Based on the blog posts so far, you'd think Friday was a quiet day. You'd be wrong. Most of us wrapped up the projects that faced us for the week -- or at least found a good stopping point so that others could continue our work later. We also faced a number of farewells to our friends from Minnesota and Kansas City, not to mention the on-site staff and long-term volunteers with whom we have worked all week. It is hard to believe that the week is now over! We ended the day with a wonderful party hosted at the home of a friend of one of our group members. It was the perfect way to enjoy some southern hospitality and celebrate the good work we have done. More will be forthcoming about the day soon.
Saturday holds our final preparations to return home. We are scheduled to depart the church at 11:30 A.M. (Central), fly out of Gulfport at 1:55 P.M., and land at LaGuardia around 7:00 P.M. Do keep our travels in your prayers!
Showing posts with label Site Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Site Work. Show all posts
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Day Six: After School Program
This afternoon, Craig, Elanor and Carol helped with the after school program at Cowan Road Baptist Church. Craig returned to teach the kids a dance to go with the songs they learned yesterday.
Here's Craig in action with the kids...
Here's Craig in action with the kids...
Day Six: Site Work
After breakfast, assignments were given out and we headed out to work.
A dumpster wasn't available to take more debris from yesterday's site, so most of the demolition people are inside the house doing taping and mudding.
Randye, Lisa and Kate are off to Lighthouse after a long wait. Tina is going through files trying to get an accurate count of how many volunteers have passed through the facility. Some of the Minnesota volunteers are out doing construction, others organizing database and folders.
Agnes, Arabella and Betty are visiting homes in the neighborhood and talking with residents. Listening, information-gathering and processing the huge number of volunteer requests is a huge job. It might not seem as physically challenging as demolition and construction but its just as vital...
A dumpster wasn't available to take more debris from yesterday's site, so most of the demolition people are inside the house doing taping and mudding.
Randye, Lisa and Kate are off to Lighthouse after a long wait. Tina is going through files trying to get an accurate count of how many volunteers have passed through the facility. Some of the Minnesota volunteers are out doing construction, others organizing database and folders.
Agnes, Arabella and Betty are visiting homes in the neighborhood and talking with residents. Listening, information-gathering and processing the huge number of volunteer requests is a huge job. It might not seem as physically challenging as demolition and construction but its just as vital...
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Day Five: Site Work
Debris removal, sheet rock and plastering "mudding". Administrative help, following up on case work, assisting with Meals on Wheels.
Casework continues from yesterday. Arabella, Agnes and Lisa visited homes in need and followed up on requests for help. Agnes says yesterday's visits were "Close Encounters of the First Kind".
They visited a man living in his kitchen (the only room livable) and met with families in trailers. One of the things you see everywhere are trailers and mobile homes parked in front yards. If homes are uninhabitable, the trailers serve as "temporary" (eighteen months so far) housing until structures can be rebuilt. Some streets have nothing visible but trailer after trailer after trailer.
A highlight of the day: Jill was instrumental in obtaining funds for a set of false teeth for a lady in the neighborhood who had been without them for months.
Casework continues from yesterday. Arabella, Agnes and Lisa visited homes in need and followed up on requests for help. Agnes says yesterday's visits were "Close Encounters of the First Kind".
They visited a man living in his kitchen (the only room livable) and met with families in trailers. One of the things you see everywhere are trailers and mobile homes parked in front yards. If homes are uninhabitable, the trailers serve as "temporary" (eighteen months so far) housing until structures can be rebuilt. Some streets have nothing visible but trailer after trailer after trailer.
A highlight of the day: Jill was instrumental in obtaining funds for a set of false teeth for a lady in the neighborhood who had been without them for months.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Day Four: Site Work
Back at yesterday's site, rubbish removal and sheet rock installation continued.
Some of us today assisted at Lighthouse Apostolic Church, serving meals to elderly folks in the community and delivering food with Meals on Wheels. Others in the group are doing casework for individual families in need and assisting with office work. The Presbytery of Mississippi has many email messages which need to be returned and phone calls which need to be answered.
