Had a great day yesterday traveling to New Orleans. Students and Verne enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells. Not quite as busy as it was in May, but still quite few people out and about. We got back home around 8:00 p.m. and most of us were in bed by 10.
Today was another beautiful day in the Pass. Little windy and cool, but still able to work in shorts and T-shirts. Ain’t that just a darn shame!!
Got to Cheri’s around 7:30 a.m. and she greeted us as we arrived. Today’s plan was to complete as much of the major wall framing as we could, so I got the students and Verne up and running and spent the next two hours working with Cheri to finalize her floor plan. Interesting enough that here in the Pass, the permit process is pretty laid back compared to Kent or King County. We’re building her house with just a sketch she made on a CAD program and working out details as we go.
I did help her rearrange her walls to give her a more livable space. She really appreciated my background in home building design and layout and she ended up with a floor plan that she really loves. Nice big kitchen, spacious living area and a master bedroom suite and 2nd bedroom. Not bad considering it takes up only 1000 square feet. The orginal house only had 640 SF to begin with. She has been living in such a small space the past two+ years in her FEMA trailers, that she got use to living that way. Now she says she feels like a queen with all the space she has.
Around 11, I called in everyone and asked them what goal they wanted to set for the day. All of them wanted to complete all the major framing, install a large roof supporting beam so we can open up here living room, and be ready for wall sheathing tomorrow. Their goal was to get it all done and then go home. No time limit, just “git ‘er done, then go home” Well by 5:00, they met their goal. The framing looked excellent and the 2nd level, looked completely different. This time they met their own expectations and felt great about what they accomplished.
As we were cleaning up, Cheri, with tears in her eyes said “I can’t believe a group of students from Green River Community College from Washington state, traveled all this way just to help me out”. She then added that she wanted to know how she can contribute scholarship money to help support a student for the rest of the year. Wow, here is a woman just getting back her life and she already wants to give back some of what was given to her. What a wonderful person. I gave her my business card and said to contact me when I get back and I’ll get in touch with the Josh in the Foundation office.
Ended back in camp tired and hungry. Had a great dinner and it was our turn to do the dishes. No complaining from anyone. We all chipped in and were done in no time.
Tonight we plan on having a campfire and taking some time to reflect on our experience here in the Pass. I’m looking forward to hear how the experience has affected everyone. I’m also interested to know how the students plan on taking what they experienced here and how they plan on applying that to the rest of their lives.
Tomorrows out last day. We plan on wrapping up at Cheri’s around 1:00 p.m., then pack up all our gear, return to camp, take showers, pack our bags and catch our plane at 5:00. If all goes well, should be back in Seattle around 11:00 p.m.
I’ll have one more wrap up journal tomorrow. I do look forward to getting home and seeing my wife, Meri. She has been patient with me for being gone all week with my students. Thanks Dear.
I also look forward to talking to as many as you about our experience as well. Thanks to those who supported my students financially as well as spiritually. As a teacher, this is an experience I wish all of you could have. It was and has been a tremendous teaching experience.
Glen
Showing posts with label Katrina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katrina. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Day Two: Pass Christian, Mississippi
As expected, I was up before the rest of the group by 5:30 a.m. I went for a walk up the beach with temperatures around 60+ degrees. It was still dark at that time of morning and the amount of stars in the sky was incredible. Dana Rush would have loved it. No city lights over the Gulf make for a spectacular star gazing experience.
At 6:10 I flicked on the room light to gently wake up the rest of the crew and all of us headed down for breakfast at 6:30. With so many volunteers here (120 is the count now) we have to eat in 4 shifts for breakfast.
Greg Nitchman met up with us around 7:00 and gave us our assignments. Two of my students who came last spring, volunteered to help finish putting siding on a project about two miles up the road. The remainder of us loaded up our tools and headed out to the remodel site.
