Sr. Regina Peterson, MSC was recently part of a cadre of religious sisters called “Nuns Build” a volunteer religious effort coordinated by the non-profit St. Bernard Project and Ursuline Sister Regina Marie Fronmuller and Sr. Mary Keefe, both of whom have been ministering to New Orleanians since Hurricane Katrina. Dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase &quo;Volunteer, Make it a Habit,&quo; about 80 nuns from congregations nationwide worked side by side in New Orleans Oct. 5-9, swinging hammers and hanging wallboard in homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
&quo;There's a need here, and sisters are responsive -- that's what we do,&quo; Sister Mary said of the effort. We help people. Others have come, so why not the sisters? I knew that they would respond.&quo;
The nuns are among 17,000 volunteers who have helped rebuild 244 homes not only in the civil entity of St. Bernard Parish but also in New Orleans East and Gentilly since the St. Bernard Project began in July 2006. While other nuns have accompanied church groups since Katrina, this was the first all-nun group, Sister Regina Marie told the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the New Orleans Archdiocese.
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