Gutting homes, ripping shingles: IU students lend helping hands

Gutting flooded homes, ripping shingles from rooftops, hanging drywall and rebuilding family houses are just a few examples of how 45 IU students spent a week of their holiday break.

In September, Hurricane Ike washed up much of the Gulf Coast, leaving it far from clean. In response  IU student volunteer group Youth Advocating Leadership and Learning traveled to Orange, Texas, to help with restoration efforts.

“We were working on homes that basically hadn’t been touched since the storm,” said Y’ALL Executive Board member Michael Nosofsky. “We went in one house that had all the clothing and furniture still in it because the people hadn’t been able to make it back in yet.”

Instead, several families were living in FEMA trailers in their own front yards, he said. 

Nosofsky, a graduate student who has been on six volunteer trips with Y’ALL, said he feels a strong connection with the people he has helped.

“It makes you feel good, and you realize that there are so many people in need,” he said. “They really appreciate every little thing that you’re doing down there.”

The group spent five days learning, helping and bonding. In total, five different homes were significantly altered before the Y’ALL group left town.

Many volunteers agreed the trip was an emotional experience they will never forget.
Y’ALL Executive Board member senior Lisa Davoust said the long hours of manual labor were a lot of fun.

“I’ve never been afraid of hard work,” she said, “so it goes hand in hand with ripping things to shreds. When you go in and drive a sledgehammer through a wall, there’s just a feeling that comes over you. It’s sad, but it has to be done.”

Haley Turow, a senior on the Y’ALL executive board, was dubbed the group chef for the week. She spent several hours in the kitchen preparing hot breakfasts and dinners for the entire crew. 

Turow and Davoust agreed the work was fun and not terribly difficult. They encourage all of their fellow students to sacrifice free time volunteering.

“I always just want to help different communities to rebuild,” Turow said. “Spending five days of my break to go down there and help rebuild their houses is just one step closer to getting them back in their homes.”

There are plenty of flood-damaged towns just like Orange, Texas, living in ruins from recent – and not-so-recent – hurricanes. Y’ALL representatives agreed that there is a lot of work left to do in the Gulf Coast area.

They say their next expeditions will likely be to similar locations.

“One of the nearby towns we worked in, there were nearly 3,000 homes and only 15 of them didn’t have water damage and needed to be gutted out,” Nosofsky said. “It’s crazy how much work needed to be done.”