MOUNTAINEERTALK
Making Connections While Helping To Rebuild Homes BY JOHN SNIFFEN
“Mona invited us into her home as a group of workers, and bid us farewell as her new children. Her house was barely livable when we arrived, but she made every effort to make us feel comfortable …”
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n August 2016, heavy, prolonged rainfall in southern Louisiana resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses and resulted in 13 deaths. To help with the recovery effort, Schreiner University Purposeful Lives Coordinator Kelsey Penn planned an Alternative Spring Break in coordination with the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Program. “We do a mission trip at spring break each year, alternating between serving a need in the US one year, with serving a location outside of the country the next,” says Penn. Nine Schreiner students volunteered to spend spring break helping four Louisiana families rebuild their homes. Aine O’Reilly, a contractor who suspended her business to serve through the United Way of Acadia, supervised as the students installed dry wall, flooring, insulation, and trim, and caulked and painted. At the end of each day, they showered in a trailer brought in for that purpose, and slept on air mattresses on the floors of Sunday school rooms at First Presbyterian Church of Lafayette, La. In addition to providing 1,260 hours of labor, the students learned about other people, about the meaning of service, and about themselves. In their own words, three Mountaineers share what they
SCENE MAGAZINE Summer 2017
witnessed. The “Mona” they mention is the mother of a family of five mostly grown children who lives in one of the houses on which they worked.
Kaitlin Beetner,
junior biochemistry major, who wants to be a pharmacist. After hurricane Katrina I heard stories about college kids spending spring break helping with recovery. I told my mom that’s what I wanted to do one day. When this trip was announced, I jumped at the opportunity. I was lucky enough to work with a great group and a great family. Mona took us under her wing, guiding us like a mother. She and her husband were so amazing and so giving to those around them. Even though we were there to help them, they always made time to help the other families in their neighborhood.