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Wesli Spencer rallies the Katrina Cavalry

Students trade Spring Break for opportunities to help survivors

By Darcie Roberge ('06)

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Wesli Spencer ('06) delivered keynote address at the 97th annual NAACP Convention in Washington, D.C.

"Katrina on the Ground" begins

Wesli Spencer ('06) was at home in West Virginia when he first learned of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He knew immediately that he wanted to help. This was the beginning of "Katrina on the Ground," Spencer's effort to get college students to trade their cherished Spring Break on the beach for the opportunity of helping survivors in Biloxi, Mobile and New Orleans.

To organize the effort, Spencer rallied the members of the Neo-Underground Railroad (a student mentorship organization he also founded). The group ran with his idea.

"We just started having conversations about what to do," says graduate student Melanie Bullock. We sponsored a conference in January to establish a plan of action and mobilize the group."

As a result, more than 1,000 student leaders from predominately black colleges spent their March 2006 Spring Break helping rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Soon after the concept of Katrina on the Ground developed, Kevin Powell, (congressional candidate, long-time activist and journalist), contacted Spencer to discuss the project. "We started having conference calls each week in order to figure out how to best utilize our combined resources," Spencer explains.

"The Neo-Underground Railroad built the trip from the ground up," says Spencer. "It was organized by students who know how to mobilize and motivate other students. This was done through their own initiative."

Students doing the work

The name "Katrina on the Ground" came from the concept that the students would actually be in the devastated areas doing work. A lot of other organized groups have been treating these aid efforts as vacation opportunities. "We're not 'Katrina from the hotel,'" Spencer explains.

Katrina on the Ground participants were required to complete an orientation program in Selma, Ala. There, they mobilized efforts and discussed the history of the Civil Rights movement. Then, the group moved on to New Orleans for safety and trauma training. The Katrina on the Ground effort lasted the entire month of March, as group after group of students sacrificed their Spring Breaks to aid survivors. Groups were shuttled to New Orleans, Biloxi or Mobile, where they stayed in local homes, churches and community centers for a week to help.

A badge of honor

The very thought of giving up Spring Break to do community service is preposterous to many college students, but it's become a badge of honor for many JMU students.

"For me it was not a choice, but an obligation," says Stephen Ogletree ('06). "It was an obligation as a citizen of America and as a human being. Everyone went down there with the intent of making a difference in someone's life, as well as their own."

CBS, Newsweek and BET covered Katrina on the Ground efforts, and many students returned last summer to continue their work. Katrina on the Ground initiatives focus on the physical and emotional rebuilding of communities, legal and civil rights issues, financial literacy and the empowering of citizens still devastated by the tragedy.

"We wanted to help give a voice to the voiceless." -- Stephen Ogletree ('06)

"I saw the devastation and thought, 'What now?' It's so surreal to see all of those people suffering when we're living lives of luxury," says Sofanit Mesfin ('07).

Sometimes the smallest gestures by the student workers mattered the most. "We mostly talked with the victims," says Ogletree. "We wanted to help give a voice to the voiceless."

Other forms of aid were more concrete. "We helped with the restoration of the first African-American Catholic Church. It was going to be shut down, but a number of protests helped save it," adds Bullock.

"We gutted some of the elementary schools and started to restore them. They wouldn't have been fixed otherwise. The aid is being provided from the top down. People who need the government aid the least are receiving it first," says Raphael Perrino ('07).

Giving hope

The success of Katrina on the Ground can be seen in the reactions of the survivors who received the aid. "They were very receptive," says Spencer, "it had a big impact. We weren't just another group of faces there to show that we care. They were very excited to see their people (African-Americans) trying to help them. It's a different kind of help when it comes from your own people."

Mesfin adds, "The amount of time we spent there was too short, but it was worthwhile. It was great to let them share their experiences and give them hope. The residents had an amazing attitude even though they had barely survived devastation."

Perrino calls the Katrina on the Ground effort a "ray of hope. We planted a very strong seed," he explains.

And the seeds are growing. Read more about the effort at www.katrinaontheground.com/.