Pictures from Pearlington - April 2009

Here are pictures from the Summerville, SC crew that worked on Lester Dell's house in Pearlington. We were honored to be part of a chain of crews to work on his house, almost 4 years after Katrina. Until recently, Lester helped everyone else rebuild. Now, it was our time to help him. The biggest part was rebuilding and reattaching the deck to the raised house. And, we had a few people willing to go 30+ ft in the air to hang the fascia and soffetts.

Click here for the pictures.

Pearlington PDA Village #6 closing in October 2009

After almost 4 years helping residents in Pearlington, the camp will likely be closed because Hancock County will not renew the occupancy permit for the temporary facilities of the PDA at the former post office along Hwy 607 in Pearlington. Here is a copy of the letter that our church received.

This letter shows the helpful spirit that Hancock County has shown the organizations "from outside" that have tried to help. In many ways, Hancock County feels insulted that outside organizations have stayed. But, if the county helped its residents more then the organizations wouldn't feel the need to stay. I believe that organizations like PDA, One House At a Time, and the PRC have helped a lot more residents find grant and relief money and get FEMA trailers and now MEMA cottages than the county did.

Yes, the Storm would have overwhelmed any county staff, especially as small and rural as Hancock County. But, rather than support the organizations, they are business as usual.

Maybe Hancock County is trying to get back to normal; whatever that now is. And, the temporary pod structure that PDA set up needs to go away. Maybe, PDA should have planned a more permanent facility. Maybe, PDA should plan some kind of facility to help the community develop. Jane Els put some of these ideas in my head; they are settling in better after my initial disappointment with the county. The county caused some issues when PDA was restoring the camp after Gustav. I guess that we should have gotten the message.

I have been to Pearlington 4 times, and our church has been on 6 trips there. I don't feel like an outsider while I am there. I know where most of the streets are and I know people on both sides of the highway. We will work hard to get travelers there to finish the 49 cases still open, but the summertime is a struggle there with the climate.

I think that the conspiracy theory that Stennis Space Center was disappointed that groups like PDA came to Pearlington and is a thorn to their land grab for buffer is probably a good theory. Just like ignoring the rebuilding of Ninth Ward will lead to it being largely left alone, maybe in the end Pearlington should have been left. The next destruction by any type of storm will certainly highlight that direction.

Pearlington PDA has allowed me to connect with other Presbyterian churches across the country. I now have friends in TX and PA to connect with on a regular basis. Maybe, that was a good thing for me. And, I now have a reason to stop in at Pearlington on my drives across I-10.

I will see you in Pearlington for the next few months working hard to finish the 49 cases. See you there!

Neighbor Night in PDA Village #6, Pearlington

Neighbor Night on Thursday night is always a special dinner at the camp. We invite the homeowners that we are working with to join us for dinner and discussion. Thursday night for Holy Week has been special the previous 2 years because we had Pastor Kevin Porter from Germantown who provided a communion service.

Two years ago, Teddy and others from our church organized a wonderful Maundy Thursday service and Kevin with the group of youth from Germantown played a huge part. Well, last Wed night I learned that Kevin had been in town last Holy Week with Jane Els as the village manager. She remembered the year earlier Maundy Thursday service and asked Kevin to "do it again." Kevin didn't have the youth this time, so the music wasn't as good but he served communion.

So, thinking that it was our group's turn for devotion and not being a preacher-type, I asked if Kevin would like to continue his Holy Week tradition. He said "sure." But, the Germantown group was working late on completing roof repairs before expected rain on Friday and they arrived late for dinner. And, with an unexpected repair job on my front tire due to a nail, we had to change plans quickly. Don O. from our group stepped in for me and carried a wonderful devotion that ended with Jimmy Buffett playing "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On."

Our neighbor, Lester, was there and almost had all of us in tears speaking from his heart with appreciation for our help and everyone's help in the past few weeks. Then, Ken Short spoke to us as he has done for the past few weeks. His call sign as a first responder carrying critically ill patients to Meridian (some 200 miles away) was REDBALL 247. His story is amazing; and almost unbelievable. His description of almost no help from the government for 3 days is hard to fathom in our country. But, being here is believing it.