It is quite a different project than last spring. We are adding on about 320 square feet to a home that survived the wave surge, but just barely. The home owner is currently living in her second FEMA trailer as the first one was condemned due to formaldehyde gases from the underlayment. Ironically her current home was also condemned due to flood damage from Hurricane Gustav this past August. The surge wave was 10 feet high and her home has insulation in the floor, which has created a mold crisis.
How much more can the people here in the Pass - who are still living in FEMA homes - take is beyond me. Every one of the homes have been condemned and most families haven’t’ even started to rebuild their homes. I admire their determination, but just when they start to get ahead, it seems like they have to take two steps back.
Time is running out for these families with FEMA money tightening up more and less and less volunteers coming in to help. The stories of atrocities by contractors are on the increase as well. My heart goes out to this community and I’m glad that we can at least play a small part in helping it out.
I was very happy to hear that my best friend Larry (the tractor guy from our first trip) was running the job we are working on. Some of you may remember my tales from last year. What an awesome southern gentleman. He met us at the job around 8:00 and we got right to work marking out the hole locations for the pilings (only 6 this time), drilling holes for rebar, and cutting rebar. Within an hour we had all 6 holes drilled (no septic tanks or large trees thank goodness) and were setting our first post by 10. All the poles were in and braced by noon. Larry was really impressed and called the inspector to see if he could make it out right away. The inspector passed us off by 1:00 p.m.
I was very impressed with my students, especially the new ones. Each jumped right in, caught on quick to what had to be done, and really out-did themselves. The best part is they got to meet and work with Larry, and they became his best friends as well.
After lunch, we began to remove the siding on the house. Pretty challenging considering we worked off the deck which is not the strongest it could be. We then decided to move inside the house and pound off the siding using sledges, posts and just plain muscles. Probably got about half of it off and then decided to call it a day around 3:30.
After cleaning up we drove down to Shannon’s house and the new students were in awe at the amount of damage and desolation Katrina left in her wake. Just like us last spring, it is hard to put into words their feelings.
When we got to Shannon’s house, unfortunately she wasn’t there and there still is a bit of work to do on the inside, but most everything is done on the exterior. Some of you may recall that we signed the post when we finished last spring. I wish you could see them now. There is hardly a space left on any of the post from all the signatures of the volunteers who worked on her house after us. Again, hard to put into words the feeling I got seeing all those names.
Her house looks pretty good, but all of my students were quick to point out that the craftsmanship of the handrails and stairs were certainly not up to Green River standards, but I reminded them that most volunteers who work here have very limited carpentry skills if none at all. I am certain Shannon is very happy to have her home just about complete.
We then drove around the area to let the new students see the “ghost-town” like conditions around Shannon’s home. A few new homes are being built, but just a handful. We even found some places we didn’t’ know existed and it was amazing how much debris was left. It was obvious to all of us that these families just couldn’t take the destruction and just walked away.
We headed back to the camp around 4:30. Showered and rested around the hall, talked to many of the volunteers, ate dinner and most headed back to the room. We seemed to have brought a little bit of bad “voodoo” with us. It was raining fairly hard outside and you can imagine the comments we got from the other volunteers about brining the rain with us. It should clear out by tonight and clear once again tomorrow.
All in all a great first day although at the same time I feel even more compassion for the community of Pass Christian and the Gulf Coast. This is the beginning of year 4 since Katrina and instead of forging ahead, I get the feeling they are falling behind and being ignored by the rest of the country. Still many opportunities to help down here and I am sure they would welcome as many of you that could come down and help. It truly is and has been a blessing for me and my students.
More tomorrow…Glen
At 6:10 I flicked on the room light to gently wake up the rest of the crew and all of us headed down for breakfast at 6:30. With so many volunteers here (120 is the count now) we have to eat in 4 shifts for breakfast.
Greg Nitchman met up with us around 7:00 and gave us our assignments. Two of my students who came last spring, volunteered to help finish putting siding on a project about two miles up the road. The remainder of us loaded up our tools and headed out to the remodel site.
