(PORTLAND, ORE.—August 29, 2007) When Hurricane Katrina struck two years ago today, Medical Teams International was one of the first relief agencies to respond to the tragedy. Volunteer medical doctors were on the ground at the New Orleans Convention Center within days, helping to care for patients who had been plucked from roofs and rivers.

Once the flooding subsided, Medical Teams International's recovery plans turned to the overwhelming task of rebuilding both hearts and homes. In the last two years, 490 volunteers with Medical Teams International have dispensed medicines, gutted homes, roofed houses and counseled grieving families to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.

"So much has been accomplished, but there's still so much to do," says Alex O'Connell, New Orleans project manager for Medical Teams International. "For many of the families we help, they have nowhere else to turn. Having a home again is central to their stability, their security and what normal used to look like," explains the New Orleans native.

O'Connell, who has managed more than 63 demolition projects in New Orleans, says it's tremendously rewarding to bring hope and help to people who have lost everything.

Media: Interviews/photos with Joe DiCarlo, director of emergency response at Medical Teams, are available today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Distribution Center in Tigard.

"One of our home owners is an 82-year-old man. Anthony Constantino is a WWII vet who served his country and then went on to work with the New Orleans Fire Department for many years," explains O'Connell. "After Katrina destroyed his house, Anthony lived in his car because he didn't have a key for his FEMA trainer. We helped him get in his trailer and now we're rebuilding his house."

Medical Teams International raised more than $6.9 million dollars in funds and supplies for Hurricane Katrina relief. During the past two years, Medical Teams International has: • Sent 490 volunteers to the Gulf Coast to rebuild homes and provide care. • Provided $900,000 in medical supplies, hygiene and household items to churches and shelters. • Helped remove debris/rebuild more than 300 homes in New Orleans and Mississippi. • Trained 150 teachers, pastors and lay counselors to care for traumatized families. • Paid $38,000 to fund a mobile medical van and provide flu vaccines for FEMA trailer communities.

Medical Teams International is sending 100 more volunteers to New Orleans to continue home reconstruction in the months ahead.