When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the city was left with the mountainous challenge of trying to repair itself. And after residents fled, Hispanics came, ready and willing to work.

Two years later, "more than 100,000 immigrants from Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, among other Latin American countries, have transformed the city’s physical and cultural landscape by spawning a baby boom totaling in the hundreds with many more on the way."

And while many have horror stories of not getting paid and enduring difficult conditions, the majority have nothing but positive things to say, viewing the opportunity to work and support their families as a a true gift. Now, they have changed both the face and future of the city.

Read the People En Español article  on "The Hispanic Renaissance" in English or in Spanish.