The scattered boats and buckled roads only show a glimpse of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

KATRINA RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT: BUILDING HOPE.

Last September, with a horrified world looking on, residents of Louisiana and Mississippi experienced a wrenching event as Hurricane Katrina literally opened the floodgates of devastation. And the task and logistics of recovery are daunting, indeed.

But quietly, out of the national spotlight, many people are managing to make a difference in that effort. And we're proud that one of our own, CSM Project Manager Jeff Senske, is taking part.

From March 29 through April 9 of this year, Jeff accompanied a battalion of volunteers organized through Our Lady of the Lake Church in Holland, Michigan. The group numbered 78 in all, with ages ranging from 12 to 70, and construction experience levels ranging from raw rookie to, well...Jeff!

A tale of two churches.

The destination of the trip was Biloxi, Mississippi, to help rebuild two Catholic churches that had been rendered unusable by Katrina: Blessed Seelos and Our Mother of Sorrows.

Why churches?

"It's the one place where people can go to pray, worship, and have the sense of community that has been mostly taken from them, " Senske said.

Jeff headed up a group of volunteers working on the rectory of Blessed Seelos, which bore the scars of the 9 feet of standing water into which it had been plunged. The church had already been gutted and rewired on a previous visit by the group. This trip featured installing new doors, adding a screened room above a flat-roof garage, and finishing the interior.

Jeff found it quite rewarding teaching the teenaged volunteers to do drywall and other finishing, and was very impressed by the 14-18 hour days they put in.

"These kids gave up their spring break to come down here and work, and they worked their hearts out," Senske gushed.

Other volunteers tackled the rebuilding of Our Mother of Sorrows, badly damaged and without any insurance coverage.

Devastation widespread.

Senske said he was "awestruck" when he first saw the destruction the hurricane had left behind. During a halfday trip to New Orleans, 90 miles away, he was stunned at the debris and horrible living conditions that prevailed the whole way.

Many people still had no power, even 8 months after the tragedy. Major roads buckled by the storm remain impassible, creating transportation headaches. "The only people rebuilding are those with money. The rest are kind of out of luck," Jeff added.

"For most of the people here, the things we take for granted every day would qualify as a 'dream come true' for them."

"A life-changing experience."

But after seeing the widespread devastation, Senske was thrilled to experience the other end of the emotional spectrum: the warmth and welcoming spirit of the people they were helping. Given what they had been through, the attitude was heartwarming.

"They knew we were giving it our very best, and they appreciated every single thing we did," he remembered fondly.

At the end of their time in Biloxi, the community held an open house and cooked dinner for them at Our Mother of Sorrows-the only predominantly African-American Roman Catholic church in the city-to say "thank you" and to show off the beautiful results.

A white woman from the area said she had never set foot in the church before, but was honored to be a part of the event. And Senske saw the chance to steal a page from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

"I just happened to have the keys from putting in new locks that day, so I 'presented them' to Father Steve, the pastor at Our Mother of Sorrows. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place," Senske said.

"It sure was a life-changing experience for me."

A thank-you from Jeff to CSM Group.

When Senske made plans to join the group, he fully expected to use his vacation for it. But when he mentioned his plans to the leaders of CSM Group, they wouldn't hear of it.

"They told me to 'take what you need' and 'as long as you need' and it's not vacation. I wasn't expecting it, but knowing the kind of people Steve East and the others are, I wasn't all that surprised, either. They were just great."

Jeff and the other volunteers plan to take another trip in the near future to continue the work they've begun. The plan is to eventually restore the home of each and every member of the two congregations.

Until then, they'll have to settle for memories and the one living souvenir they brought back with them: a stray black Labrador that took to following them around in Biloxi. What else could they name one more good-natured survivor but "Katrina!"