A heartwarming close to Paul’s story of his adventures in New Orleans:

This week was “women’s build” week for the St. Bernard Project. Over 100 women from all over the country traveled to St. Bernard Parish to, as our t-shirts proclaimed, “work it girl!” The house we worked on belongs to a deputy sheriff who stayed through the storm and rescued people for days afterwards. It’s a 3-bedroom 2-bath house. We installed the insulation and drywall, and by the end of the day on Saturday, the house should be ready for painting. Our team leader, a long-term volunteer with the St. Bernard Project, told us that doing that much work in a week is “unheard of.” Almost everyone began the week with little to no experience, and we became accomplished experts in a matter of hours. So, even if you’ve never done construction work, come to New Orleans anyway! It’s easy!!
I was quite popular on our team, as my extreme height advantage made me the designated guy to do everything on the ceilings. My nickname for the week was “Tall Paul.”

On Thursday morning, I was honored to be a guest at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. charter school in the Ninth Ward. A team from the Louisiana Children’s Museum runs a program there called “Play Power” (I had met a member of the team at Camp Hope during my previous visit). Play Power is designed to help children cope with the mental health effects of Katrina through play activities. The kids in the area have been through a lot: nearly all of them lost their home; children from their school died; relatives perished, and some lost their pets. On top of all that, their lives are still chaotic as their parents struggle to rebuild. I was told that some of the younger ones struggle to overcome a fear of the rain. At Play Power, I met children from 1st grade through the 8th grade, and it was wonderful. I told them about Colorado, about being a lawyer (and that I’ve represented children), and about my volunteer work in New Orleans. They were all curious about my height, and I was happy to oblige when one of the students asked me if I could touch the ceiling. I participated in their activities, and upon request, did one mean hokey pokey! 🙂

On top of meeting the children, it was truly special to join President Bush, Laura Bush, and Brad Pitt on the list of guests who have visited the school. 🙂

And wouldn’t you know it? One of the children told me that I look like professional wrestler, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin! 🙂

Although I did not work for Habitat for Humanity during this trip, I did make a quick visit to Musician’s Village, an entire community being built by Habitat volunteers. What I saw was so heart-warming. Over 350 people (a number quoted to me by a volunteer who worked there that day) were hard at work as far as I could see in every direction.

Although the situation in New Orleans sometimes made me sad and depressed (not to mention angry with the federal government), I had many moments of hope and pride. This was one of them. With the folks at women’s build and elsewhere, I estimated that over 500 volunteers were hard at work in the New Orleans area that day. Amazing and inspiring.

Unfortunately, as the next phase of my life begins with my first day at Holland & Hart on Monday (provided I can walk by then!), I will not return to New Orleans soon – but I will go back. When I set out to do what I’ve done, I had planned to keep my experience low-key and quiet. Once I saw what was happening down there, I decided I needed to spread the word. So please, if you’re able, go to New Orleans and have a physically exhausting yet wonderful experience. My body aches everywhere, and I’m very tired. At the same time, I feel great. I’ve met the most wonderful people – volunteers from all over the country young and old.

When my friend from Boston and I were waiting in the emergency room last night, a woman approached me and said she had seen me working on a house in Violet, LA (which is part of St. Bernard Parish). She had the nicest smile, looked teary-eyed, and gave me the nicest hug. A complete stranger! Soon, all the other people in the room thanked me and my friend for coming to New Orleans to help. The doctors who treated my knee thanked us warmly and kindly. I wish you could have seen the look in the eyes of the deputy sheriff and his wife each day they saw their home take a giant leap towards completion. Please go down there and experience it when you can!

Take care and thanks for reading my emails.

Paul

I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars as a young woman trying to curl my hair. Perms, curlers, curling irons, all methods were employed to turn my traditionally straight tresses into luxurious locks.

