Of the roughly 100,000 houses flooded after historic rainfall hit Baton Rouge in August, an estimated 25,000 are thought to be uninsured and on their own to rebuild.

In response to this, a total of 27 UIS community members, including three staff members and Leadership for Life students, traveled to Louisiana and worked on two of these homes over this semester’s fall break.

When asked why Baton Rouge was chosen for trip, Mark Dochterman, director of Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center, said, “Part of it is a personal thing; I’m not going to lie. I lived in Baton Rouge for seven and a half years, so I have a personal connection there. Also, there was a need, there was already an idea of taking a trip, and because of the nature of the trip we happened to have some money during a time when there’s not much money floating around …”

Dochterman worked with the Community Collaborations International group and the All Hands Volunteers group to make the trip happen.

CCI has worked with Dochterman for a number of Alternative Spring Breaks, including the upcoming Spring 2017 trip, while All Hands Volunteers helps rebuild after a natural disaster once the first responders have come and gone.

All Hands Volunteers had the most impact on Garrett Nimmo, a freshman majoring in economics.

Nimmo said, “On Saturday night, we got to take part in their reflections … we got to talk with them and hear them talk about how they feel their progressing, how each day makes them feel, or their reactions when they get to talk with the owners of the houses … you could see how genuine the people were and how heartfelt their work is that they were doing. You could tell that they do what they do wholeheartedly, genuinely, and they are very proud of it.”

Once they arrived in Baton Rouge, the group drove through to their destination, taking note of all of the destruction.

Dochterman said, “It was kind of an overwhelming thing. You left there feeling great, like you did something incredibly important for the individual homeowner that you met, but you really had to tell yourself that there was more people coming and you were part of something bigger. Otherwise, it could be overwhelming, because it was just a lot.”

Nimmo agreed, stating, “You almost feel insignificant, because you’re only doing one house at a time … There’s so many houses damaged and you feel bad that you can only get to one little part. I wish I could’ve done more.”

While food could be classified as the favorite part of the trip, it was not the most memorable for Dochterman.

As they were working on the homes, they had to go through the personal belongings of those who owned the home. The home that Dochterman worked on belonged to a man named Steve, who was on leave from his job as a machinist after breaking his leg when the storm hit.

Once volunteers arrived, his home was described as if “someone had ransacked the place.” As they worked, Dochterman said that they were, “scooping his life up into wheel barrows and taking them out to him. He would poke through it to see if there was anything sentimental to him or if there was anything they could save. It was heartbreaking. With every wheelbarrow, you scoop it up and get this sinking feeling in your stomach, ‘alright I gotta take this out to him and see if he can keep anything, probably nothing.’”