Catholic Charities agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi are in desperate need of volunteers to clean-up or repair homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina almost one year ago.

An estimated 92,000 houses in New Orleans and 200,000 houses in the metro area were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In Biloxi, where over 65,000 homes were flood-ravaged and destroyed, people still are living in tents and trailers as they wait for aid, officials said.

Houses that need to have all of the moldy drywall and debris removed before they can be cleaned and renovated remain ravaged and unrepaired because no one is available to do the work.

"We're hurting," said Deacon John Ferguson, director of field operations for Catholic Charities in New Orleans. "We would normally be gutting 20-25 homes per week, but for the past several weeks, we have not had any volunteers. Perhaps it is because of summer vacations; perhaps it is because of the heat. But we are totally dependent on volunteers. And with FEMA closing its camps, the need is greater than ever."

The rebuilding effort by Catholic Charities in New Orleans is coordinated through its volunteer program called Operation Helping Hands, which was established to mobilize volunteers from across the country to help seniors, the disabled, and those with little or no flood insurance gut homes devastated from the hurricane so the rebuilding process can begin.

To date, an estimated 4,500 volunteers from across the nation and Canada have come to New Orleans as a part of Operation Helping Hands to assist in the recovery work for the residents and the community, taking time from their daily schedules to provide help and create hope for hurricane victims. To support this effort, Catholic Charities works in close cooperation with community, business, church, college, and other teams who will also recruit volunteers, provide accommodations and meals, and supervise the work.

So far, volunteers have gutted close to 600 homes in New Orleans. However, another 700-plus homes remain on the waiting list.

"So much time has past since Hurricane Katrina swept through damaging homes and lives that many people assume that New Orleans and the other cities most affected are on the mend," said Joan Diaz, project manager Catholic Charities' Operation Helping Hands. "We have made progress, but we still have a long way to go. The work that still needs to be done to allow the victims to return to a sense of normalcy is not possible to complete in a weekend. We have years of work ahead of us."

In Mississippi, volunteers over the age of 16 are welcome, but skilled laborers with at least some knowledge of construction or carpentry are especially needed in Biloxi and Jackson. For non-skilled volunteers, basic skills courses can be arranged through Home Depot or Lowe's. In addition, the Mississippi agencies are also in dire need of donations of building supply materials, appliances, furniture and/or gift cards to Home Depot and Lowe's.

In addition to providing help by gutting homes and donating supplies, volunteers can also make a difference by relaying what they have seen to those outside the Gulf Coast.

"Our volunteers are perhaps the most important and effective means for recruiting more volunteers," said Theresa Prejean, volunteer coordinator for Catholic Charities in Jackson. The agency is coordinating volunteers to help out in coastal and more rural non-coastal counties of the state.

"Every one of them says they come down here expecting to work hard and to give of themselves and all of them return from the experience feeling as though they have received much more than they gave," said Prejean. "Most volunteers promise not only to tell their families, friends and co-workers about their experience, but they also plan to return to continue with the rebuilding efforts."

Volunteers are an essential part of the rebuilding effort throughout the Gulf Coast, and the residents receiving help are grateful.

"Everybody down here is so overwhelmed and thankful to the volunteers who have come," said Deanna Misko, volunteer coordinator for the Catholic Social Services in Biloxi. "It's an amazing thing to see the volunteers interacting with the homeowners; it gives you hope; it really humbles you. But we are far from done yet. We still need a great amount of help in Mississippi."

More information on volunteer opportunities in the Gulf Coast is available online at http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/HurricaneRelief05/volunteer.cfm.