My story.....
I arrived home to New Orleans about a week before Katrina hit. My sister, her boyfriend and I rode it out on Tchoupitoulas and Jackson Ave. She was scared of the gunshots so she evacuated. I decided to stay and helped people who stayed on 
my block.
Finally, I moved and set up a tent on the third floor garage of the St. Charles Ave Condos, with the military as my guards! I ran errands for them to Baton Rouge for supplies. I drove around the Convention Center asking for a job helping to clean. Nobody would hire me.
I saw two directions my life could go. I could either feel sorry for myself or do something. I cried for my city. Then I walked over to where NBC News had set up camp. I told Special Projects Heather Allen, "this is my hometown and even my neighborhood, I am not leaving, someone has to clean those RVs and wash your clothes, please give me a job". She hired me on the spot. From that position I went to Bureau Cook. Our new Bureau Chief, Frieda Morris gave me the new position of Residential Site Manager after they leased a prominent house in the French Quarter for a year and a half. As the lease neared it's end, I started passing my name out to do cleaning, with NBC Nightly News as my reference. Word of mouth alone and here we are. I give 100% credit for my accomplishments to God.
I still work for NBC Nightly News here in New Orleans, as well. For more references, please feel free to contact me.