Every Saturday morning a group of students leaves Loyola’s cozy Uptown campus for the raw destruction that still exists in St. Bernard Parish.
They are with the group Shrockin’, founded by Kathleen Warner, Spanish sophomore, and Jennifer Rudolph, political science sophomore. The two created Shrockin’ to provide free construction work for people in need of rebuilding assistance and allow students a chance to get involved in the rebuilding by laying sheet rock in houses.
The groups of self-proclaimed Shrockers are usually not large, somewhere between six and 15 people. Last weekend the group included a few regulars and students from the a Loyola drama society.
Students come alone and sometimes in groups, to fulfill service learning requirements or sometimes with their parents.
Many first time Shrockers have not yet seen the destruction and have little or no construction experience.
“The parish can be a big shock,” Rudolph said. “There are hardly any cars, no birds; it’s still pretty desolate.”
Once the group is in St. Bernard, where all their work is done, they are brought to the St. Bernard Project’s community center. The St. Bernard Project is the organization behind the muscle provided by Shrockin’. “The project’s goal is to help remove barriers for families trying to return to their homes,” said Liz McCartney, co-founder of the project.
Through private donations and funding from United Way, the St. Bernard Project provides the materials, tools and supervision for Shrockin’ to do their work. They also decide on which houses will get Shrockin’s attention. This decision is based on need and the amount of money they can get for the project.
“The experience is an epiphany in six hours,” Warner said.
Once the group is briefed at the community center they are brought to houses to begin work. While many of the owners work alongside the group, many are too elderly to help. Members of Shrockin’ have developed personal relationships with the people they have helped. Some have gone as far as inviting members to Thanksgiving dinner.
The group provides their own lunches, but often the homeowners insist on providing lunch to show their gratitude.
“We’ve had some good red beans and rice,” said Rudolph.
At the building sites, supervisors show the students the skills they need for rebuilding.
Most people catch on quickly and have little trouble. The Shrockers do more than their name entails, though. They have put in installation, painted walls, fixed roofs and even helped with some wiring.
This new focus on building rather than gutting is another aspect that makes Shrockin’ different than other groups that have existed under the Loyola University Community Action Program.
“Students are encouraged by the progress they see in building,” said LUCAP adviser Rick Yeldon.
Cole Adams can be reached at [email protected].
