It’s
not been an easy few years for New Orleans. This August marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which wreaked
havoc on the Gulf Coast, and, although the true extent and depth of damage remains to be seen, this year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill will undoubtedly take its toll on Louisiana’s fishing and tourism industries. Despite the hard times that the city has seen in recent years, New Orleans holds a vital and unique position in American culture and seems to enchant those who venture there. Such is the case with Melissa Manuselis (BA ’03) and Gina Stilp (BA ’03), who have worked with Habitat for Humanity to reconstruct New Orleans since Katrina.
Manuselis and Stilp were best friends and roommates
during their time at Loyola. After their graduation in 2003, they conspired to end up in the same city again. Stilp started working at Habitat for Humanity as an AmeriCorps volunteer in August of 2004. She worked as a fundraiser, pleased to be able to apply her marketing degree in a non- profit setting, and halfway through the year, she took over the fundraising department. At the time, the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity was a relatively small organization with an annual budget of about $400,000. Manuselis started grad school at Loyola New Orleans the same year, pursuing a master’s of religious studies. Both Stilp and Manuselis felt a special connection to
the city. “I had a bit of culture shock from Chicago,” Stilp says. “It’s much slower, much friendlier, and slower-paced. Everyone loves it in a way I’ve never seen Americans love a city. At first I was skeptical. I was used to the ‘head down, get ready to go’ attitude that Chicago has. I thought, Why does everyone move so slow? Why is everyone barbecu- ing all the time? But I just fell in love with the city.” And so both were equally distraught and motivated when, in late August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
M
anuselis had been back in Chicago, visiting friends. At 6 a.m. on August 27, she was at O’Hare, ready to return to New Orleans, when her father called and told her there
was a hurricane coming. She was supposed to start her second year of grad school on the 29th, and so she decided to fly back anyway. Manuselis called a neighbor upon landing, to see if he wanted to go out before she had to dive back into classes. “He said, ‘Are you kidding? We have a hurricane coming.
I’m waiting for you, we have to get out of here,’” Manuselis remembers. She got out of a cab from the airport and directly into her friend’s car. It took them 14 hours to get to Baton Rouge, a drive that takes an hour and a half under normal circumstances. They stayed there, in a hotel, for a week, and then Manuselis returned to Chicago.
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Habitat for Humanity: How does it work?
By GINA STILP (BA ‘03) It costs $85,000 to build
one house, including land and construction costs. To qualify, families must earn between 30 and 60 percent of the area’s median income and must show a need for housing. A case manager does a home visit to see current living conditions. The family must have good or no credit and have lived in New Orleans for at least a year, and someone must have a job. The program runs on what
we call “sweat equity”: a family must complete 350 hours of labor on Habitat houses— that’s the down payment. They learn about home mainte- nance, they meet donors, and it shows their commitment to the program. This takes six months to a year. The family then purchases the house at cost, with 0-percent interest financing. Monthly payments average about $550 to $650 a month. This is instant equity— this is a stake they didn’t have prior to the program. This may help someone be able to get a student loan, for example. Because we raise the money upfront, we’ve essentially paid for the house. We can then put their mortgage payments toward further construction.
SUMMER 2010 19
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