Progress is slow in Pearlington, but after a few trips, you unfortunately lower your expectations when you come back. Three families that we have helped are back in their homes. Hopefully, Lester now makes four. At first, I wasn't sure of the continued value in going back to Pearlington again. But, after Ken's inspirational words expressing the need for us to continue helping, I will find a way to get another group to go in October.

For Jane, we missed you and I was only teasing about you getting down there (well maybe a bit serious after speaking with Kevin). The corny-dog stand that we looked forward to for lunch, is closed and has a "For Sale" sign on the trailer.

Pearlington Update - 4th trip

I meant to write an update of some of the people that we have met along the way and I sidetracked myself. I figured it was better to finish that thought and try again. Here goes...

Following on most of the people are returning volunteers, within 2 minutes of walking into the dining tent, I am asked the question "do you remember me? you seem familar." Pastor Kevin Porter along with DCE Christian are here from Germantown, PA along with a group of adults. I think after they rode the whole way from Philly with the kids in the car, they decided to fly down on this trip. Kevin is on his fifth trip to Pearlington.

I gave Dallas a call yesterday and she came by for a quick visit with us while we worked over at Lester Dell's. Dallas has lost 46 pounds since January and is looking to lose another 40 pounds. She is full of stories as always. Her neighbor, Kendra, is finally in her house. We helped with Kendra's house 18 months ago putting in the windows, doors, and building a deck. A PDA group either 6 months or a year ago was painting her house. What a slow pace the residents have to endure waiting on a group of volunteers capable of helping...

We haven't driven around too much; we have a lot of work to do at Lester's house. He has plans to have his family over for Easter Sunday. We are getting him close enough to be able to host friends and family at his house. We will visit with all of the families that we know - the Thompson's, the Dawsey's, the Lee's. Hopefully, we don't have to stay with them too long so that we can finish what we have started this week. Jane, I will update you better when I get some decent information to update.

We haven't seen Miss Susie, but need to check on her. There is a lot of work to do and a lot of people to visit from our previous trips. I like coming here, but I wish the work was done. In previous trips, the volunteer line waiting on lunch at the Baptist church is out the door. This week, we barely hold one line inside. I pray that this week is just a slow week. Rev Rawls continues his calling to feed lunch to the volunteers. He and his wife continue to prepare lunch each weekday and he greets everyone entering with a warm handshake and smile and welcome.

Pearlington and other places around still need your help. If you can spare the time, then come on down. I can help with directions or anything to convince you. Once you come to Pearlington, you will come back. Everyone traveling in our group has been here at least once before. I didn't do a good job convincing anyone else, but the group here didn't have to be convinced. Are you listening to your call for mission? Even if not here in Pearlington, how are you using your blessed time and talents?

2nd day back in Pearlington

I received a nudge tonight from Anonymous that I hadn't made any posts on this trip. I have been working pretty hard on this trip, and was a bit tired the last few nights. Last year when we were in Pearlington PDA Village #6, almost 80 people were staying and volunteering. This trip, there are less than 30 and only a few of the volunteers are here for the first time. It is sad, and I think that the residents notice that fewer volunteers are coming to help them rebuild. The issue may be the economy because people are saving rather than generously giving their time, talent, and funds for the travel. Or, more likely I think, they are forgetting about Katrina because of the bigger events going on in the world. As Americans, we pay attention to short-term issues because of the TV/cable news cycles. I can't necessarily blame anyone; the world is going through a large situation rather than just one area of the country and The Storm roared ashore nearly 4 years ago.

We as Americans should be pretty sad that with all of the generosity that we supposedly display, and almost 4 years later, the people in Pearlington, Houma, New Orleans, and on and on, that these places still need us volunteers to come in and help. The residents have no funds left; insurance, if any, has been spent marking time until they could get started and most grant money is either spent or locked up in projects or red tape. Enough of my soapbox....

Back to Pearlington, April 2009

I will be leading a group on my fourth trip to Pearlington over Spring Break in a few weeks, April 6 - 10. I am beginning to think that this trip will be our last.

