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!

Back from Pearlington, April 2009

Almost 4 years after Hurricane Katrina, our group from Summerville, SC along with groups from NC and PA were able to help the remaining residents make progress in rebuilding after the Storm.

At Lester's house, the big project was getting the deck and pool area ready for his family for Easter Sunday. A deck may not be considered important when your entire house has cracked drywall because of your house being dropped while being raised. But, for a family that is used to spending most of their time outside on the deck around the pool, it is a huge thing.

We were driven and energetic to complete the deck as the excitement grew from Lester while he invited family members over for Sunday afternoon. And, I bet it was a great party. We did our best to get the deck and grounds stable, level, and in shape for visitors this weekend.

Our group helped Lester and family for the week. The other groups were each at different family. From PDA volunteers, four families were moved forward towards returning to normal more than 3 1/2 years after the Storm.

We will go back in 6 months. Will I see you there?

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....

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.

Gustav is Coming

Not a good way to plan to Labor Day. Hopefully, Gustav will not follow predictions, but the NHC has been getting better and better. The models seem to be pretty consistent pointing Gustav towards LA/MS coast. The current path is on the west side of NOLA which will be worse for surge on the east side. But, once in the Gulf, Gustav has to hit somewhere. We have trips planned over 2 weeks, 10/5 and 10/12. We may need to move up the trip to next week, but hopefully not. If you are interested in what we are doing with the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), then please leave a comment with contact info. If you would like to go on the trip with us in Oct, then leave some contact info. We are sure to have a good work crew and excellent food. Our group will be meeting up with the group from Texas again. This time the food competition may be dessert.

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.

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

Our Volunteer Work in Pearlington

Our Work started Monday morning, April 2. I had no idea what to expect, but I was hoping that someone in our group would be able to lead us through the tasks. I can usually follow instructions. But, I am a man so without explicit instructions I can do more harm than good. I can usually put something together and have missing bolts or backwards pieces if I do not have instructions.

As I may have said before, I am pretty unskilled at building a house. I can do most repairs around the house, but I usually hire out the skilled projects. Here is one example. We decided to change out the spray hose on the kitchen sink because it smelled (there was a leak at the bottom of the hose that was going bad). I decided that I could replace the hose myself. After several hours and a couple of trips to Home Depot, my wife had to make an emergency call to a plumber because I had removed half of the spray hose from the kitchen sink and couldn't finish it. I did get some tools that didn't really help and she couldn't use the sink for a couple of days. The plumber saved me because he said that he had a lot of trouble as well and then explained that it wasn't installed properly to get to the piece that needed to be removed. He said that if it was properly installed then I might have been able to do it myself. He had better tools than I did. I like to think that he was being truthful, but maybe he was just helping my man ego.

So, for my second post, I am already off on a tangent... but now you know the types of skill that you don't need to have to be an effective volunteer worker.

The picture above describes what we saw when we got there. Wayne's house had most of the drywall hung, taped, and mudded. Electrical outlets appeared to be in place. Now, we had to figure out what to do. Some earlier crews had written notes that we didn't quite understand. We decided that we could finish sanding and prime the walls for painting. Eight of us for three days learned how to do finish work with mud and putty knives. Luckily, a couple of guys had more experience, so they could help teach us the proper techniques. This trip reiterated for me that taping and mudding are not my strengths after another person came right behind me to fix what I had done. The moral to this post is to highlight that even without many skills, our group found a spot to make progress. Even if our 3 days of work only move Wayne 1 day closer with a professional to moving in, he is at least 1 day closer.

I met Wayne on Neighbor Night at the PDA Village and was able to see how strong he is. If all of the residents of Pearlington are like the people that we met that week in Pearlington, then Pearlington is an excellent place to live. The positive energy of the residents will keep Pearlington a strong community when rebuilt. They will need our help for a while longer.

When my wife and I had to rebuild after a tornado, we had a ready supply of contractors to hire and it still took 10 months to rebuild. The people of Pearlington do not have ready access to hire professional contractors. The contractors are busy from Florida to Texas. Drive across I-10 and you see the wide-ranging impact still. The casinos must be paying the contractors the most money, because the casinos appear to be further along rebuilding than most other places. The big name gas stations are back in business, but the mom-and-pop gas statisons are just like they were as Katrina hit.

At this point 20 months after Katrina, my guess is that the families that could afford to rebuild themselves for the most part have done it. Everyone has stopped waiting for the government grants and aid and is rebuilding on their own with our help. To continue the rebuilding, the people (not just in Pearlington) will continue to need our energy and hope. They do not want to rely on us for help, but I think that our help is needed to keep their spirits high and continue to show that Americans do care.

On my next trip, I hope to be more efficient and bring along a plumber and electrician. Our group at Wayne's was done fairly early with priming and we could have done a lot more work on his house if we had some directions about plumbing and wiring.