FAYETTEVILLE — Gary Ritter figures he could have bought a Cadillac or a toupee for a mid-life crisis experience.
But the Cadillac seemed expensive and he’s heard toupees don’t necessarily fit well, so he opted instead to help some hurricane victims in New Orleans. At least, that’s the modest spin this University of Arkansas professor gives to the volunteer work he’s been doing with Hurricane Katrina victims over the past year.
Since July 2006, he’s made three trips south working with St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish, and he brought other northwest Arkansas workers, too. It is "absolutely" personally rewarding, Ritter said.
"We were told by people … ’Every time someone comes down, it makes us know we’re not forgotten.’"
St. Gabriel’s parishioners were hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina nearly three years ago. Less than half of them had returned home by last August, a year after the storm devastated the Gulf Coast. Father Doug Doussan is pastor of the church, which serves the Gentilly and Ponchartrain Park neighborhoods — the upper Ninth Ward, where the canals gave way to the storm surge.
The church itself was flooded with 6 feet of water, and when it finally began to recede, the mold moved in.
Of the 600 parishioners who used to attend Mass weekly at St. Gabriel, Father Doussan said 300 to 350 have slowly returned during the past two years.
Ritter, an associate professor of education and public policy at the UA and holder of the Endowed Chair in Education Policy in the university’s Department of Education Reform, became involved in the New Orleans work through a Jesuit Service Corps alumni project.
The JSV, Ritter explained, is "like a domestic Peace Corps." Ritter spent a year with the JSV after completing his undergraduate work at John Carroll University, a Jesuit university in Cleveland, Ohio.
"I was an accountant for a year after undergrad (school, and JSV volunteer work) was tons more interesting" than any kind of work the finance degree prepared him for, Ritter quipped.
With "a database of full of do-gooders," JSV sent out the call for its 50th anniversary last year, seeking volunteers to help in New Orleans.
"I can’t exactly spend a year like I did at (age) 22," said Ritter, who, in addition to his busy work schedule, is a single father of three children, all of whom are students at St. Joseph School in Fayetteville.
He added, "It was the idea I could do something that seemed useful and in a week" that was a great opportunity.
That was in July 2006. A few months later, St. Gabriel’s asked if Ritter could return with volunteers from his parish — St. Joseph Church in Fayetteville — or elsewhere. He found some willing volunteers from the church and community and they set to work on some of houses selected by St. Gabriel’s administrators.
The December group included Mike and Ruthie Graen, Fayetteville residents and members of Fellowship Bible Church. The couple also recruited Mike’s co-worker, Jim Mitchell, and father, George Graen.
Mike Graen, who has a day job as a Procter & Gamble executive in Fayetteville, said seeing the hurricane and flood destruction first-hand was eye-opening.
"I was just devastated. It had been 18 months" and still the damage was horrendous. The small Arkansas group spent most of their time gutting the insides of three houses deemed most in need by St. Gabriel’s.
They returned with Ritter in April and worked on two houses for St. Gabriel’s.
As for St. Gabriel, they still need help. Father Doussan said he is $500,000 short of the cost for rehabilitating the whole church plant, which includes an administration building, a parish hall and gym.
The administration building’s second floor was undamaged, and the church has turned it into dormitories with 52 bunk beds to house volunteers. Ten volunteer groups are already scheduled to help out during the remainder of this year, Father Doussan said, but more could be scheduled.
The church can provide housing but it can’t provide transportation or food, he said. Groups can include high school or college students as well as adults.
The pastor said interested volunteer groups can contact Sister Kathleen Pittman at katpittman@aol.com or call her at (504) 481-1685.