Originally, the trip was about doing what's right for your fellow American. With a 12-hour drive and support from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to set up the camp, and the motivation from members of the church with family close to the devastation of Katrina, I felt the call and it is within my capabilities (safe and secure within our country and driveable). But, once you go, you realize that the need continues to be there and you want others to share in the experience. We haven't been very good encouraging others to go.

For this trip, we set the date a year ago to allow the kids that went last April to go again. But, none of the kids and parents are going. And, we are down to those of us that planned our schedules long ago and have been before. We know the need is there; I was hoping that we could continue to expand the groups to include more members of our church or other churches in Charleston Atlantic Presbytery. A lot of people talk about wanting to go; but talk doesn't rebuild or introduce you to the families.

So, if you are interested, sign up. A few more slots in Pearlington PDA Village #6 will be available for the week of April 6 - 10. We originally reserved space for 20, but will probably be around 8. We all know our way around. I really hope that things are moving along; but we have been there enough to know the pace is slowwwww.

Special Offering this Sunday

Hopefully, the church Session approved a special offering for the special Mission Sunday service this weekend. This offering is planned to help our friends in Pearlington recover again from hurricanes, this time Gustav. Based on the coverage from Ike, I wouldn't be surprised if Pearlington had more flooding again from Ike. The PDA camp in Houma appears to be flooded again from the coverage on every news network.

One of the friends that we learned about this week are the Wades. They are the entrepreneurial type in town. They have opened the only new business in Pearlington after Katrina. Her husbands works at the Fire Dept and with her family, they were running the so-called by Jane Els "Corny Dog" stand.

When we were back there in April, we made a point of eating lunch there a couple of times. The food was home-cooked at the back of the pull-trailer by the family. Their home was flooded out again by Gustav. Based on information from Jane and Dallas, they really need help. Hopefully, we can provide some help, especially with the special offering.

In other sad news for me: I do not think that I will be able to go on the Oct 12 trip. I have a business trip to Australia around that week, and I do not think that I can pull off both trips back-to-back. Unfortunately, I had to make that decision to delay a trip to Japan because I didn't want to leave when Hanna was coming close and Ike's direction wasn't clear. Somehow, I will find a way to get there. My labor wouldn't really help too much, but I was always helpful getting people and things to the right places...

Smaller Group to Pearlington

Originally, we had split into 2 groups because I figured that we could start expanding the size of our groups to go. But, that expansion didn't happen. Only my name was listed on the week of October 5th. Therefore, I cancelled that week and was able to get Penny Noel to add a couple of spots for us on the week of October 12th.

I am excited to go, even if only to visit with the families and friends that we have met previously. They kept in touch before and after Gustav and expressed concern for us with Hanna. I am conflicted about what our role as volunteers should be going forward. The elevated houses did fine, but what about the ground level that were flooded again. I think that we work to move them to higher ground, either by elevating their house or moving to a different place.

In the articles with residents, I sensed a bit of fatalism after Gustav because they have been flooded out 2 times in almost exactly three years. The PDA staff is working very hard to get things back together for all of the volunteers. As tired as they must be, they are keeping their individual blogs updated and sending out emails to the volunteer groups.

Keep everyone in your prayers down there. We will be back soon. If interested in going during the week of Oct 12th, please let me know.

Back to Pearlington

We are still planning to go to Pearlington for the weeks of 10/5 and 10/12. If you would like to go, then let me know. We have 15 spaces for the week of 10/5 and I think that I am the only person currently signed up for that date. The 10 spaces for the week of 10/12 are full with 4 from Dorchester Presbyterian Church, and 6 from Summerville Presbyterian Church.

The pods that we sleep in stayed tied down to the pallet floor and floated off into the woods. According to Jane's blog (http://janeels.blogspot.com), the pods are salvageable. If they can recover the pods from the woods next door, then they can get the camp back together for us volunteers to make the trip.

Houma doesn't appear to be in as good of shape. They are just now being allowed there today to evaluate the impact and possible recovery of the PDA camp there.

Now Ike

Just when everyone is getting back settled after mostly evacuating for Gustav, now Ike appears to be heading into the Gulf. I think that if I was flooded by Gustav, then I might already be packing my things. The tense energy to have to watch and worry and make a decision to stay or leave has to be causing problems. I kept in touch with Dallas and the Lee's and they described a near panic to get out in front of Gustav. Don Lee stayed at the house that was under water with Katrina and he was able to keep the water out of their repaired house. Dallas's house is up high enough to be spared any flooding.

