This month marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Some residents of Biloxi, Mississippi are still rebuilding their homes and their lives a decade later and some Rochester-area college students are helping them.
Since 2006, nearly 700 SUNY Geneseo students, 105 faculty, and 105 community members have made the trip - some of them multiple trips - to Mississippi to help in the recovery effort.
Senior Dan Martin has been there twice, helping to build a homeless shelter and rebuild the home of a woman whose house was severely damaged by flood waters.
Ten years later after Katrina, there is still work to do. Poverty has contributed to the slow recovery.
"A lot of the families just didn't have the funds,” Martin said, “If they left, they didn't have the funds to come back and start rebuilding their lives in Biloxi. If they stayed, it's still been a slow process for them, even with all the volunteers coming down."
Martin is planning a third trip to Biloxi next year. He was inspired to volunteer when he saw the damage Super storm Sandy caused to his classmates' downstate homes and communities several years ago.
"We all live in the same country, so whether it's in Rochester, Staten Island, it's a great feeling to go down and help as many people as you can. Even if the work is slow, it's still progress, and everyone is so appreciative of that."
