While a lot of attention has been focused on New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one young woman from Irondequoit is reminding people that there are other areas still affected by the hurricane.

"Five years later, I mean it still haunts a lot of people down there," said Jessica Burns."

At age 13 Jessica Burns didn't just want to help, she needed to.

"When you’re thirteen, you've never seen anything like that before," said Burns. "It’s a really big shock to your system. You just don't know what to think."

Burns along with members of the Irondequoit Presbyterian Church have been volunteering on the Gulf Coast for the past five years, ever since Katrina hit.

"Everything on TV just doesn't add up to what you see down there,” Burns said.

What she saw was complete devastation. Lives shattered.

“They had nothing," Burns said. "They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and their lives."

But she saw all of these things two hours away from New Orleans in Gulfport, the southern most point of Mississippi. She heard the water was nearly ten feet high that day.

"Which is way different than New Orleans because the water came in and then came back out and it took everything with it," Burns said. "So all that was left was just trash everywhere and the houses were taken off their foundation."

With hammers, nails, and paint brushes, Jessica and her friends began restoring the foundations of people's lives.

"These people suffered something very tragic and in the end, all they had was their family and that's it,” Burns said. "Katrina gave me the wings to fly and to do what I’m very passionate about."

Jessica is starting her first day of classes Monday at Roberts Wesleyan College to study her passion.

"Now because of it [Katrina] I’ve decided to go into ministry and work with children,” Burns said.

It’s a mission that's far from over. Jessica and 30 of her friends will travel back to Gulfport for their sixth trip in February.

Irondequoit Presbyterian Church