But, Pearlington saw a 19 ft surge in places, particularly south of US 90 and west of Hwy 604. Why is the surge occurring with storms that earlier were never a problem? Has the marsh disappearing along the MS coast like LA coast caused the issue?

Like Katrina, NOLA captured the media's attention during Gustav waiting to see the national tragedy unfold when the levees failed. The articles coming out of Pearlington are trickling out now. The NY Times has covered articles fairly consistently from there. The tone from residents is quite a bit different. After the first flooding, the talk is of rebuilding. I think after Gustav, that some residents are weary to go through the process again or to see what was lost after rebuilding. I think that the question of moving people should be discussed. After floods in the mid West along the Mississippi, the govt offers a buyout to help people relocate away from the flood plain. What about the same type of help for the families flooded again? I know, Mississippi doesn't have that type of program and Mississippi is not Iowa with a lot more black, lower income people. But, maybe that type of support is what we should be providing rather than helping rebuild houses that will flood again.

The comments from several of the residents interviewed in the different stories are as if they would leave if they thought they could. Maybe, we should help them relocate rather than rebuild. Maybe it is time for the discussion that has been avoided by everyone because it is not a politically correct discussion.

Ike looks like it will pass south into the Gulf. By the middle of the week, evacuations could be needed again. Ike is already a Cat 3/4 and maybe it won't be able to hold the energy into the Gulf. But, it looks like a buzzsaw right now.

Work for Trip 3 to Pearlington

I didn't take as good of staged pictures on this trip, but I did create a Picasa album of the pictures that we took.

Pearlington March 2008

We will talk with the other members in the group and with anyone else who will listen. The highlight of the week was probably the trip to New Orleans. That tour may be the thing that sticks with the group for a while, even the kids. Everyone grew more quiet as we drove around. Now that the trip has a chance to soak in, you should be able to get a little more perspective from the travelers.

Some items this week went pretty quickly. We built a frame for a well pump shed on Friday morning. The dedication of the guys staying at the PDA camp was highlighted at the end of the week. We decided to complete the well pump shed for Miss Susie after talking Thu night. We woke up at 6 AM to get to Lowe's when it opened at 7 AM to pick up the lumber needed. By 10:30 AM, we had finished the framing and were on the road home. The groups next week can put the sheets, roof, and shingles, and then deliver to whomever needs it most.

Trip 3 to Pearlington

Well, I have not been as good at daily updates while we are here in Pearlington. I will try to catch you up with some pictures over the next couple of weeks, while I tell you below about some of the work we are doing here.

First, progress is being made. Slow is a safe word to use without blaming. I would say frustratingly slow, but once you come to Pearlington and begin to understand the process and money available in Hancock County, you see that progress is made as it can be.

In some cases, the volunteers here may slow the process a bit because of the unskilled labor and energy to help but maybe misplaced. For instance, at Don and Lois Lee's house, where we are helping get within weeks of finishing we had to spend 2 days with 2 of us removing the flashing installed upside down and replacing it with white rather than galvanized to match her house trim. Let me leave that particular discussion for another time (I think that I said the same thing last trip - and the need to describe those thoughts faded because I didn't take the time).

This trip is different from the other 2 trips. We are all guys and we are split between the 5 of us at the PDA village and 8 of us staying at the Pearlington Recovery Center (PRC). At the PRC, the 4 pairs of fathers (grandfather) and sons (grandson) are in a big tent that can hold about 80 people. About 200 people are staying at the PRC (many of the groups with high school-age kids) with Spring Break like us. You can be encouraged to know that kids are interested in helping. Many of the kids are working on finishing the Missionary Baptist Church where the volunteers in town eat lunch each day. The dynamic is a bit different, although we have worked out arrangements to let them eat and work near us.