Now, in the humidity that is New Jersey, I can’t stop my hair from curling, AND I WANT TO! All of the sudden I am Shirley Temple with little curly ringlets framing my tired, pale, nearly 32 year old face! Perky Pollyanna curls nonetheless. I don’t want bouncy curls at my age! Sleek and shiny is totally in for moms and young professionals, you know, sleek and shiny, the hair I naturally have when I live in a desert climate with no moisture in the air! The hair I tortured into curly contortions as a child! The hair that has deserted me now and left me with sausage curls. Sausage curls for heaven’s sake!

Paul enjoyed his time with Habitat for Humanity so much, he went back to do some more good. Once again, he was kind enough to email me with tidbits about the good work going on in New Orleans. It is easy to forget about Katrina and what happened there in the day to day stuff of life, but there are still so many people who haven’t been able to have their normal day to day ever since the hurricane hit. Thanks to people like Paul and others who give time and compassion, some of those people are getting their homes back. Please, when you can, go help. We plan to take a trip down to build some homes as soon as the baby gets a little bigger.

Paul wanted me to assure everyone that he feels as safe in New Orleans as does in any American city, and that the volunteers he has met have all rocked on repairing these homes, even when they came in with no prior experience. Here is his latest update:

Hey everyone! Thought I’d send you a quick update on things down here. A group of volunteers from Pennsylvania are staying at Camp Hope, and I’ve been very kind to them despite their earlier attempts to trash talk my Rockies! Now that it’s 2-0, they’re not so vocal any more.

Anyhow, I’ve worked three straight days for the St. Bernard Project. They take flooded homes, gut them of everything but the brick and wood structure, and rebuild from the inside. The home I’m working on is almost finished. If you received my first update from my last visit, you might remember the homeowner from the Anderson Cooper CNN video link I sent out. If not, here it is again.

In the video, you’ll see Joe Urbeso. Joe got out of town the day before the hurricane hit and has not lived in his home for the past two years. Joe told me that he paid of his home in full before the storm. Katrina wiped out both his house and his business. For the past two years Joe has lived most of the time in Houston, but he’s now with relatives in the area. At first, I didn’t realize I was working on Joe’s home until I met him the first evening I was working there. I had only planned to work on the home for one day, but after I met Joe, I decided I’d stay on the job until his place is ready (how can I say no to the guy??!!!). I’ve attached a photo which depicts Joe and his two children along with fellow volunteers from Ohio, D.C., North Carolina, and New York City. I’m the goofy guy on the upper left (I’m the only “short timer”-type volunteer – the others in the photo have been here for months).

Just like last time, I hope you can tell your friends and relatives about the volunteer possibilities down here. All types of people stay at Camp Hope and work on projects throughout the New Orleans area. There are men and women of all ages here this week. Some are staying for just a week. Others longer. The parking lot was overflowing last night and is currently clearing out as folks leave for their day of work. It’s difficult work in hot and humid conditions (I’m really sore this morning), but it feels good to help people like Joe.

This is our insulation and drywall installation team!! We got a ton of work done!

On the lighter side: an Americorps volunteer thought I was “Stone Cold Steve Austin,” a famous WWF professional wrestler; we found a frog in a toilet in Joe’s home on Tuesday morning (but we didn’t tell Joe!); although “quiet hours” begin at 11PM each night that didn’t stop me from yelling like crazy when the Rockies beat the Padres in 13 innings (it was 11:30PM here!); and one of the locals said that he’s never seen so many people watch a televised baseball game in his life (apparently they only watch football down here!).

So, you should get down to ‘Nawlins soon to help out!!!

Paul

P.S. I included an “action photo,” to use at your option. I apologize for the “white rapper wannabe” look, but the skull cap keeps the sweat out of my eyes and hearing aid.

Just an additional sidebar…..the home we’re working on during “women’s build” is for a member of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s office and his wife. He stayed through the storm and spent countless hours rescuing people afterwards. He and his wife brought us lunch today too!

Thanks again Paul!