Volunteers find roots on Coast post-Katrina - Jackson Clarion Ledger
Forty-one days before the first traces of Hurricane Katrina formed in the Atlantic Ocean, Di Fillhart and Bonnie Ringdahl knew devastation was on the horizon. “Bonnie had a vision on July 13,” Fillhart says. 28, 2005, as Katrina struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we lay on the floor and cried for the people in harm’s way,” Fillhart says. Fillhart, then 48, and Ringdahl were among nearly 1 million volunteers who traveled to Mississippi after Katrina. People came to help rebuild houses, restore residents’ hope and assure them someone cared. So did people who had never swung a hammer or knew a stud from a sill. And while they came to help heal, many found healing through helping. Fillhart was one of them. “I had just gone through one of the toughest times in my life,” she says. I was as broken as a person can be. ”. Six months after Katrina, Ringdahl looked at Fillhart and said: “I can’t believe it. You just laughed. It’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh in so long. Volunteers arrived in different ways. Source: www.clarionledger.com
