by Kellie Bentz, Director of Development, Bayou District Foundation;  Former Executive Director, HandsOn New Orleans

I was having dinner tonight with friends and joking about how I am still here in New Orleans almost five years after my initial visit following the storm.

I originally signed a six week contract to start a “disaster response project” in New Orleans and I find myself still living in New Orleans here.

It is true…this place sticks to you.

I remember the early days of starting this disaster response project, HandsOn New Orleans, in the wake of Katrina with my buddy and colleague, Greg.

I don’t think either of us truly knew what we were in for…and I think back and cannot believe that there were people from our national office that believed we had the capacity and ability to accomplish what we accomplished.

After six weeks, Greg had to go back to Atlanta and I looked around and there was no one else to lead the charge…so while I thought at the time my six weeks might turn into three months those six weeks turned in to three and a half years with HandsOn New Orleans.

I look back at that time and could tell you stories that only those that were there can actually believe.

I never would have imagined I would have worked with a team to build 100 bunk beds, and build out a facility that would house thousands of individuals from around the world ready, willing and wanting to “serve.”

I feel truly blessed to have had moments where I would be standing among the hundreds of volunteers and feeling chills, feeling grounded, feeling connected.

What I realized after meeting so many people who came to “Serve” was that most people were looking for a way to “connect” with other human beings in a way that was meaningful.

There are so many stories of individuals that felt their lives had truly changed after spending one week in New Orleans, one week in the bunk house, one week serving with their fellow man/woman.

Some of the most meaningful relationships in my life today came from this experience.

It is true when people say that usually the one serving gets more out of the experience than the one being served.

The entire city of New Orleans is a testament to that.

So many people have come from around the world and either come back multiple times or have decided to make New Orleans their home.

So much of my experience in New Orleans has been shaped by the people who have walked into my life or who I have been blessed to have shared moments with…one of those very special people who I will always remember is Ms. Antoinette K-doe. HandsOn volunteers helped rebuild her lounge.

She was a force….she worked alongside the volunteers everyday and at the end held an incredible party.

She was such an inspiration in my life and the lives of so many Handson volunteers.

Her funeral made me finally realize why there is a bumper sticker that says “New Orleans puts the FUN in Funeral.”

Her passing was a celebration of her life not a mourning of her death.

Antoinette is just one of the many characters so many of us have been blessed to share moments of New Orleans with.

Now, five years later, New Orleans has become a laboratory for what is possible…on the education front, on the housing front, in social innovation and on the human connection front.

Heck, I even came to appreciate what football can do to a city’s spirit!

I could not have asked for a more rewarding and formative experience.

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