Future homeowner Sandra McQuilkin unloads materials for her Slidell, La., house with the help of Habitat volunteers.

Keys to a New Life
Three new Habitat homeowners reflect on life after the storms.

by Leigh Powell

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Habitat for Humanity began assessing the affected regions, building the capacity to build houses as fast as the organization and its supporters possibly can. With the one-year anniversary of Katrina and her sister storm Rita in mind, three new homeowners share their stories - stories of loss, but stories also of hope.

'Let's Come Home and Celebrate'
During Hurricane Katrina's destruction, 9 feet of water poured into Robin Powell's house on Louisiana Avenue in New Orleans. She lost everything.

In the weeks and months after the storm, Powell bounced from place to place--she evacuated to Dallas initially, stayed with an aunt in Baton Rouge, La., went to a shelter in Mississippi, then went to Atlanta. Now, she is building her new Habitat house, back in New Orleans, in Musicians' Village. "Home, sweet home--the Big Easy," she says.

But Powell admits New Orleans has changed. "It's so hard," she says, "riding around and seeing all these houses and ... nobody. Nobody, nobody.

"Everybody's gone. It makes me want to cry."

Powell sees hope with Habitat for Humanity--especially through Musicians' Village. "If everybody would come back--to this field here--and stand up, we could make a difference," she says. "We can."

Though many, including Powell herself, are still mourning for what was lost, she knows it is time to move on, to remember the past, but to build for the future.

"In some ways it's like a funeral," she explains. "It's sad, and people cry, but at a funeral, you're really there to celebrate life. A funeral is a 'home going,' and this is a homecoming.

"We have to try to make it better for each other. We should stick together, be united. Let's come home and celebrate."

	Future Gray, La., homeowner Tina Fangui and her son Lucas Lecompte

God Exceeds Prayers of New Homeowner
For Tina Fangui, the most traumatic part of Hurricane Rita was seeing her son's face--his worry over not knowing where they would go, what they would do.

Rita flooded Fangui's mobile home, causing parts of the floor to collapse. Fangui and her son, Lucas Lecompte, have been living with her sister in Bayou Blue, La., almost ever since.

When Fangui applied to partner with Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity, she says she did not expect to be accepted. "So many people are worse off than me," she explains, echoing a sentiment heard time and time again in the affected areas. But she was accepted, and her house is part of a new Habitat neighborhood in Gray, La.

"I've been a single mom for 10 years," Fangui says. "I've never asked for help, and now people want to help me, and it's almost hard to accept it. But about a month before Rita, I was praying for God to send me a carpenter to repair my mobile home. Instead, God sent me thousands of carpenters, from coast to coast, to help build my new house."

Fangui admits that, even with help from Habitat and the generous volunteers who are pouring into the Gulf Coast community to help rebuild, recovering is still difficult. "It's devastating to lose the place you've made your home," she says. "You have to mourn your loss."

On the other hand, the new neighborhood holds such promise. "It's a beautiful experience to get to know my neighbors, bonding with them," Fangui says. "They've been through the same crisis, and now we're able to come together, from all around this area, work on each other's homes, and become a brand-new community."

Homeowner Believes Volunteers Are Doing God's Work
Sandra McQuilkin, like virtually every resident of Slidell, La., sustained damage to her home during Hurricane Katrina. Until her Habitat house is completed, McQuilkin and her two children, ages 5 and 6, are living in an apartment. The motivation to get out of the close quarters is an inspiration to McQuilkin as she completes her sweat-equity hours, but she finds herself also inspired by the work itself. "Building your own house--how cool is that?" she enthuses.

McQuilkin says that Habitat for Humanity is heaven-sent for her and her children. "If you could imagine how God and Jesus wanted their work done, this is it," she says, pointing around the build site.

McQuilkin reminds people that many volunteers are still needed, even a year after Hurricane Katrina: "People in other places, maybe they ask, 'That [recovery effort] is still going on?' The answer is, it will be going on for the next five years, maybe more."