Some of us today assisted at Lighthouse Apostolic Church, serving meals to elderly folks in the community and delivering food with Meals on Wheels. Others in the group are doing casework for individual families in need and assisting with office work. The Presbytery of Mississippi has many email messages which need to be returned and phone calls which need to be answered.
Monday, January 15, 2007
DayThree: Site Work
Today we received our assignments. Some of us worked on a garage down the street and on fencing around the manse. Another group on computers and filing systems at the church.
The group I was with joined up with a group from Wisconsin doing drywall and demolition... moving debris and busting out walls in a shed...and putting up drywall in a house. The house had been damaged beyond repair and was slowly being rebuilt with new fixtures and walls. The shed out back hadn't been touched since the storm hit.
We arrived on site at 8am with crowbars and sledgehammers.
The homeowners were living outside in a trailer in the front yard, as is common for a lot of families in the area. Their house was slowly coming back to life, but the shed was still totally beyond repair. The insides were in sad shape. Fallen and broken paint cans everywhere, tools and toys and wet and rotting supplies. It didn't smell good.
The reason we were gutting the shed was to convert it to living space for the father-in-law of the family. His own house had been destroyed and he needed a place to call home.
Here's what the shed and debris looked like
when we got there:
The first order of business was to clear out all the debris onto a big pile on the side of the house. It was sad to see a family's personal possessions reduced to a pile of rubble: a plastic Ninja Turtles figurine, Mardi Gras beads, books, a child's dollhouse, power tool manuals, pieces of scrap wood and metal for hobbies and projects.
After removing all the stuff we could carry, we set about with crowbars to pull off all the drywall to the beams, essentially gutting the structure. Behind the drywall was wet pink fiberglass insulation which needed to be pulled out, and underneath that, silverfish, palmetto bugs and tiny little lizards.
The drywall came down relatively easy, but the nailed-up pegboard was more stubborn. We also had a tough time removing florescent lighting fixtures and a rusted iron sink (the water main hadn't been turned off, but thankfully demolition was halted momentarily and the valve shut off in time)
Meanwhile, the team inside was busy measuring and putting up drywall. The difference in smell was astounding...it had the 'new house' smell, whereas outside...was something entirely different.
We worked for about six hours before taking a group photo and heading back to Handsboro.
The group I was with joined up with a group from Wisconsin doing drywall and demolition... moving debris and busting out walls in a shed...and putting up drywall in a house. The house had been damaged beyond repair and was slowly being rebuilt with new fixtures and walls. The shed out back hadn't been touched since the storm hit.
We arrived on site at 8am with crowbars and sledgehammers.
The homeowners were living outside in a trailer in the front yard, as is common for a lot of families in the area. Their house was slowly coming back to life, but the shed was still totally beyond repair. The insides were in sad shape. Fallen and broken paint cans everywhere, tools and toys and wet and rotting supplies. It didn't smell good.
The reason we were gutting the shed was to convert it to living space for the father-in-law of the family. His own house had been destroyed and he needed a place to call home.
Here's what the shed and debris looked like
when we got there:The first order of business was to clear out all the debris onto a big pile on the side of the house. It was sad to see a family's personal possessions reduced to a pile of rubble: a plastic Ninja Turtles figurine, Mardi Gras beads, books, a child's dollhouse, power tool manuals, pieces of scrap wood and metal for hobbies and projects.
After removing all the stuff we could carry, we set about with crowbars to pull off all the drywall to the beams, essentially gutting the structure. Behind the drywall was wet pink fiberglass insulation which needed to be pulled out, and underneath that, silverfish, palmetto bugs and tiny little lizards.
The drywall came down relatively easy, but the nailed-up pegboard was more stubborn. We also had a tough time removing florescent lighting fixtures and a rusted iron sink (the water main hadn't been turned off, but thankfully demolition was halted momentarily and the valve shut off in time)
Meanwhile, the team inside was busy measuring and putting up drywall. The difference in smell was astounding...it had the 'new house' smell, whereas outside...was something entirely different.
We worked for about six hours before taking a group photo and heading back to Handsboro.
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