The great work done by Habitat

Habitat has done (and continues to do) great things for this community. As Robb mentioned, they apply a strict selection criteria which not only includes family income, but that the family owned a property and lived in the area before the storm, and that they contribute 100 hours of ‘sweat equity’ per adult who will reside in the new home.

Around 8,000 families still live in trailers, which represents about 50 percent of the population in the area. Of these, approximately 700 families have applied for Habitat housing and just 50 have been approved.

Habitat has been working on 13 homes and ten of these are near completion (see the images below of the houses they’ve constructed on Union Street).

A couple of the SEI volunteers worked on these ten properties during the week, laying flooring and adding the finishing touches. It is Habitat’s goal to have them completed and the families moved in before Christmas.

The Final Day of Construction

After a night out in New Orleans, many of us showed up to the work site a bit more worn out than usual. Nonetheless, we rallied to make a leap toward the completion of the house. Second coats of paint went on the outside, and tar paper was put on the roof so that sheet rock could be put up on the inside. At the end of the day, as we all stood together on the deck, the house that we had been working on all week really started to look like a home. We said good-bye to Tommy, our local on-site construction guru who we all felt a great affection for, and walked to our cars feeling a little saddened that we could not see this project through to fruition. Fortunately, Habitat for Humanity has promised to send us a picture of the house once it is fully completed.
Although we have made a serious impact on the lives of two families (helping to build houses at two different sites), it is sometimes overwhelming to think about how much more there is left to do here in Bay St. Louis and the Gulf Region as a whole. These homes are the tip of the iceberg. Driving around the neighborhoods around the beach where we are working, it is hard to imagine that this was once a thriving and beautiful beach town. Picturesque beachfront properties were leveled by the storm and are now empty lots full of debris--sometimes with a FEMA trailer sadly sitting next to the concrete foundation of the former residence. Although the FEMA trailers are sad sight to behold, they are an indication that there is hope that the city will one day return to its glory. The area will clearly require years to fully recover from the devestation to its infrastructure and residences, but the people here are optimistic about the future of their enchanting beach town. Katrina may have done serious damage to the land, but it has not destroyed spirit the people. I have never heard so many "thank you's" in my life. The people here are so appreciative of our volunteerism and make an effort to show their gratitude. I am excited to return to wearing purfume instead of bug spray and eating lunches that do not involve "mystery meat" smothered with BBQ sauce, however I will miss the feeling of impact and accomplishment that I got walking away from the worksite at the end of each day. It is my hope that this trip will inspire more volunteerism and effort to help rejuvenate the Gulf Coast, and that one day I will be able to visit this area as a vacationer rather than a volunteer.

The Sheer Magnitude of the Devastation…

Attached are images to give you a feel for the magnitude of the devastation.

The first couple of photos are of the house directly across from our build on Washington Street. The house is a wreck, but the owners plan to rebuild. A message spray painted on the front of what remains of the structure, prevents the house from being demolished.

The rest of photos show that debris still litters the area, especially the blocks down by the waterfront. Stairs that lead to nowhere and lone mail-boxes are a common site. As are messages to friends, family and potential looters (see: ‘we are all ok…all valuables gone’).

There is nothing left of the restaurants that previously stood by the water and the pier is just a gnarled wooden frame.

It’s quite sobering to walk through the area and stand where a family’s house once stood.

It’s hard to believe that it’s over one year since the storm hit.

Habitat for Humanity Facts

We're learning that a lot of the local people have misconceptions about Habitat for Humanity and the amazing work that they do.

• Habitat for Humanity does not give houses to people.
• They sell completed houses to qualifying families at good prices and interest-free mortgages.
• Habitat for Humanity is a world-wide organization with a single purpose of creating home ownership for deserving families. The different chapters of Habitat have the flexibility to create qualification standards that are specific for their area. These standards relate to minimum family income, maximum family income and other criteria. Often times, there are hundreds of applicants for a small number of available homes.
• The families must put in sweat equity in order to receive their houses at a rate of 100 hours of sweat equity / adult in the family.
• The families buy the homes at exceptionally good prices. One example: A house in this area is being sold to the family at a price of $70,000. The actual market price is probably closer to $150,000. Through a number of legal / deed restrictions the family cannot quickly resell the home to 'pocket' the profits.

They are an amazing organization driven by admirable principles and goals!!!

The Appreciation is Awesome!!!

One of the things that continues to amaze and delight me is how appreciative people are for our help. The appreciation goes beyond the Habitat for Humanity team that appreciates us and the soon-to-be residents of the homes were building who are very appreciative. The locals truly appreciate our collective efforts!! Just a few examples: An incredible local couple took a few of us out to dinner and thanked us a number of times for our volunteer work. Earlier in the week at a local laundry establishment a few people came up to us, engaged us in conversation about our work and thanked us for our hard work. The locals continue to comment that this area needs volunteers in order to get this area back to where it once was. Sadly, that's probably many years away.

