THE NEW ORLEANS' RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY REBUILDS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

A decade after Hurricane Katrina it is important to look back at the prolonged efforts of the New Orleans' religious communities in the rebuilding of a great American city. In 2008, 54 church representatives in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area completed a telephone survey, and 22 representatives completed a face-to-face interview on their churches' experiences prior to, during, and after Katrina. Results reveal that communities of faith have been essential in offering not only emotional and spiritual care, but physical and material support to survivors and the community. Services provided by churches are delineated along with a few excerpts that illustrate the spiritual interpretations congregants made of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding. Implications for congregational social work are discussed.