If you've been in the FEMA trailer Carol Phoenix shares with her husband Mickey (better known as "Truck"), you know it seems impossible for her to cook the 100 meals she regularly takes to the homeless clustered under bridges and in parks throughout New Orleans.

And if you've been in St. Bernard Parish long, you have probably been in the trailer. When she's not cooking for the homeless, she's cooking for all her friends and neighbors. Before Hurricane Katrina, Carol's home in Violet was known as the meeting place for crab boils, football parties and random get-togethers.

Carol was born in St. Bernard Parish and has always lived in the same Violet neighborhood. She had rented half a duplex for 13 years, and was forced to evacuate the Friday before the storm. She returned six months later, and found out about the St. Bernard Project. At first, she shuttled her friends to the SBP office, knowing the project couldn't help her if she didn't own her home. However, her landlord donated the house to her, and the project was able to help someone who had done so much to help the community.

After the storm, once the 20 feet of water washed back out of the home and it was gutted, Carol welcomed one and all to the bare studs and bricks of her once and future home.

A recent volunteer returning for a second week with the St. Bernard Project was most anxious to find Carol, Truck and the site of a fantastic impromptu party during his earlier visit.

With help from the St. Bernard Project, she is getting back into her house - a more comfortable place to cook all those meals and host all those parties. If the volunteer comes back for a third trip, he'll be welcomed in a finished house.

Carol thanks all the volunteers who have helped St. Bernard Parish, and she says they are making a difference for her friends in need.

"The volunteers come with so much love," Carol said. "The parish needs that love."