Janet Grigsby, a Union College sociology professor, led a group of 22 students and faculty to volunteer New Orleans for a week in early December. The group joined rebuilding efforts still desperately needed more than a year after Hurricane Katrina.
Grigsby maintained a Web blog about the trip for the Times Union, a newspaper that covers New York’s Capital Region. Under the auspices of the St. Bernard Recovery Project and Habitat for Humanity, the group gutted buildings, moved refrigerators, hung siding, removed rubbish and installed roofs in St. Bernard’s Parish and New Orleans East, two of the worst damaged sections of the city.
Below is an excerpt from Grigsby’s blog.
“First, in my mom/professor mode: I have been so very impressed by these kids. They have managed the primitive living conditions with little serious fuss and worked like beavers each day on site. Most of them have little or no experience with construction, but they have learned they can do most everything.
Halley Vora, a small, demure young woman was slinging a sledge hammer with gusto yesterday as she helped get flooring in place. Mary Volcko reveled in her job nailing shingles on a rooftop. Hannah Comeau wielding a portable electric saw. The women, especially, have impressed me. Union women are tough, strong and can-do.
The men have also been fearless. Aaron Goldman, Evan Smith, Matt Grigsby and Viktor Olsan all traipsed around rooftops like it was nothing.
I tell them I am here on behalf of all of their mothers, so proud I am about to burst! And, the professor in me is so pleased at the way they are representing their school.” Grigsby is the mother of two sons, including 23-year-old Matthew Grigsby, who joined the volunteer trip.