Student Road Diaries

New Orleans

Johnson School Students Give Back in New Orleans
On December 12, 2007 a team Johnson School students and their guests will head to New Orleans to spend a week volunteering for the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.

by Jim Bride (MBA '08)

Day 1: Wednesday, 12/12/2007
So I just got to New Orleans an hour ago. I have some time to kill since the rest of the group doesn't get in until later. As I sit in the airport food court, a few things currently jump out at me: 1) the Popeye's at the airport has great chicken, 2) it is 80 degrees which is preferable to the wet snow and low 30s when I left Ithaca this morning, and 3) the Johnson School is amazing for all of the support that our group received to make this Habitat for Humanity service trip to New Orleans happen. I'm super excited for this week and will soon be joined by Kelli Jones (MBA/MILR '09), Ohsoon Park (MBA '09), Dawn Randall (MBA '08), Ben Rollins (MBA '09), Nicole Rollins, Yotaro Tai (MBA '09), Matt Wagner (MBA '09), Nicole Wagner, and Kennis Wooten.

Day 2: Thursday, 12/13/2007
Today was full of surprises. Camp Hope, the housing for volunteers, turned out to be a bit more rustic than we imagined and due to a scheduling mix-up with Habitat, we had a couple of different non-building assignments today. By far, the most fun was demolishing stuff on the first floor of Camp Hope. They are renovating large parts of the building to house additional volunteers (up to 500) and a tremendous amount of work needs to be done for it to be ready. Lessons learned today include a) sawzalls are powerful yet dangerous, b) Yotaro is a pro with a sledgehammer, and c) teamwork solves lots of problems when demolishing stuff.

Day 3: Friday, 12/14/2007
Poor Nicole Rollins! Due to flight delays, she didn't get in to Camp Hope until 2:30 a.m. last night. We spent today working on a build site in St. Bernard Parish and painted walls, caulked windows, built decks and stairs, and did interior trim. Kennis Wooten and I used our imagination and carpentry know-how to fix a load bearing beam beneath the floor that was severed by some over-eager volunteer plumbers a few days before. The highlight of the day was definitely the check presentation to Gwyn Garrison from Habitat New Orleans. We gave the New Orleans Habitat Chapter $1,500 that we raised through raffles, benefit dinners, bar nights, bake sales, etc. It was a big effort, but well worth it.

Day 4: Saturday, 12/15/2007
I woke up still savoring the delicious dinner that we had last night at Jacques-Imos Caf? on Oak Street in New Orleans. Matt Wagner found this place and it was awesome! We spent today working in St. Bernard on the same house as yesterday. The house is nearly finished and will be delivered to a disabled teacher's aide sometime in January. We thought today would be a great opportunity to thank Chevron for their generous support for our trip. Kelli Jones and I had fun coloring the poster board signs. Saturday night we went into New Orleans, had another great dinner and I got a tarot card reading (long story). In general, I was very pleased with the reading in that it projected wealth in my future.

Day 5: Sunday, 12/16/2007
We took in a lot of Louisiana today. We started off at Caf? Du Monde and had their famous coffee and beignets. Beignets are awesome and highly recommended to anyone who loves doughnuts but would prefer more friedness or sugaryness. We then split up, with Kelli, Dawn, and Kennis touring some of the antebellum plantations west of New Orleans and the rest of the group headed south of the city to Jean Lafitte Air Boat Tours. The air boat tour of the bayous was incredible. Our air boat driver spoke Cajun French and we saw alligators, nutria (big swamp rats), tree moss, swamp cedars, and tons of nature in the bayou. After a stop at the Sonic Burger, we headed back into town and went to Jackson Park where a community group had organized Christmas Caroling in front of St. Louis Cathedral. I was told that this is a French Quarter tradition and it was really cool seeing everyone with lit candles signing Christmas Carols. We then took in some local music and called it a night.

Day 6: Monday, 12/17/2007
Habitat New Orleans doesn't work on Mondays, but Camp Hope was in serious need of volunteer labor so we had a lot to do today. The day started off kind of slow with a very unclear mandate to fix a drop ceiling. We really didn't know what tools we needed or where to get them. Around 10:00 a.m., everything changed when James Henderson walked in. James left a profitable job in Indiana to volunteer full-time for Habitat. He is a take charge guy and within 20 minutes we were doing drywall and building stuff. I feel like I really connected with James because he said that while Katrina was terrible, it provided a tremendous opportunity for people to start businesses (roofing, demolition, gutting, contracting, etc.) since all you really needed was a cheap work truck and some tools. I love that kind of optimism and James also helped me improve my drywall technique a lot.

Around 5:30 p.m., the uprising happened. I'd kind of been expecting this, but a few of the group members decided that they'd had enough of Camp Hope's rustic charm. Once Nicole Wagner found rooms at the Hotel St. Marie in the French Quarter for $55 per night, the decision was made and bags got packed. After the last six days, this hotel felt like the pinnacle of luxury.

Day 7: Tuesday, 12/18/2007
I'm writing this from the New Orleans airport as I wait to board my flight. Today, we worked a half day at Habitat's Musician's Village development in the Upper 9th Ward. James Henderson was our crew leader again and we built exterior stairs. I'm really glad we did this trip. There were a few unexpected surprises, but everyone in our group got to know each other better and deepen our friendships. In addition, we took in a lot of New Orleans and Louisiana and experienced a part of America that we wouldn't otherwise get to see. We are truly grateful to Chevron, The Triad Foundation, Pixel Lounge, Maxie's Supper Club, and the Johnson School's Student Budget Committee, Net Impact, SHRLOE, and Healthcare & Biotech Club for making this trip a reality. Thanks everyone!

Financial Donors:: Chevron; Johnson School Healthcare & Biotechnology Club; Johnson School Net Impact; Johnson School Net Impact Alumni; Johnson School SHRLOE (Strategic Human Resources, Leadership, and Organizational Effectiveness); Johnson School Student Budget Committee; Maxie's Supper Club; Pixel Lounge; The Triad Foundation

Thank you to these pasta dinner hosts and bakers:: Meg Bride; Daria Cho; Elizabeth Donohue; Annie Gallant; Britta Von Oeson; Tarak Shah; Mike Swackhammer; Michelle Wonsely; Lina Yin

Jim Bride (MBA '08)