We have separate groups working at 3 different places. At one house, Doug/Connor, Bob/Ryan, Milt/Steven, and Scott/Preston are filling Dallas Trammel's yard with dirt and building a shed to cover the well pump to keep people from trying to steal it. Crime isn't really a problem I don't think. If you know Dallas, then you get a better idea of why someone might try taking hers. The 6 foot fence that she is building around her house might help, as well.
At another house, Matthew, Tony, Scott, Russ, and I are working to help finish up the Lee's house. So far, we have fixed the flashing, painted the fascia, installed a front and back door with storm doors for each, set an interior door, and nailed the trim. Matthew has done all of the detail painting work to clean up the backwards flashing that was painted after installing incorrectly. He was the hard worker of the day and received the honored job of installing the house numbers under Lois's supervision. She brought us the numbers and asked if we could put them up. She is getting excited. She said that she was moving a boxspring and mattress into the house tonight.
You should come meet Lois. On the next trip in April or after that in October or both. She patiently watches us discuss how we should do something, and after much talk and multiple measurements and sometimes multiple cuts, we have finished a particular task. Then, when we aren't looking, she cleans up after us and puts things into a burn pile or keep for others or later pile.

A little of her story is important. She has received only $5300 from FEMA to repair her house (that was submerged to the roof - we could see the mud caked under the roof boards when installing the flashing). She is living in a FEMA trailer now, and waiting on a Katrina Cottage. Luckily, her particular trailer didn't have the formaldehyde problem. You can get a little upset about that. A pastor from Michigan calls her each week asking if she is in her house yet. They worked on her house a year ago...

To talk about the fellowship at the camp, I sat down to type this entry out and upload some pictures about 3 hours ago. But, we have been talking with other volunteers from other churches and I am now one of the last 2 sitting up. Here are some pictures. The commentary can follow.

Last night, we took a road trip to New Orleans. Russ's cousin, Bill, took us on a road tour through the 9th Ward, downtown, and through St. Bernard's. The sheer size of the flooding for 15 miles x 15 miles is stunning. Being able to see the areas in person sets everything up. Pearlington is tiny, but has little national attention. The 9th Ward has the attention, but in many blocks of probably thousands of previously occupied houses, 2 are rebuilt by investors and are for sale. Should the areas be rebuilt? The discussion needs to happen. The current situation is to just wait them out - I think that the decision has been made - and is probably correct. The 9th Ward should be a national monument like Ground Zero.

Here is a picture of our group in New Orleans at the Industrial Canal break. More to follow tomorrow...

Back to Pearlington

We are heading back to Pearlington in 2 weeks. I have been unbearably busy with work, and that work is taking up its usual time and my personal, free time. My mind is cluttered. We have split into 2 groups to go back this time. I am leading a team of 14 people (including 4 father and grand/son pairs) for the last week of March during the kid's Spring Break. Then, another group will head out in late April. By splitting up, we are able to give more people an opportunity to experience the work and people of Pearlington and the energy there with volunteers from around the country.

I speak with Jane Els there and she says that it was a bit slow for a few weeks during the winter, but volunteers are pouring in. We were able to get only 9 slots for the week of March 23rd. And, we will end up using only 6 at the PDA camp. Since anyone under age 18 isn't allowed at the PDA camp or worksites, those 8 will be over at the Pearlington Resource Center (PRC). There is plenty of work for any group. We will hopefully connect with Pastor Glenn from One House at a Time who we had the honor to meet on our trip in October.

I am looking forward to it, I wish that I had more time to spread the word and energize others. We will see you there soon

Last Day back at Pearlington

We left Pearlington after the catfish lunch at the First Missionary church. A 6'X6' deck is a lot easier to build than the 12'X24' deck that we worked on all week. We started in the morning and 5 of us finished it before lunch.

Billy and Harry J mowed the field in front of Shirley Thompson's house to help her set up an area to kick off the Adopt-a-Family program that she is starting. I think that Billy was just looking for another opportunity to play with the big trimmer, but for whatever reason, that trimmer had been taken to the shop for service. He had to settle for the regular weed eater.


We left from the Missionary Baptist Church and stopped a few times to gas and rest. Billy, Scott, and I arrived back at the church around 1 AM. All in all, a very long week, but we feel like we helped at least one family move closer to getting back in their home. Before we left, Kendra came over with her young son and her daughter Mia who turns 2 on Sunday to introduce herself and thank us. Just those few minutes getting to know her that you can help the three of them living in one room makes our sweat and blood and time sacrifice worth it.