A few other interesting things regarding the impact of the storm on this area:

• The couple mentioned that one of the local schools was affected so badly that today's 5th graders will graduate and never leave the temporary school buildings constructed post-Katrina.
• This area was affected by a 30-foot surge of water that extended out many miles. The water came onto land and back out within 6 hours taking most everything in its path. Appliances, houses, trees, autos, materials, etc. were swept into the ocean.
• In this immediate area approximately 60 people perished in the storm, mostly because they did not leave the area when they had the opportunity. The storm hit here on Monday and the evacuations were implemented on Saturday. The evacuations were mandatory but the authorities did not forcibly remove people from their homes. Sadly one or more families perished during the storm / surge.
• Bay St. Louis is a very historical area. This area was the first part of Mississippi to get telephone service because it was a very popular summer spot for wealthy New Orleans' residents.
• The area has a number of historical buildings. Curiously this is actually creating lots of problems now post-storm. We heard about one individual that has a house on the historical register that was largely demolished. However, she has been waiting for permission from the historical society to finish the demolition and remove the debris.

Today is our last work day. We're all curious about what our house projects will look like at the end of the day after many days of hard work. Tomorrow one of the houses will be dedicated.

We welcome any questions. Thanks for reading the blog. We'll post more soon!!

What jobs have the team been allocated?

Following on from Robb’s earlier blog (see: Your Questions Answered!!!) and the queries that were raised around the tools people are using and the types of jobs that we’ve been allocated, I thought I’d post a few more photographs to illustrate exactly what it is we’ve been doing (I’ve used the Washington Street build as an example).

Clearing the site of debris: using a pick and a jack-hammer to break-up the concrete in the earth surrounding the site and clearing this away (and yes, as Robb mentioned, girls have been tasked with this too!)














Measuring and sawing beams/siding panels: small teams have been managing the measuring of the interior beams and siding and cutting these to order.














Construction of interior walls: Measuring and constructing the frames for the interior walls. First hammering the supporting frames together and then installing these in place.













Measuring and erecting the siding: measuring and then nailing the siding to the exterior of the house.















Constructing the roof frame: securing the supporting structure for the beams, by hammering these in place.













Erecting the roof: constructing the frames, then securing them with supports and attaching the external panels (done by those not afraid of heights…).














Installing the doors and windows: securing the windows and doors in place and then attaching water-proofing tape around the frames.














The weather seems to have cleared up today so it looks like we’re back on the job! Hopefully it holds out! :-)

Top Ten List - Check it Out!!!

One of our volunteer's spouses sent her the a humorous Top Ten list.

My Top Ten Fears When You Come Home

10. You will think we can build an addition on our house in two days
9. You will start to hang out at Home Depot a little too much
8. A black thumbnail and plumbers butt will be a turn-on
7. You will wear your "You Can't Spell Mississippi Without... I " shirt to death.
6. You will start to boo Norm on "This Old House"
5. I will have to finish the quilt
4. You will want your own shed
3. You will replace our bedroom furniture with 2 cots
2. Our house will be know as the "Job Site"
1. You will want use a nail gun for everything

Questions Answered!!!

We got some great questions today. For your information (and entertainment) here are Q&As:

Question: Who uses what tools?
Answer: I'm sure I can speak for many of us by saying that we are each using tools that we've never used before. Yesterday, for example, we had few of our younger female volunteers working with the jack-hammer to remove a big pile of dried cement from the yard. The largely female crew which has been building walls at the Washington Street location has been wielding their hammers with an expertise only true carpentry masters could. One of the siding crews yesterday were solely female volunteers and they handled the siding cutter with ease!!! Not to focus only on the women in our group but they make up a majority of our team and they are incredibly dedicated. The guys are doing a great job too and using a variety of brawn and tools to get the job done!

Question: How do you decide who gets what tasks to do?
Answer: Sometimes, I think the crew leaders have the hardest jobs. On Washington Street (for example) we have two incredible and experienced crew leaders. When we get there in the moring they have 35 eager but largely unexperienced volunteers ready to work. Typically they will ask for a few volunteers for a specific tasks and give us a quick summary of what needs to get accomplished over the next few hours. The teams from that point forward typically manage and organize themselves (not to say that we don't have LOTS of questions during the day for the 'bosses'). Everyone is so willing to work that we all do whatever needs to be done.

Question: What's the biggest change in plan you've had to make (aside from deciding you couldn't work in the rain?)
Answer: With the exception of our one late arrival (see Jamie's earlier post) and the car in the puddle (see Abbie's earlier post and pics) the rain was the biggest variable in our week. Some local church projects kept some of our group busy in the afternoon. Otherwise our week is going well and largely according to plan.

