This August will mark 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, the disaster that devastated New Orleans and many communities along the Gulf Coast. Shortly after the storm hit at the end of August, CrossRoads started to bring relief teams which eventually turned into a full-fledged field. Volunteers have continued to work throughout the greater New Orleans area for the past 20 years, and have made a lasting mark on the buildings, environment, and the people. 

During this time many staff and local partners have stayed in the area – starting new ministries, living missionally in their neighborhoods, and seeing first hand how volunteers have made a lasting impact. We asked a few of them to share their view of that impact over their time in New Orleans. 

Abbey Flaherty

CrossRoads 2005-2007, The Gathering 2007-present

“As a CrossRoads Missions staff member at the time of Hurricane Katrina, to planting a church in one of the areas most affected, I have seen how volunteers have significantly impacted our community.  In the early days of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina most people affected were trying to figure out how to survive.  They were figuring out where to get food, clothes, how to get their children back in schools, not to mention dealing with insurance companies and mortgage companies to figure out what to do with their properties.  Volunteers made a huge physical impact immediately.  The ability to bring thousands of people and provide them a place to stay and food to eat so they could be the muscle that gutted houses, the kind hearts and words that encouraged homeowners and even our weary staff, was a sight to behold.  We are almost twenty years away from this tragic event, but volunteers are still serving the greater New Orleans area.  

Over the years, our church plant, The Gathering, has been helped by many volunteers.  There have been many lean years in our ministry and CrossRoads has partnered with us by providing volunteers as we renovated an old bowling alley to minister to our community.  Volunteers painted our building when it needed a facelift. They removed and rebuilt a deck when we needed safe outdoor play space for our daycare. They re-striped our parking lot so that we could provide safe and organized parking.  Volunteers worked countless hours as we renovated an old rectory to turn it into usable space for a second daycare, which ended up providing much needed space for our staff when Hurricane Ida ripped the roof off of our building.  These are only a fraction of the stories that have impacted our community in St. Bernard Parish.  There are thousands of other stories that have impacted our city.”

Julie Whiteman

CrossRoads 2008-2015, St Roch Community Church 2015-present

“Over the time I’ve lived in New Orleans, I’ve seen volunteers stepping in to stand in the gaps that can exist between dream and reality,” explained Julie Whiteman who was on staff with CrossRoads from 2009-2014 and now works at St Roch Community Church, a long-time partner of CrossRoads. “Whether it’s a project or an idea, something that would have taken one or two people days or weeks or sometimes years can at times take a few hours with a good group of volunteers, stepping in to lighten the load.” This is an ongoing perspective that our staff continues to this day. You will often hear us say that our goal is to help our partners do something that they couldn’t do on their own. 

This extends into the individuals we’ve been able to work with as well. Julie continues, “In the city of New Orleans, physical and financial burdens can be great. Sometimes a helping hand can also be a burden lifted and even a bright light. A ray of hope, a stepping stone, or a motivator to keep going and believe what’s possible. A strengthening of faith, a reminder of humanity, and a special connector for both giver and receiver. A beautiful exchange.”

Alex Mulvaney

CrossRoads 2013-present

“I am often told about how things were before Hurricane Katrina. Where buildings were, what buildings used to be, and just the general way of life around the communities that I’ve lived and worked in since joining CrossRoads. The conversation usually begins in a similar fashion, “Before Katrina…”. I’ve gotten to be on the listening side of that conversation over and over throughout my time in New Orleans. No matter who I talk to, the people here remember the groups that came and worked with them and not the specific tasks the group might have accomplished that week. 

I think the impact volunteers have made in the aftermath of Katrina has made my job as Project Manager for CrossRoads very enlightening. In the past 10 years, I’ve seen the skill level of our volunteers shift from a majority of moderately skilled people to mostly high schoolers that on average come prepared to learn something new on their short-term mission trip. We have had a lot of people learn to paint while working alongside us! No matter the skill level of the volunteer, the “highs” that I remember being shared were the relationships that were formed and not the tasks that were achieved. I discovered early on in my time with CrossRoads that it was the volunteer that benefited just as much as those they served each week. What I wish I would have realized earlier was that the relationships formed during the “tough times”, such as the weeks of roofing, drywalling, and painting in the New Orleans summer, were the important things and not the tasks needing to be accomplished. 

Hurricane Katrina was a mark of mass destruction in a lot of peoples’ lives, however, in the past 20 years volunteers have helped bring a renewed light to those people. If I have learned anything in the years of living in New Orleans and learning from the people around me, it is that relationships built are worth so much more than material things.” 

Allie Copeland

CrossRoads 2014-present

As a member of the New Orleans staff myself, it has been a humbling and enlightening experience to pursue these stories. Since my first summer as an intern in 2014 the field has changed steadily. Partners, staff, and volunteers have come and gone. Our project focus has shifted to meet emerging needs. Outreach evolved as our city navigated a pandemic, infrastructure changes, and a growing population. We have gone through hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and more. Throughout all of this change, the constant has been volunteers coming alongside locals to make a positive impact. 

20 years later, I still hear stories of volunteers helping in the initial recovery. Locals still talk about the influx of people who helped them rebuild. And to this day volunteers are working on homes, praying for those in need, and mitigating the effect of future storms where they can. Every local I have talked to echoes the sentiment: “we wouldn’t be where we are today without volunteers.” 

This has inspired me to mark the anniversary of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina by collecting the stories of hope, renewal, and sacrificial service. If you have volunteered in New Orleans anytime in the past 20 years, please share how the experience impacted you. If you are a local who received assistance from volunteers, share your perspective of how volunteers have affected your life. 

Record your story and send it to us through the link below. We will compile the information into a retrospective of volunteering in New Orleans since Katrina.

There is still work to be done. Continue making an impact in New Orleans through the steps below:

DONATE to our field to help us continue projects

VOLUNTEER by bringing a group for a week-long mission trip

WORK WITH US as an intern or join the staff full time!

DONATE to Camp Hope, our volunteer housing facility, to support hundreds of volunteers every year