampant in the homes that they worked on.
Just about anything that wasn’t nailed down was a target — from building materials and appliances, to copper wire cut from outside lines that would later be melted down and sold for about $10, the students said.
Bob Curcio, 19, of Frankford, said that they all recognized that had it not been for Katrina, many of those who were stealing wouldn’t ordinarily steal. The thieves were desperate.
The Habitat homes, which cost about $75,000 each to build, are pink, purple, yellow and orange, offering brightness and hope among the desperation.
However, right next to one of the colorful Habitat homes that the students worked on was a home still full of debris and destroyed possessions and with a water line a foot below the ceiling.
That’s not uncommon in the Ninth Ward, located in the easternmost down-river portion of the city, one of the hardest hit by Katrina. Each untouched home had an "X" on it, marked with the letters TFW for "toxic flood water," the number of casualties or what inspectors might find in the home, such as "big gun in front room."
Some were marked with Bible passages or notes such as, "We’re coming back. We’re going to rebuild."
According to Curcio, one message read, "St. Bernard’s Parish — proud to swim home."
After her experience working with Habitat, Marissa is considering volunteering with AmeriCorps after graduation. AmeriCorps is playing a vital role in helping to rebuild New Orleans with Habitat.
The trip has changed the way Curcio looks at things.
"You don’t take a lot for granted any more," he said.
The students will organize a May 20 beef ’n’ beer fund-raiser to help cover the cost of future trips to New Orleans and to help raise awareness of the poverty of the area. Details have not been completed. ••
For more information about Habitat for Humanity’s programs to rebuild New Orleans, check out www.habitat-nola.org
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com