Question: How'd you get the car out of the puddle?
Answer: Alamo came with a new car and a tow truck. It took them a while to get here but it all worked out.

We welcome other questions!!!!

The rain continues (and causes an unforeseen roadblock…)

We’ve officially been told to stay away from the site for the next few hours, until the weather clears. Although, we’re not too confident we’ll get there at all today, because as some of you may be aware, there are tornado watches for our area (we'll keep you posted as to any developments).

Upon hearing we’d have to wait around for a couple of hours, a few of us decided to head out to gather supplies from the local Wal-Mart. As the Global Team backed out of the driveway, an unforeseen roadblock caused a mini-crisis…

We’ll let the pictures tell the story…
















…and no, we won’t tell you who was driving…and it may not be who you think… :-)

The Great Work We've Done (and pictures!)

Morning all!

Well, we awoke this morning to an electrical storm and thunder so loud we all bounced out of bed half expecting the roof to have fallen in. Luckily it didn’t - the rain continues to pour and the grounds are flooded under a couple of inches of water.

As I write the rain continues to pour down and we’re waiting to hear which sites we’ll be able to attack in the poor conditions (unfortunately our power tools don’t work in the wet weather).

I thought I’d post some photos to give you a real feel for the great work we’ve done so far.

Below are pictures of the Washington Street property. This is what it looked like when we arrived (below left). As you can see the structure was in place (i.e. the ICF blocks erected), but the roof was yet to go up, there were no interior walls, windows, doors or siding.











At the end of day one, we’d made quite a visible impact. The site was now clear of debris, the roof structure and interior walls erected, the windows and doors installed and we’d made a start on the siding.












On day two, we arrived on the site while the skies were still blue and weather warm…work continued on the roof and siding...














The lovely weather wasn’t to last long, and soon the skies opened up… (luckily we’d finished half of the roof, so some of us could keep dry…)













And the rain continued to pour…

But work continued and by the end of the end of the day, once again, we were amazed by how much progress we’d made…












To be continued... (hopefully in clearer weather!!) :-)

Questions for Us???

Please make it a point to read Ava's posting below - it gives some nice details on our second day here in Mississippi.

Our trip so far has been awesome!!! It's incredible to contribute, even in a small way, to the rejuvenation of this area. The appreciation expressed by the locals is also very gratifying.

What questions can we answer for our blog readers? Please tell us.

Look for an upcoming blog from Abbie Tanner with additional pictures included.

Day 2: Gray Skies, Sore Thighs

Surprisingly, most of us awoke on Day 2 sore but not as bad as expected. When we started we had nice weather but halfway through the morning, we had a few short showers. Immediately after lunch there was a long bout of heavy rain that ended up making our worksites soggy and muddy. The rest of the day was chilly and gray.

Our group was split up like yesterday between the two worksites. On the Washington Street house, we got half the roof done with plywood, completed about half of the siding, and on the inside, the rooms are framed so you can actually see how the floorplan will look. On the Blitz Build, the inside of the house got insulation, the wiring was completed, windows and doors went in and the roof was beginning to resemble a roof.

We all are amazed at how much progress we see at the end of the day. Even though it’s hard, manual work, there’s something to be said for the tangible results you can see after a workday. There’s also a great feeling of accomplishment from being successful at something you’ve never tried before (like siding the back of the house with the multiple windows—who knew you had to remember your fractions from 8th grade!)

On the way back from the site this evening, a couple of us took a detour to see some of the houses along the bay, just a couple blocks from where we are working. The sights are haunting. There’s one white house that’s completely leaning to the right—turns out the owners paid roughly $850K but their insurance is maxed out at $250K, so there’s a chance they may have to file for bankruptcy. There are the houses that only have the front porch steps left, which I find the most disturbing. And there are those that have the spray-painted messages that we all saw on TV: do not demolish, phone numbers, keep out, etc. There was one particular sign today that really tugged on the heartstrings: hung from a tree was a sign that said “Please protect my tree. Planted by my grandson.”

On a lighter note, we all have a sense of humor about our meals and lodging. We’ve been eating “roast beef” (quotes intentional) for the past three days. And at the end of the day, when your wrists are aching from hammering, it’s tough to shower while pulling on a rope. Yes, that’s right, our showers turn on only when you pull on a rope hanging in the middle of the stall. We think it’s a strategic ploy to keep the length of showers to a minimum. It certainly makes you realize the comforts of home, that’s for sure.

Yesterday’s dinner event with Hancock was great. They were extremely gracious and generous, and we were all entranced by their personal stories. Tonight a large group has gone out bowling, while the rest are just relaxing around. Tomorrow some of us may venture to the nearby casino, Thursday we are chartering a big bus to take us into New Orleans and on Friday, we’re planning a happy hour celebration.

Below is a picture from yesterday's event.

I finally made it!

