The Workers

March 12, 2014

As I go through more of the groups that invaded New Orleans since the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina I see names of men and women who through the various organizations are in this ravaged part of the Southern United States to help strangers. This is still about the survivors; the survivors from the many non-for profit organizations that survived their stay in New Orleans during a time of uncertainty and chaos. Right now they are just on a list of names just as foreign to me as the strangers they are in New Orleans to help.

There are eighteen organizations that I have begun syphoning through. The questions that are asked are basically the same to all the participants but their biographical data is diverse. The workers come from different parts of the country and the organizations are diverse as well. Organizations such as Helping Hands, Rebuilding Together: New Orleans, Project Homecoming and Safe Streets: Strong Communities are just a few of the organizations that participated in this oral history project. The workers are just as different as these organizations and they all have different missions but the same goal; to help the displaced people of New Orleans come home again.