The Reception

We made it to New Orleans on Sunday morning around 11:00am New Orleans time, 12:00pm Dayton time. There are few times in my life that I can honestly say that I was at a loss for words. As we traveled on I-10 into the city, I truly was at a loss for words. The businesses that I could see from the highway were in ruins. In one abandoned business district, I recognized what appeared to have been a big Wal-Mart store. Almost all of the windows on the front of the building were broken. The sign that must have once appeared on the face of the building was gone. The parking lot surrounding the area was a mess with piles upon piles of twisted iron pipes, broken wood, crumbled glass and other miscellaneous trash. My view of the ruins reminded me of a misplaced garbage dump.

As we began to get closer to the city, I noticed hundreds upon hundreds of homes and apartment buildings completely destroyed. Those homes left standing were not habitable – water damage, broken glass, falling rooftops, crumbled brick. Puddles of muddy water, plastic bottles and bags, newspapers and crumbled paper colored the streets like confetti. I could not say anything other than “oh my God.” I was truly at a loss for words.

I arrived at my placement yesterday about fifteen minutes early. I was greeted by Ellen Atropoeus, who is one of the staff attorneys at The Pro Bono Project Office. She guided me into a conference room and I waited with another classmate for the others to arrive. She served us Café du Monde coffee and beignets. As we waited, we were praised for coming down to New Orleans to help their indigent clients. We had not even done anything and we were already being praised simply for our presence. I felt incredibly humbled by their kindness. I have to admit that I was skeptical about how well we would be received here in New Orleans. Although we are coming to help these people, we are only here for a short period of time. We get to go home when this is all over. I don’t have to walk the dirty streets every day and look at the destruction around me. I am not struggling to get insurance money for my home. I have not lost all of my worldly possessions. I have not had to bury any family or friends as a result of Katrina. I feared that although we would be “welcomed” for our help, we would also be resented. I was ready to have a tough skin. I just prayed that I could help these people. I prayed that they would let me help them. It is safe to say that I have been completely blown away by our reception.

Ellen shared with us her story of how Katrina changed her life. Ellen and her husband are now living in an apartment building. Her house was flooded and although it did not crumble to the ground, it is essentially in ruins. Water damage has kept her out of her home for almost two years. She said that in some ways that made the whole process worse because at first glance it appeared to be “okay” – and only upon entering did she realize that so much was lost and destroyed. She said that her story was just one of thousands.

Each of the volunteers was given two case files. I am attempting to help two individuals get their lives in order by transferring title into their name. Both of these clients are extremely poor, as are most of the people that Ellen works with through The Pro Bono Project Office on a daily basis. This task is interesting to me because I like estate planning. However, as I sifted through the case files I became extremely sad. Ellen explained to us that many people have simply lost hope. She described the obituary section getting larger and larger as each day comes to pass. Curious, I decided to see for myself. I was amazed – reading of so many deaths made me depressed. Many people have simply lost hope because they cannot see an end to the misery. I feel that is another reason why we are here – to share their stories and let others know that it is not okay down here in New Orleans. In some ways, we need to help their voices be heard.