While I've got you here, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. 17-year-old Alicia Seeden grew up in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. Like many from that area, Hurricane Katrina destroyed her house where she and eight members of her extended family lived.
She and her family were bussed to Houma where they lived in the Bayou Black Recreational Center for over a month.
That's where I met her. I talked with her for a while and found out she was still missing some family because of the storm. She said she was "grateful for all the help from the shelter and thankful for her life and family"
I took a nice portrait of her and posted the photo and her thoughts on multiple websites. A few weeks later, we get a message from Lynn McLeod of Kalamazoo Mich. telling us (The Houma Courier) that she and her church saw Alicia's photo and read that she and her family were living in a gym. McLeod and her church raised enough money to build a house and move the family to Mich.
Hard to believe that because I took a young lady's picture, her entire family now has a home. And we just found out that Alicia has graduated from Kalamazoo High School.
And Alicia was one of about 100 New Orleans evacuees that I photographed after the storm.
Following the storm, I met and became friends with hundreds of evacuees. We laughed and cried together. My heart went out to them, it truly did. I wanted to help as much as I could.
I wish I could have given money to all the evacuees so they could start their lives over again. I wish I could donate more than I already have to help rebuild the Gulf South. But, as you journalists know, we don't exactly drive Escalades. So I did the only thing I could do... and that was use my photography skills to help as many victims as possible.
Alicia is now a High School Graduate. Everett Webster has a full-time job in the French Quarter. Floyd Webb got his taxi service back up and running. Nancy Torres got her job at Wal-Mart back. And I've got about 96 more stories similar to those.
If you'd like to see and hear what two of the "Faces" are up to now.. one year later, just visit my website and click on "Faces of Katrina.. One Year Later" And while you're there, also click on Galleries, scroll down to "Faces of Katrina" and you can meet most of my friends that I helped.
And if you'd like to read about how Alicia and her family moving to Mich, check out Houmatoday. (you might need to complete a quick and free registration.)
