New Orleans
Facing the long-term effects of Katrina
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Andrew J. Shaevel, Greater Buffalo Jewish Community Center board member, clears debris from the YWCA in New Orleans that was damaged a year and a half ago during Hurricane Katrina.

"It was like it was frozen in time. They didn't have time to prepare, just up and left," said Andrew J. Shaevel, Greater Buffalo Jewish Community Center board member, about a recent trip to the New Orleans YWCA.

Along with more than 130 other JCC members from across the country, Shaevel gutted that city's YWCA. The group tore down mold-covered walls, collected waterlogged documents and threw out toys that had been sitting in the spot where they were left a year and a half ago.

They tried to salvage some of the sentimental items, such as certificates and degrees that hung from the rotting walls.

"We were the first ones to enter the facility since Hurricane Katrina," he said. "Everything was as it had been."

The YWCA is located only a half mile from where one of the city's levees broke. He said the damage is so significant he wonders how the city will ever rebuild.

"We worked for two days, groups of 60 to 70 people, and only made a small dent," he said.

Shaevel admitted he wasn't prepared for what he saw during his stay in the city.

"I didn't put much thought into what I was going to see or be doing," he said. "I didn't anticipate what we were confronted with."

During a bus tour of the city, Shaevel saw the waterlines on the buildings that were to the roof of single-story structures. The guide had explained that those lines didn't represent the highest peak of the water, but was where it had settled and stayed for days.

"It's devastation. We went through the neighborhoods, and they appear totally abandoned. There is maybe one house out of 20 or 30 that has been rebuilt," Shaevel said.

Large Xs remain on the homes, with dates of when they were inspected - and when many were condemned.

One of the stops the JCC members made was to an Orthodox synagogue, which prior to the hurricane was a place of worship for 750 families. Today it serves 250.

"They are like a mini community. That synagogue's congregation will never come back together," he said.

The group was very touched by the experience, many moved to tears, Shaevel said.

"We were sitting in the synagogue, which had been gutted inside, but there were remnants of stained glass windows, and we listened to what this had done to their community," he said about meeting with members of the congregation.

He remembers thinking, "How would we handle such a situation? God forbid it happened here."

Many of New Orleans' residents have established residency elsewhere, starting over. Those who remain are either too poor or feel they can't leave their assets, Shaevel said.

"A year and a half later, we have stopped hearing about it, but the city is still amidst a major crisis," he said.

In the YWCA, with a mask and goggles on, Shaevel said he felt he was making a contribution to solving the problem.

When Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in August 2005, Shaevel and his family, like many Western New Yorkers, made monetary donations to support organizations responding to the disaster.

"When you make a contribution you want to feel like you are helping, but when you use your hands and actually do relief work, it's incredibly satisfying," he said.

Sharing the stories of his experience, Shaevel hopes to inspire others to volunteer with one of the many organizations still sending crews to do recovery work.

"All of the challenges we face pale to this kind of devastation," he said of issues facing Western New York.

Alan Feldman, JCC executive vice president in Getzville, also attended the seminar and cleanup efforts at the YWCA.

The YWCA, which served as a battered women's shelter and day care facility, was chosen as the JCC's project because its mission aligns with that of the JCC, Shaevel said.

The event was part of the JCC Association Leadership Retreat and Executive Seminars held in January. Last year, the association donated $250,000, but this year, the members wanted to do more.

"We realized immediately that money alone would not suffice to express our ongoing support of their efforts to rebuild," said Allan Finkelstein, JCC Association president. "We decided at that time to forego out usual locations (Florida or Arizona) for these retreats and seminars and to show our support by bringing our colleagues to New Orleans."