A year after Katrina first hit, long after the national media attention faded, several Ball State students, alumni and faculty are still rebuilding the devastated Gulf Coast region.
Ivo Rozendaal and Karli Molter, architecture students who graduated last May, have helped out the small town of Bayou La Batre, Ala., since last December. They initially led a team of 13 students down to the Gulf Coast in September to provide immediate aid and to take an overview of the situation to see where they would be the most helpful.
"There was a strong network already rebuilding homes, so I felt there was a strong need for something as a community to strengthen their hope to where it was before the storm," Rozendaal said. "Saw the community park was really neglected. Just a place to store the trash and debris from the storm. Knowing the city didn't have any financial ability to repair we took the project into our own hands." The students proposed building a playground, a large pavilion and picnic shelters. The city was excited about their proposal and about 12 students went down in December for the first building phase, Rozendaal said.
"After leaving that trip, I was inspired and wanted to help," Molter said. "When I went down the first time I didn't really know what to expect. When I had a better idea of what needed to be done, that's when I felt inspired to put my education to work and help as many people as possible."
During Spring Break, nine students returned to Bayou La Batre to continue working on the playground, adding a toddler play site, half of the main 5 to 12-year old play system and a swing set, totalling about $5,000 worth of equipment. At the time they didn't have enough financial backing to finish.
A month ago, six students returned to finish, adding monkey bars and doubling the size of the playground. Three more trips are planned for the next major university breaks: winter, spring, and summer. If they manage to get enough funding, Rozendaal and Molter are planning to build a picnic shelter this winter as well as another shelter and an outside half-court basketball court in the spring.
"As we're down there the kids are always excited about what we're working on, and always playing as we're working," Rozendaal said. "One of them mentioned they really enjoy basketball and they don't have anywhere to play. Since we're from Indiana, the least we can do is put a half-court for them. It's something not originally planned, but a pretty inexpensive addition."
The pavilion is the largest project and will probably be tackled during the summer over the course of a longer two week period. In addition, the city is considering adding a spray park, if they have sufficient funds.
"[The spray park] is basically a system of fountains out of the ground, or structures that spray water," Rozendaal said. "Elaborate sprinklers, I guess."
Rozendaal said a couple of possible themes are metal umbrellas where the water comes out of the top and flows down the umbrella like a waterfall, pirate ships or boats that spray water.
If the students and city raise enough funds then the project will run smoothly. However, fundraising has been the hardest part of the project, Rozendaal said.
DONATIONS DRY UP ALONG WITH REGION
"Fundraising has definitely slowed down in terms of what is coming in," Rozendaal said. "Fundraising has slowed down as interest has declined. Now, a large donation is $500. When we started a large donation was $4,000 to $5,000. Fortunately we are more than halfway through the amount we need to raise. The playground equipment was the most expensive. [We're] still looking to raise $30,000. We're optimistic; it's never been an easy battle. We've been fortunate that we've had enough [money] to get the job done."
Other students ran into similar problems, but they found ways to overcome the difficulties. One group, led by entrepreneurship students, paid out of their own pocket to go on a trip to help out area businesses in Hancock County, Miss. during Spring Break.
"We didn't have any time to do any fundraising," Ball State graduate Brian Bell, one of the student leaders, said. "The people that went on the trip paid about $150 [each]."
The entrepreneurship group originally hoped to have 35 students come down, but given the monetary situation, senior Mike Boles, another student leader, said he felt fortunate to have the 15 students that were able to go.
Similar to the architecture group, the entrepreneurship students originally went down for four days to work with the local Chamber of Commerce on various projects and to get a feel for what happened to the area.
"We wanted to return," said Boles. "It was apparent that we were going to be able to plan a trip. The dean of the business school helped us set up a connection."
The group focused on helping businesses get back up and running by recovering computer files, cleaning and repairing buildings, and acting as extra employees, Bell said.
"It was just getting an opportunity to help someone in need," Bell said. "To help this area that went through a lot of hard times."
Overall, Bell said the students helped out about 10 different businesses.
STUDENT SEES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY AMIDST DEVASTATION
"The whole experience was great," Boles said. "Everything from meeting people, how thankful they were to have us down there, how beautiful the area was despite the devastation that occurred. The people were so great and thankful and showed their southern hospitality."
Boles enjoyed the experience and the area so much that he is considering opening a business in the Gulf Coast sometime after he graduates with his entrepreneurship degree.
"[The experience] changed me the most from a business entrepreneurship perspective," Boles said. "I've seriously considered opening a business down there. Whether just a grocery store, they need that, or just anything. Everybody lost everything, so they need everything. It's a great area. I plan on returning there in the years to come, for vacation or just to see the people I've met. See how the area is coming along."
Boles is hoping to return during Fall Break, but said the most difficult issue is finding a place to stay, because all of the hotels and recreational areas are wiped out. The entrepreneurship students are also considering making a return trip to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity.
MANY GULF COAST RESIDENTS STILL HOMELESS
Architecture professor Jason Johnson, knows first hand the process of helping rebuild homes in the Gulf region. Johnson helped lead a group of second-year architecture students down to the region two weeks after Katrina, and ended up staying in contact with a family in Biloxi, Miss., to help them redesign and rebuild their old home.
The family decided to stay in its house during the storm, and although they managed to survive, the entire first floor of the house was knocked out, Johnson said. They've been living in a trailer for much of the past year, because the rebuilding process has not yet begun, despite being an entire year since Katrina first destroyed their house. Johnson said that around Biloxi buildings are just now starting to be put back up and people are now moving in. Johnson said that the electricity just recently came back and that businesses are being given priority in terms of rebuilding in order to get the economy up and running.
"The trend is that business districts get cleaned up first and then the housing comes up," Johnson said. "For instance three or four casinos were back up and running."
The limited resources have been the biggest reason for the delay.
"The biggest challenge is actually just cost," Johnson said. "Because there are so many people building things at the same time the prices are out of control. Prices on things like concrete, drywall, and plywood are sometimes doubled and tripled in price since before the storm. Much higher that anywhere else in the country."
As a result, Johnson said the family has tried to reuse as many of the materials left from the storm as possible. The family has finally received funding from the insurance and is planning to start construction in the fall. Johnson helped in the designing process and is planning to raise the base of the house 12 feet so that future storm surges won't destroy the house.
IMPROVEMENT SLOW, LONG WAY TO GO
The delay in building houses in Biloxi illustrates a common theme for the region: there is still a long way to go. Boles experienced a similar delay in Bay St. Louis, Miss., where he says the progress has been slow.
"The people I know [in Bay St. Louis], RV across the country because they can't get a house built until October," Boles said. "They can't get a construction team until October."
Johnson said the biggest change, from right after the storm, has been that people are no longer in life-threatening situations. However, in terms of getting back to where it was before: that may never happen.
"I would say when we went down last year two weeks after the hurricane,...still people trying to get water and food," Johnson said. "A lot of life threatening situations as we were there. Now, it's just sort of slow discomfort that happening now. There are a lot of people, who are displaced, and things are moving slowly. Quite different from when we were there directly after. The National Guard wasn't out driving around in Humvees anymore. Instead of piles of rubble, there was nothing. Still an open question as to whether or not they are going to rebuild. It's just a question of resources and how long that will take."
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