It is quite a different project than last spring. We are adding on about 320 square feet to a home that survived the wave surge, but just barely. The home owner is currently living in her second FEMA trailer as the first one was condemned due to formaldehyde gases from the underlayment. Ironically her current home was also condemned due to flood damage from Hurricane Gustav this past August. The surge wave was 10 feet high and her home has insulation in the floor, which has created a mold crisis.
How much more can the people here in the Pass - who are still living in FEMA homes - take is beyond me. Every one of the homes have been condemned and most families haven’t’ even started to rebuild their homes. I admire their determination, but just when they start to get ahead, it seems like they have to take two steps back.
Time is running out for these families with FEMA money tightening up more and less and less volunteers coming in to help. The stories of atrocities by contractors are on the increase as well. My heart goes out to this community and I’m glad that we can at least play a small part in helping it out.
I was very happy to hear that my best friend Larry (the tractor guy from our first trip) was running the job we are working on. Some of you may remember my tales from last year. What an awesome southern gentleman. He met us at the job around 8:00 and we got right to work marking out the hole locations for the pilings (only 6 this time), drilling holes for rebar, and cutting rebar. Within an hour we had all 6 holes drilled (no septic tanks or large trees thank goodness) and were setting our first post by 10. All the poles were in and braced by noon. Larry was really impressed and called the inspector to see if he could make it out right away. The inspector passed us off by 1:00 p.m.I was very impressed with my students, especially the new ones. Each jumped right in, caught on quick to what had to be done, and really out-did themselves. The best part is they got to meet and work with Larry, and they became his best friends as well.
After lunch, we began to remove the siding on the house. Pretty challenging considering we worked off the deck which is not the strongest it could be. We then decided to move inside the house and pound off the siding using sledges, posts and just plain muscles. Probably got about half of it off and then decided to call it a day around 3:30.
After cleaning up we drove down to Shannon’s house and the new students were in awe at the amount of damage and desolation Katrina left in her wake. Just like us last spring, it is hard to put into words their feelings.
When we got to Shannon’s house, unfortunately she wasn’t there and there still is a bit of work to do on the inside, but most everything is done on the exterior. Some of you may recall that we signed the post when we finished last spring. I wish you could see them now. There is hardly a space left on any of the post from all the signatures of the volunteers who worked on her house after us. Again, hard to put into words the feeling I got seeing all those names.
Her house looks pretty good, but all of my students were quick to point out that the craftsmanship of the handrails and stairs were certainly not up to Green River standards, but I reminded them that most volunteers who work here have very limited carpentry skills if none at all. I am certain Shannon is very happy to have her home just about complete.
We then drove around the area to let the new students see the “ghost-town” like conditions around Shannon’s home. A few new homes are being built, but just a handful. We even found some places we didn’t’ know existed and it was amazing how much debris was left. It was obvious to all of us that these families just couldn’t take the destruction and just walked away.We headed back to the camp around 4:30. Showered and rested around the hall, talked to many of the volunteers, ate dinner and most headed back to the room. We seemed to have brought a little bit of bad “voodoo” with us. It was raining fairly hard outside and you can imagine the comments we got from the other volunteers about brining the rain with us. It should clear out by tonight and clear once again tomorrow.
All in all a great first day although at the same time I feel even more compassion for the community of Pass Christian and the Gulf Coast. This is the beginning of year 4 since Katrina and instead of forging ahead, I get the feeling they are falling behind and being ignored by the rest of the country. Still many opportunities to help down here and I am sure they would welcome as many of you that could come down and help. It truly is and has been a blessing for me and my students.
More tomorrow…Glen
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Day One: Pass Christian, Mississippi
We arrived safely in Gulfport Mississippi around 5 PM (two hours ahead of Pacific Time) and had no problem getting luggage or getting our van. We arrived here at the Camp around 6:20 with a completely packed parking lot. Greg Nitchman the Second Wave director told me he was expecting around 60 volunteers this week and looks like we may have more like 90 or 100 counting us.
