I don’t imagine that anyone from Southeast Louisiana will ever forget August 29, 2005. I was in California, glued to the TV, watching as the monster hurricane pummeled my hometown.

I spent the following days calling my parents who had evacuated to Memphis and combing the Internet for clues on how friends were doing, and trying to find out what might be left of my parents’ home of 25 years. I finally found refuge in a Yahoo! Group for people from my hometown who were trying to locate loved ones and assess damage from the storm. I spent hours on this site, which became my virtual home-base for information relating to Katrina.

Meanwhile, I had just graduated from business school and was in the process of weighing job offers. Needless to say, corporate responses to Katrina figured significantly into my decision. The day Katrina struck, Yahoo! created a Yahoo! Store for the American Red Cross and raised $57 million in donations. Shortly thereafter, Yahoo! created a search tool that combed multiple missing persons sites and the company sent a team of volunteers to the Astrodome to help refugees navigate the Internet. Here was a company with the tools, values, and reach to enact positive social change on a scale few organizations — for-profit or non-profit — could rival. My decision was made.

Over the next months, I spent nearly every evening on the phone with my family and friends as they struggled to rebuild their homes and careers. My parents’ home had seven trees through the roof and 13 inches of water. Each day brought more challenges for my parents, from crooked contractors who took their money but didn’t show, to insurance companies not wanting to pay up, to 6-month long waiting lists for basic home necessities like toilet fixtures. It was 11 months before my parents’ home had a working shower. I felt completely powerless living so far away. It’s tough at times like these not to bring your personal life to work at least a little bit. So my Yahoo! colleague Terra Carmichael and I decided to do our part for the recovery efforts.

A lot of the press and government attention were focused on the human tragedy of Katrina, which was absolutely staggering, but meanwhile little attention was being placed on economic recovery. According to The New York Times, less than 4% of federal aid earmarked for Louisiana Katrina recovery will be used for economic development, and only $38 million has been set aside for possible grants to small companies.

We asked our management teams if we could go to the region to help spark economic recovery, especially among small businesses, the Gulf Coast’s economic lifeblood. They agreed almost instantly. Thirty Yahoos, including Chief Yahoo and Louisiana native David Filo, plus our friends from BellSouth and e-commerce partner Solid Cactus, flew to New Orleans to give away our small business services — with hands-on-training and $1,500 in free services. More than 200 small businesses participated, and 150 brought their businesses online that day. It was inspiring to meet so many entrepreneurs devoted to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. I encourage you to check out some of the great sites started that day, such as Authorized Optics, Silk Road Furniture, and Syble Fine Jewelry. As Authorized Optics’ Chris Wisecarver said, “I don’t think people understand that economic recovery is directly tied to the human recovery.”

On this anniversary, please consider the following:

1) The region needs your support: DonorsChoose and Network for Good are among the many superb non-profits helping out.

2) Press your employers: There’s so much corporations can do to help. What is your company doing? Ask them and press them to do more!

3) Visit the region and buy its goods: As one of my high school friends so eloquently stated: “If you visit New Orleans, and celebrate its existence, you will make the city live again.”

Whatever you do, please do something. A year later the region is struggling to rebuild and recover. It’s up to all of us to play our roles in saving this unique and culturally important region of our country.

Melissa Chaika Sobel
Louisiana native and Yahoo! Small Business marketing manager

Gulf Coast entrepreneurs learn how to put their businesses online at Yahoo!’s Back in Business event after Hurricane Katrina uprooted their lives