We will be back to Pearlington during Spring Break 2008. I think that is March 21 - 28. Please join us.

Day 4 back in Pearlington

On Thursday, we finished the 12'X24' deck on Kendra's house. Don researched how best to build the stair risers. But, we found that the best way was to call in the professional. Pastor Glenn running OHAAT sent over Pastor Wyatt who cut one riser for us to use as the template for the other 2 risers needed. We worked with Pastor Wyatt for less than 30 minutes, and he probably saved use the day of measuring and contemplating the right way to do it. One group finished the other half of the joists, one group nailed down the deck planks, and another group worked on the stairs. What a fantastic team!
Norma and Marie used the nail guns on the steps. They are now known as the "Nail Gun Sisters." We had a tough time getting the nail gun from Marie to give Norma a chance. I think that they both had the same smile as Billy the other day with the trimmer.




Look at that straight line down the deck. Harry J designed a battleship that was exactly square with every line matching. For a 12' X 24' of anything to be exactly square is quite a feat, but we did it. We will be checking every 6 months to make sure that it stays square. I think that the house will move before that deck.

The deck is a huge step for Kendra's house. Now that the steps are there, they will be able to get the electrical and plumbing inspection done (the code inspectors will not climb a ladder and each house has to be built up to be above the flood zone) and then the insulation and then drywall. Kendra was able to watch the progress from across the street where she is living in one room in her aunt's house (single wide trailer) with her baby son and daughter who will be 2 this Sunday.

The other big event of the day is at the PDA camp. Two important mission activities occur while at the PDA villages. One activity is working on houses to get people back into their homes. The other activity is getting to know other Presbyterians (not everyone there is Presbyterian) from across the country. We set our date to go to Pearlington based on the date that Jane Els from First Pres in Garland, TX confirmed. To help recruit people you always need gimmicks. What better way to interest people than with food. Texans always do everything bigger and better (or so they say). So, Jane and I encouraged each of our groups by the food competition.

In Texas, BBQ means beef and they brought brisket. In SC, BBQ means pork. Harry D represented SC with fantastic pulled pork cooked in crock pots that we took. His presentation started with "BBQ means pig. Bringing beef to a BBQ is like taking a cow to the Kentucky Derby." Some of the Texas group conceded defeat during their second pass to the food line. I mentioned this yesterday but it still is important on Thursday when we had the Texas brisket. The brisket was very good and normally might beat a lot of people's BBQ. But not Harry's pork with the secret recipe sauce. The Texas group was staying on Friday night and had packed away some of the leftovers of the pulled pork for Friday night dinner. Harry D told Jane, "I liked your roast beef."

Texas had the better dessert - five pecan pies. We focused on the BBQ competition. Our dessert was Banana Pudding from a big can that we found in the village kitchen. (Some people even asked for the recipe for the pudding that night.) Jane has already called for a dessert competition for the next trip to Pearlington. Are we ready for that? I think that we can give it a try.

Day 3 Back in Pearlington

The post last night is this morning instead. The food tent becomes a gathering point in the evening, because you can't stay outside with all of the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes find you anyway, but it just seems a little more fair when you can see them under the light of the tent. Everyone was gathered around until I decided it was too late to think straight.

You should have been here yesterday. If anyone had a video on us yesterday, then they would have an instant YouTube classic. Seven men trying to square up a deck is very entertaining work. We spent a lot of time working on a 1/4" out of square. The house foundation seems to be about 8" out of square, but we want to be proud of our work when we leave.

We laid out the 6X6 posts. You can barely see the strings diagonally across the corners. The idea is to get the length of each to be the same. Once we figured out the right point to measure, we were right on.

Laying out the 2X10X12 to hang the joists.

The deck is taking shape and will be very strong walking out the door. We hope to finish today. We will need 9' for the steps (the deck is 66" off of the ground). The steps might end right at the street...

Tonight was SC night for dinner. Harry D, Norma, and Marie did most of the work. Harry's special sauce was fantastic. I do not think that anyone has had better BBQ in years or more. A few of the TX group were conceding defeat after their second pass through the line.

