NEW ORLEANS -- For a group volunteers in Hollygrove, rebuilding five Katrina-damaged homes is something they made a point of doing while in New Orleans.
"I'm going to be doing some carpentry work today," said Jerry Iselin, who came in from Seattle, Washington, for a roofing contractor conference in the city.
"My wife and I have been wanting to this for a long time, but just never taken the opportunity to do it," said Roger Harness, a volunteer from Arkansas.
The opportunity came from "Rebuilding Together," a non-profit that helps disabled and elderly low-income homeowners repair their storm-damaged homes. It is an effort still underway nearly five years after the storm.
"We're not there yet," said Daniela Rivero, executive director of Rebuilding Together. "We still have thousands of families that are displaced, that are living in either rental property or outside the city."
However, that message may be getting harder to hear around the country -- lost amid the cheers for the Saints and the party atmosphere of Mardi Gras.
"It's becoming harder. It's always been a challenge," Rivero said. "We've been blessed with a lot of good volunteers, but it seems like a lot of people do think that everything has been done. People don't know really what the recovery process is like in New Orleans -- and coming to the French Quarter and everything it looks nice -- it kind of gives the idea that things are finished."
Yet other non-profits say the added national attention on New Orleans has actually helped them reach more volunteers. At Common Ground Relief, 300 volunteers have come down since the beginning of the year to work on reconstruction and wetlands restoration projects. Now, though, they say around 1,500 people will be volunteering with them, by the time summer comes around.
"We've had a lot of contact just in about the last six weeks, of the people who want to come in late spring and over the summer," said Tom Pepper of Common Ground Relief. "So, I think we're going to have a much busier summer program than we had previously."
As for the volunteers themselves, they said their work is all part of the experience of coming to New Orleans.
"It's going to make everyone feel good," Harness said.
Volunteer groups are also expecting more nationwide interest during the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August.
