The volunteers, ranging in age from 14 to 21, are members of the Cuyahoga Valley Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and part of an on-going mission to help out victims of Hurricane Katrina. The teens working on Delahoussaye’s house are the 34th group of young people that have come to the area to help out since the hurricane. Besides the six youngsters working in Slidell, there is another group of eight teens helping out residents in St. Bernard Parish.
The volunteers drove 17 hours from Cleveland on Sunday and were in Slidell through Friday. They will be replaced by another group of teens from Cuyahoga Valley Church this week.
  
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For most of the team, this is their first trip to the area. For Zach Kolber, 17, this is his third trip to Slidell.
“It makes you think about what these people had to go through and how much help they need,” Kolber said.
Helping the group out is Grant Burguillos, 15, who is from Madisonville and the guide for the volunteers. His family’s neighborhood was destroyed by the storm, and he is more than happy to help the volunteers.
“It’s great to have them here helping us out,” Burguillos said.
Like Kolber, the first-timers want to come back as many times as they can to help out.
“I love it,” Hannah Cleveland, 14, said. “I plan on coming back. I am amazed at how much there is still left to do.”
The surprise over the amount of damage still present nearly three years after Katrina is shared by the other volunteers.
“It’s a real eye-opener,” Erika William, 21, said. “There is still so much to be done.”
Kobler said a lot of people in Ohio have the misconception the area is totally rebuilt.
“When I tell them I’m coming down here, they ask me why. They don’t realize there is still a lot of destruction here,” Kobler said.
Delahoussaye is more vocal about the country’s reaction to post-Katrina.
“Everybody talks about how New Orleans needs all the help, but they forget that Slidell and Lacombe are still suffering,” Delahoussaye said. “We need more volunteers like these children.”
Delahoussaye returned to house only six months ago. The storm surge literally covered her home. She said the only thing intact in her house when she came back was the bathtub. She and her son had been living in a FEMA trailer for two years, and she is happy to be back in her home.
Despite her setbacks, Delahoussaye is also a volunteer and works for free at the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in Olde Towne. She said the volunteers are especially needed for the elderly in the area who do not have the energy or the resources to rebuild their homes.
The Cuyahoga Valley Church volunteers are painting Delahoussaye’s house, replacing doors and windows and sidewalks and generally making her house look normal again.
At night, the teens sleep at First Baptist Church on Pontchartrain Drive in Slidell. Rado said they get their work assignments every morning and work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They do everything from mowing lawns to washing down houses. Rado said after they are finished with the Delahoussaye house, there are four other houses in need of repair waiting for the volunteers.
If there is a downside to the work, it is the weather for some of the teenagers.
“It’s so hot here,” Mike Foschia, 17, said with a smile. “It takes getting used to.”
Though Kolber and his colleagues want to come back and help, there is the problem of financing the trips. Kolber said his first trip was financed by a birthday gift. This trip was funded by his girlfriend’s father.
“If I get the money, you know I’ll be down here again,” Kolber said.
Rado hopes publicizing the efforts of the Ohio teens will have an effect.
“I hope this helps other people to sign up and come down here to help,” Rado said.
“We’d be dead without them,” Delahoussaye said. “We still need lots of volunteers.”
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