November 8, 2005 — Before Hurricane Katrina, Ann Bechet lived in New Orleans, working as a loan officer for a mortgage company and as a minister for Greater Antioch Full Gospel Baptist Church. Now, after having evacuated to her sister’s home in Houston, Bechet brings her counseling and housing loan experience to Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation (CRC), a NeighborWorks® organization that is serving evacuees at the city’s disaster recovery center.

Bechet assists evacuees in obtaining housing, phone cards, internet connections and other vital resources. A critical part of her job is the ability to provide a compassionate ear to evacuees.

“We’re able to connect with people better when we tell them we’re from New Orleans,” said Bechet, who is one of two New Orleans evacuees working for Fifth Ward CRC at the center. “They lost so much…and we did too.” Bechet encourages evacuees to focus on their blessings rather than their losses.

Bechet began volunteering at the center to “get her mind off of things,” and after a week, was offered a full-time staff job. She had been assisting up to 150 fellow evacuees a day, though the volume is decreasing in recent weeks. Fifth Ward CRC has assisted thousands of evacuees in numerous capacities, including finding housing, connecting with voice mail and other communications services, obtaining FEMA aid, and enrolling children in school.

The biggest need now is housing, says Bechet. Many apartment building managers are not taking evacuees right now because their vouchers are not being paid. “People are having a hard time. They can’t get into a home, so they can’t get their minds settled so they can look for a job.”

The experience of losing everything in the hurricane has affected Bechet’s outlook on life in many ways. “You have to be humble,” she said. “I never depended on anyone, and now I depend on everyone. You just have to be grateful for things.”

Bechet said she intends to eventually return to her work as a loan officer for a mortgage company. “God enabled me to do things that other loan officers won’t do—help people with credit problems get into homes.”

Fifth Ward CRC is part of the national NeighborWorks network of more than 240 community development organizations. NeighborWorks America, the congressionally-funded organization that supports the NeighborWorks network, has provided grants to Fifth Ward and other network organizations that are helping evacuees.