Seven Saint Vincent College Honors Program students spent Easter break in a very different way this year. Barry Conley, Alandra Kahl, Jessica McKlveen, Andrew Laco, Jennifer Laco, Lindsay Reddington, and Matthew Searight left campus Wednesday night for Slidell, Louisiana with Dr. John Smetanka, Director of the Honors Program. After driving nineteen hours through eight states the group worked Good Friday and Holy Saturday building the forms for footers on two new Habitat for Humanity homes in East Saint Tammany Parish. Almost every house in Slidell was heavily damaged by the high wind and flooding from Hurricane Katrina in August. Many residents including fellow Habitat volunteer Dwight are still living in trailers as they gradually rebuild their homes. The population of Slidell increased by a factor of four from 20,000 to 80,000 persons after the storm hit as people from even harder hit regions closer to the coast moved in with family and friends.

The auditorium of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell provided the base of operations for the group. Despite the hard, stump-filled soil and 85-degree temperatures, the group made significant progress on the two homes.

After participating in Easter services at the Cathedral of Saint Louis in the French Quarter the group drove through Chalmette, LA – a town totally devastated by the hurricane’s surge.

The Easter message of the Resurrection and renewal of hope took on special meaning this year for the group because of their visit to the New Orleans region. Working with other groups from across the country - from as far as Seattle, Washington and Livermore, California as well as groups from Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio – illustrated the great community spirit that the disaster spurred. Although piles of debris still stand in front of every house in Chalmette – most condemned, washed off their foundations -- the people encountered on the trip had a positive, hope-filled outlook on the future. A fact highlighted by Dwight who said, “our family only lost stuff, much of the stuff we didn’t need in the first place. . . The important thing is that our family survived and our community will rebuild.”