We have enough to share tonight with the TX shot in the cookoff.

We drove past Shirley Thompson's house last night and John and I stopped in to drop off the bags with the Dawsey's. I do not have the time to relate the visit. John and I almost didn't get out of there. They wanted to visit for a long time, feed us, get us drinks, just like they were when we came down in April. They remembered me as the guy that would come and go real quick. They remembered Mary and Valerie - Valerie was that older women that rides a Harley and jumped the ditch. JL made pictures for us. It was hard to get out of there, but we needed to get back to work.

I need to stop now. My group may wonder if I am shirking responsibilities. This morning we have Potty duty.

Day 2 in Pearlington

We are up late here at the PDA camp. Don and Scott are entertaining me as I write tonight's entry. Last night, I turned the lights off and was the last to bed (at 10:15 local time). Worn out people turn in early. This morning we learned that the other 2 groups have so far spent most of their time floating drywall. GA today said that they met Larry the Professional Drywall guy that showed them how to get things moving. They may be able to start taping and mudding by the end of the week.

After yesterday's success with the 6 windows, Billy, Harry J, and I followed up by putting in 2 doors at Kendra's house. Scott, Don, John, and Harry D were able to finish up the framing at their assignment when they found enough 2 X 4's to finish the work. Marie and Norma helped out at the church preparing lunch and cleaning up. I got a call around 3:30 from Norma that they were done with that work. I wonder if the cleanup took until then (I think that they sat down for a bit of rest and for good reason). Everyone had to work a bit slower today. It was hot, humid, and uncomfortable all day.

Kenny and Roger worked further on Sam's house with another group putting up insulation with One House at a Time. We are all getting to know Glen Locklin. The group has 6 houses that are currently framed. He just needs volunteers to help with the next steps and we are helping this week.

Tomorrow, the 2 groups will combine to work on a deck at Kendra's. Glen brought us materials all day, so I think that we will be good to go for the week. The deck needs to be 24' wide by 10' feet long to cover the original porch slab. To remove the original slab costs about $900 and then you have to wait and pay more to get the slab removed. So, we will cover over that slab.

Here are some pictures of today.

I had to get a picture of Billy and his new favorite machine: the power trimmer. We know what he would like for Christmas. Look how happy he is and how cleaned up the yard is from yesterday.








Here Billy and Harry are lining up the first door of the day. I did help. I only stepped away for a second to take the picture (and get a drink, and wipe off the sweat, ...) We needed the door in because it rained hard later and we kept the floor dry by getting everything put up.




Here, John, Scott, and Harry D arrive to survey the work for the rest of the week. The slab should be covered up when we are done. Notice that Billy is still working with his favorite trimmer. He went through 2 tanks of gas today with that trimmer. Don has probably already picked up a hammer and asked Harry J where he could help.

OK. I am back to being the last one up now and the only live target for the mosquitoes. I am fighting them off as fast as I am typing. I am losing the battle with a dead trail of mosquitoes on the table around me. Now, I need to think of the morning inspiration. Our group is responsible for breakfast and dinner tomorrow. Signing off until tomorrow....

We are back in Pearlington

Our group from Summerville, SC led by Dorchester Presbyterian Church is back in Pearlington at PDA Volunteer Village #6. More than half of the Mighty 13 that came down to Pearlington the first week of April 2007 came back. My first impression is the cliche: the more changes, the more the same. The first picture to the left is our group's first stop of the day. This picture still represents Pearlington. Rebuilding is happening, but the FEMA trailers are still here.





Check the picture to the left. I think that Greg Hazelwood is trying to have a sense of humor that he had riverfront for a time. His house was a stop for one of our group today.

Our group of 11 is joined by Jane El's group from Texas and 8 men from First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, GA. In our group, Roger drove down from near Boston to go with us. Not as large as the group in April, we have a bit more experience of how the rebuilding process works with the PDA in Pearlington. People that have been here before (which is most of us here this week - only a few newcomers from all 3 groups) has more patience with getting assigned to work at different houses.

I will save the soapbox and inferences about government help and people getting themselves together for another time. For now, here are pictures of our day working around Pearlington. TX and GA were sent to different houses.

