Grand Valley State University social work students gutted a house for rebuilding and stayed in a FEMA camp located atop a toxic waste dump this summer, as part of a trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Ten graduate students and three faculty members chronicled their experiences in a presentation called, "Katrina: One Year Later." A photo exhibit and multi-media presentation is scheduled for Monday, November 6, from 5:30-8:30 p.m., in Loosemore Auditorium of the DeVos Center, on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton.
The group combined service learning and research to assist those in New Orleans who were impacted by the disaster. The group spent mornings working alongside volunteers with the National Relief Network of Grandville to gut a home that had been underwater for weeks. The students removed everything to the bare walls, encountering poisonous spiders, black mold, asbestos and fiberglass. The home belonged to a retired, disabled firefighter whose wife was recovering from breast cancer.
"It was such an emotional experience for all of us," said Steve Smith, assistant professor of social work. "It's hard to attach words to the experience of seeing utter and complete devastation for miles in any direction nearly one year after the hurricane. We needed to spend time debriefing each day."
Students spent their afternoons conducting research, interviewing front-line supervisors in 19 human service agencies throughout the New Orleans area. The focus for the research was to determine the impact the disaster had on the organization, the direct care staff, the supervisors and those served by the agency.
A second trip to New Orleans is scheduled for December 8-17, and another is being planned for May, 2007. Support for the project was provided by the Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Office of the President, School of Social Work and the College of Community and Public Service.
