GALVESTON, Texas -- For some Galveston residents, the start of hurricane season is a somber reminder of how far they still have to go to rebuild following Hurricane Ike, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

Hymns echo through what's left of Doris Hall's house in Galveston. It's a serenade by strangers who have come to rebuild it.

Hall said she has no doubt about who sent them.

"I really prayed day and night asking God to send me some help from somewhere so I could get back in my house, 'cause this was not my doing. This was the Lord's doing," Hall said.

Hall has lived in the house for 55 years. She left in September at her children's urging and returned to find her home destroyed by Hurricane Ike's surge tide.

"I came and I looked, and that day I didn't have no place to stay. I didn't know what we were going to do," she said.

Hall does not have insurance and does not qualify for enough Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to rebuild. About 5,000 other Galveston families are in the same shape.

So volunteers such as Baleigh Waldrop have been pouring in to help.

"If we weren't here, we'd just be at home playing video games or something -- nothing too productive. It's nice that we can come here and make a difference in somebody's life," said Waldrop with Galveston County Restore and Rebuild.

Faith-based groups organized by Galveston Restore and Rebuild provide free labor and donated materials. They are rebuilding on faith.

"We're going to be here until every house is repaired and all these families are back home," said Eddie Hillard with Galveston County Restore and Rebuild.

Three quarters of the island's building were damaged or destroyed by Ike. Now eight months later, only about 6,000 have been rebuilt. About twice that many are still waiting.

Tons of debris still litters the island. Since the storm, officials have removed about 3 million cubic yards of debris, but it's going to take another year to clean up all the rest.

There is no public housing left on the island and there won't be for at least two years.

Some residents who'd like to rebuild now are still waiting for insurance settlements, permits, or contractors to do the job.

Boris Dimitrov, his wife and two dogs are biding their time in a 200-square-foot travel trailer.

"I mean, what can you do? Yeah, it gets frustrating. What is this? Where is this? I can't find pants, can't find jackets and now we're switching from winter clothes to summer clothes -- of course, most of them were lost," Dimitrov said.

Add to that, Galveston's fragile infrastructure. Millions of dollars are needed to repair the sewage and water systems. All of those problems are a stark reality against the backdrop of a new storm season.

But no one talks about leaving.

"This is my home. This is my children's home. All of my friends are here, my church, my church family, so I don't know anywhere else I could go that would make it home," Hall said.

Residents said that Galveston still has faith.