When natives of New Orleans returned after Hurricane Katrina all they saw was brown and blue. The brown was the polluted water and the trees. The blue was the tarps that covered holes in the roofs-the ones people climbed out of to escape the flooding.

"Water came in over the levees and into the houses in August and some of the water didn't recede until October and November," said Deborah Davenport, a resident of New Orleans.

She explained this occurrence to about 25 students at the "Supporting People with HIV/AIDS: a New Orleans Experience" forum last Thursday.

The Davenport family--Pastor Bruce, Deborah and Tamachia--explained how their church, St. John #5 Faith Church, has responded with outreach and prevention efforts to people dealing with the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina.

"This is an area nobody talks about," Bruce said. "It's where thousands of low-income people live and the government won't work this area until 2012. They want to bring help to tourism areas."

The St. John #5 Faith Church and low-income housing is located in the Seventh Ward in New Orleans.

"We were already the step-child of New Orleans," Bruce said.

The Davenports were in Seattle from Feb. 4 to 10 speaking at local churches and schools sharing their experiences.

Pastor Glen Aaberg of Cross and Crown Lutheran Church in Renton, Wash., first met the Davenports after Hurricane Katrina through the internet, when he was planning to go to New Orleans. Aaberg is the husband of Vicki Aaberg, professor of nursing.

"They are a family that does community-based work for health development...doing extraordinary things in the world," he said.

The Davenports run a variety of outreach programs at the St. John #5 Faith Church.

"Kids were having trouble in school and parents couldn't help them, so then we started an adult education program, but then we found that the adults were sick," Bruce said.

"I love what I do and ultimately the goal is to help someone," Tamachia Davenport said. She is a social worker and runs the HIV program at the church.

"We have to deal with housing issues and we go out in the community and inform them of our program and the help they can get with HIV and AIDS," Tamachia said.

As a social worker, she has seen other issues that have become prevalent in the community since the hurricane.

"Post-Katrina, I have seen an increase in depression and suicide," Tamachia said.

"You get tired of going to the graveyard. If you lose one, that is one too many," Bruce said.

New Orleanians have been scattered around. Now, many of them live 10 to 15 miles away from St. John #5 Faith Church.

"Before Katrina we had 200 to 300 people strong," Bruce said. "After Katrina we have 30 to 40," he said.

After Hurricane Katrina, the initial push was for rebuilding homes not lives, Deborah said.

"It was a backwards kind of thing," she said. "Children that were a part of the mass exodus of the city will remember that for the rest of their lives."

"I want to make sure people know this isn't dead," Deborah said. "The city is back, maybe, 25 percent. The community is still desolate," she said.

Kathy Stetz, professor of community nursing, encouraged the forum to happen.

"Our campus is under the motto 'engage the culture' and we're paying attention to other countries, but it's important to help within our own country," Stetz said.