A group of 10 sociology and 13 law students traveled from the UW to New Orleans over spring break to put their time off toward a charitable cause.

Working with the Common Ground Relief project, a part of Common Ground Collective, a non-profit organization aiding hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast region, the students were dispersed in different fields of aid work ranging from legal action to gutting houses.

"Volunteers basically run the show here. ... There are a lot of people with a lot of different skills; we are all doing a little bit different work," sociology graduate student Erin Powers said.

Powers was involved in a variety of relief efforts while in New Orleans, including house-gutting, which she described as the most physically demanding work.

She soon moved to other projects.

"[House-gutting] is what I did my first day, but as it turned out, I was able to put other skills to work as well, Powers said "Now I am working to recruit volunteers and compile data."

Law students on the trip handled legal issues.

"I have been doing different types of legal aid work," law student, Catherine Borden said. "We found about a dozen homes that have demolition notices, and it does not appear that the city has taken proper steps to notify the owners or gone through any kind of due process."

The experience of staying in an area that is so troubled was eye-opening for many of the students.

"To think there is a whole region that is struggling like crazy just to make do ... it is humbling to see how easy we have it most of the time," said Amy Bailey, a doctoral candidate in sociology.

Though there has been movement toward recovery, there is still a great deal of work to be done, especially in the working class and low-income neighborhoods, Powers said.

The extremity of the destruction is seen in every aspect of life for the people directly affected by the disaster.

"Twenty-eight percent of New Orleans was living below the poverty line before the storm hit, so those people have a harder time rebuilding after something like a natural disaster," Bailey said. "It is overwhelming to see the impact on the city and on these communities. It is like being in a ghost town."

Though the city has suffered a major catastrophe, New Orleans maintains its good spirit.

"It is disturbing to see people that have been so affected by a natural disaster and governmental indifference," Borden said. "But the people are really good-hearted and thankful."

Yet there is still a great need for help in the Gulf region.

"The most difficult part has been that I have become aware that there are tremendous needs here, and people are just beginning to scratch the surface," Powers said. "It is staggering that this could happen, and it is hard to organize an effort to deal with that scale of problems ... There is so much unmet need."

Reach reporter Celia Hunko at news@thedaily.washington.edu.