Today, our group of 11 split into 3 groups.

• Norma and Marie helped cook lunch at First Missionary Baptist.
• Two years later, the church still feeds lunch to the volunteers. They clearly expect fewer volunteers - one row of tables is gone.
  
• John, Scott, Don, and Harry D went to Greg's house to help with framing.
  
• They stopped in the afternoon when they ran out of 2X4's.


• Billy, Harry J, and I went to Dallas Tremmel's next dooor neighbor to put in 6 windows.


• No big deal, according to Dallas. I had forgotten that "no big deal" for Dallas meant that we might spend the whole day there, and we did. Later in the afternoon, John, Scott, Don and Harry D came over to help us finish. Billy got an early shower trying to hammer the nails during the rain.


• Roger and Kenny helped at a "One House at a Time" house to build up the bracing.
  

Let me try to describe the pictures uploaded here.

Billy, Harry J, and I started at Dallas Tremmel's next door neighbor's house (Kendra MacArthur) with no windows installed. I didn't remember to start taking pictures until we had one window finished. That window is the only window screwed in. We ran out of screws and switched to nails. You make do with what you got. That window is also the only window that I screwed in. Billy did the outside work after that until the afternoon helpers arrived.





Help arrives in the afternoon on the church bus.













Harry D and John measuring. They were making sure to follow the rule "measure twice, cut once."












Do you know what Scott is hammering? Hard to tell from this picture...












It takes two on the inside and one on the outside. Billy has things under control with Scott and Harry J helping from the inside.












While we were there, Marie and Norma came over and with their help after Billy's inspiration to clean up the yard, we created 2 stacks of debris and recovered some good, usable building materials. We also destroyed some fire ant hiding places and they paid us back in kind.

Back to Pearlington

In a few weeks, our group heads back to Pearlington for a week of work with the neighbors there. We will be camping out in the plastic pods provided by the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). I almost wrote our group from Summerville, but one of the guys going with us is flying down from Boston. Our group should be larger than the Mighty 13 from April. About half of that group from April is going this time. I think that we are doing a great job giving an opportunity to members and friends of the the church to use their talents. Hopefully, the planning and recruiting will get easier. We still have to battle the thoughts of a lot of people that the Katrina-damaged areas should be back on their feet by now. Once you go there, you will see that the scale is so large that 5 years may not be enough.

After all, Charleston had pretty well recovered from Hugo after 2 years. I will scan in an article in the Post and Courier from Saturday that made this type of statement. Enough for now...

Pearlington here we come in a few short weeks. We have a few spots left to go if you are interested for the week of October 6 - 13.

Katrina - Two Years Later

Two years ago, many people were figuring out how to live through and recover from Katrina. Many more people from around the country and the world watched the events unfold with all of the national networks, like CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS providing live coverage of landfall and the destruction. The Weather Channel provided great details of the expected landfall and surge in between the constant commercials and local forecasts. Who would have thought that the effort needed to rebuild is still as important today as right after the storm?

As the storm hit, people answered the call and adjusted their lives to help those in need. The Pearlington Recovery Center is one result of that call. That call still is made. 20 people from our church will be going back to Pearlington, MS in early October. Do you feel the call to go with us? Leave a comment and get involved with us from Summerville, SC.

I sat on a plane from Charleston the other week with some women from New Orleans. They are white and upper-middle class. They contend that everyone who is willing to work has gotten help and that the people who have not rebuilt are waiting for the government to rebuild for them. I think that this impression is pretty widespread. CNN was addressing that impression last night on AC 360. My belief is that the impression may be true for a few. But, the majority of middle to lower-class (the largest share of people flooded and destroyed by Katrina) need some help and hope to get back going. How many of you have the $20K or $30K available to rebuild your house, furnishings, and the time to fight with the insurance companies and other agencies? We as Americans have expected that help with our donations and call to government for action. But, is our expectation being met? You won't find out for sure until you go for yourself. Talk is cheap. They need you to volunteer, to provide hope and help.

To see how important the work is and the need is, check out the following link. They have documented some stories of survivors of Katrina and their lives 2 years later.

MediaStorm - Finding the Way Home