It is true dormitory living this time as all of us are in one room with 5 bunk beds. Greg asked us if any of us were shy and if so, we'd better get over it!! Oh well, just like college days.
Had dinner around 6:30, meatloaf and real mashed potatoes, and had some interesting conversations with another group from Ohio who arrived two days ago. These 6 guys all work at a belt manufacturing plant and due to the economy there only work two weeks, then are laid off for the next two weeks, the return to work for another two weeks. At least they still have a job when many of their neighbors don’t. Kind of shock for me even though we’re just starting to feel some of the economic crunch in Seattle. Anyway, their boss suggested they come down during one of their weeks off, so all drove down here and will be here till Friday.
Greg still believes we’ll be working on remodeling a home and adding a pier type foundation on to it. Should be quite an experience. At least we’re somewhat experts at building a pier type foundation from out last trip.
After dinner, students heading down to the beach. It’s about 75 with a real light breeze coming off the Gulf and just a light touch of humidity. I’ve; changed into shorts and more than likely will be wearing them most of the week. So sorry the rest of you are dealing with highs of 50, lows near 30 and rain showers. Supposed to be very pleasant here all week.
The new students have had a chance to take a trip to see the destruction. I’m saving that for tomorrow morning. 3 of the students came last year, and they’ve been pretty tight-lipped about what the new ones will see. It will be interesting to see their reaction.
I had a student last week who decided they couldn’t make the trip, so I offered their spot to Verne Cysensky our Trades Division Maintenance Mechanic. He was thrilled that I asked him to come and he is just as excited as the students are to see what the area is truly like. We might break off into two groups with Verne heading up one group of students at a different project and I with the remodel. We’ll wait and see what happens in the morning.
So far, it looks like it will be a totally different experience for me and my students since we’ll be working with the other groups here. I look forward to meeting with as many of them as I can and share our experiences together.
Well that’s it for today. Pretty short and sweet and I’m ready for bed. Long day of traveling and need to get rested up to tomorrow.
It is true dormitory living this time as all of us are in one room with 5 bunk beds. Greg asked us if any of us were shy and if so, we'd better get over it!! Oh well, just like college days.
Had dinner around 6:30, meatloaf and real mashed potatoes, and had some interesting conversations with another group from Ohio who arrived two days ago. These 6 guys all work at a belt manufacturing plant and due to the economy there only work two weeks, then are laid off for the next two weeks, the return to work for another two weeks. At least they still have a job when many of their neighbors don’t. Kind of shock for me even though we’re just starting to feel some of the economic crunch in Seattle. Anyway, their boss suggested they come down during one of their weeks off, so all drove down here and will be here till Friday.
Greg still believes we’ll be working on remodeling a home and adding a pier type foundation on to it. Should be quite an experience. At least we’re somewhat experts at building a pier type foundation from out last trip.
After dinner, students heading down to the beach. It’s about 75 with a real light breeze coming off the Gulf and just a light touch of humidity. I’ve; changed into shorts and more than likely will be wearing them most of the week. So sorry the rest of you are dealing with highs of 50, lows near 30 and rain showers. Supposed to be very pleasant here all week.
The new students have had a chance to take a trip to see the destruction. I’m saving that for tomorrow morning. 3 of the students came last year, and they’ve been pretty tight-lipped about what the new ones will see. It will be interesting to see their reaction.
I had a student last week who decided they couldn’t make the trip, so I offered their spot to Verne Cysensky our Trades Division Maintenance Mechanic. He was thrilled that I asked him to come and he is just as excited as the students are to see what the area is truly like. We might break off into two groups with Verne heading up one group of students at a different project and I with the remodel. We’ll wait and see what happens in the morning.
So far, it looks like it will be a totally different experience for me and my students since we’ll be working with the other groups here. I look forward to meeting with as many of them as I can and share our experiences together.
Well that’s it for today. Pretty short and sweet and I’m ready for bed. Long day of traveling and need to get rested up to tomorrow.
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