Hope is Alive in New Orleans

I spent the past week in New Orleans for work. It was probably our most crucial site visit for the vendor team. We managed to work really hard and have some fun too! On Thursday I had no idea that one car ride would completely shift my perspective...

As part of the event I'm working on we are executing a community project (attendee's have the opportunity to volunteer for a day.) We met our local vendor and she took us out to the Ninth Ward.

I thought I had prepared myself, I knew that the city was not "back to normal", however I had no idea how still devastatedthis part of this amazing city would be. I had seen everything on TV, read blogs, looked at pictures-but nothing prepared me for the flood of emotion that came over me as we drove over the bridge into the Ninth Ward.

There is still mass devastation. There are blocks and miles where there is nothing-where life once flourished. There are thousands of condemned homes, and thousands more foundations where homes used to be. I was overcome with emotion. I could not believe what I was looking at, the feelings I was experiencing. I could not believe that in America, almost 4 years later, this type of devastation still lives on.

But then I met Jim with Habitat for Humanity and saw the work that he and thousands of families, residents, and volunteers have been doing. I saw families that were completely content although they are faced with what seems like an impossible task-to rebuild everything they ever knew. They are happy. They have what is important-their family, and that fire inside them that makes New Orleans such a unique and fantastic city. They have hope.

When I woke up on Thursday morning, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had no idea I would react the way that I did, and that I would feel this change come over me. I thought I knew what to expect as I had watched all the reports, but I had not "felt" what it felt like to be there in person.

I'm grateful for that day. I feel like I have had a shift in my perception of life. I have clarity like I've never had before.