After a comedy of errors, I have finally arrived on-site in Bay St. Louis, MS approximately 24 hours after my original estimated time of arrival. I could easily sit here and write a 2,000 word essay on the trials and tribulations of airport travel, but I think we all know that would be a waste of both my time and yours. Let's just say that my definition of "client service", vastly differs with that of the airlines. Arriving at the airport an hour and a half in advance these days sometimes just isn't enough when you're dealing with the beauracracy of the airport. There were a sequence of events which involved a range of uncooperative people and unorganized processes that led to my demise as a traveller, some of which involved my having to purchase another ticket for the same flight, airport security going through every nook and cranny of my carry-on bag--discussing the purpose of each item, and here's the real kicker: my having to watch the airplane with the group of volunteers sit at the gate, while I stood inside the airport pleading with the airline employee to allow me onto the plane, just as she closed the door to the jetway, and left me feeling extremely defeated... especially after running going through airport security four seperate times to get back the computer that they had taken from me to "check-out", but somehow forgot to give back to me. Accepting defeat, I followed the airline employee back to the ticket counter hoping to catch the next flight out as she had promised, but to no avail. She had three "options" for me, none of which actually would get me to the New Orleans airport until the next day, so I opted to create my own option, and asked that I leave the next day (today) so that I didn't have to sleep overnight at a connecting airport.
While some may have been discouraged by all of these obstacles, I have to believe that it only strengthened my desire to come here and help. After hearing a resounding "oy vey" response to my story, I have decided to move on and focus on all of the positivity that was happening here in my abscense. Judson picked me up from the airport today and was nice enough to take me by the site that the voluneers were working on all day. I was amazed by the progress. The children of the family that we were working on the house for were playing on the grounds of their new house, which now actually looked like a house with a complete skeleton of the structure, windows, the beginnings of siding. We are hopeful that by the end of the week, the house will be built, and the family will have a home.

Our First Morning

Well, it’s our first morning of work and most of us are already sore and tired! But we’re all having a great time and are sobered by what we see around us.

About 10 of us went out this morning with a small group from Greenville, South Carolina, helping in what’s called a “Blitz Build.” They built the frame back in S. Carolina, shipped it down, and are completing the rest of the house here in about a week.

The majority of us went to Washington Street, about 2 blocks from the water. The house we’re working on already had the frame established. We spent the morning doing everything from picking up construction and trash debris, to breaking through the concrete that spilled over from the foundation (some of us got a thrill from trying the jackhammer), as well as putting up the frame of the roof. The houses being rebuilt are using “ICF” standards, which (if I recall correctly) stands for insulated concrete foundation. It starts with foam outside and concrete is poured in the middle, about 6 inches as a core. It’s designed to withstand about 200 miles/hr winds.

We’re all eagerly digging into lunch now and thankful that the weather is perfect today—about 70, sunny with a slight breeze.

Tonight Hancock Bank, an SEI client, will be hosting dinner for us at a local church. Given the amount of work we’ve been doing, I’m sure most of us will call it an early night and have no problems falling asleep.

We're Here.... (well most of us......)

Yesterday (Sunday) was quite a day! The first US group landed at 11:30 am and quickly found our two Canadian friends. Our Canadian friends had luggage lost by the airlines. (One of our goals for the week is to learn the Canadian National Anthem!!) We got to the rental car location and (after some delays) got our 3 mini-vans and headed to Bay St. Louis. (Our UK / Dublin friends came in Saturday. They ventured around the area and met the later US flights.) Our trip was interesting. In some areas the devastation was quite evident. We saw furniture in trees, demolished houses and crushed cars. The stretch of road we were on, for many miles, was sobering.

We arrived in Bay St. Louis in the early afternoon. Our first stop was WAL-MART!!!! Many of us grabbed a bite to eat and then we did some shopping for the group. We needed workday snacks, bug-spray (we've been warned a dozen times that the bugs are out of control right now), Advil (for the evenings), a first-aid kits and a couple more sleeping bags. We headed straight to the church from there.

Picture in your head a warehouse in a fenced in area - sort of like a lumber yard. The warehouse / church is very humble but quite functional. They have wireless internet (ala me blogging you), a TV, a few games, seats for up to 300 volunteers (more common for them to have that level of volunteers in the summer) and a kitchen to the front of the room. The bunkhouses (there are 6 or 7) are also humble but functional. The men's bunk-house is a rectangle filled with 15 metal bunk-beds. All 17 men are here along with another group of guys. There are only one or two empty beds. The women's bunk-house is the same concept only shaped a little different.

When we got here we heard that dinner the previous night was incredible - steak, seafood, awesome local side dishes. We were getting excited!! It turns out that Sunday evening is a more casual dinner. We had roast beef sandwiches, Doritos and pudding. However, more important to us was the fellowship and opportunities get to know each other. We did that in a few ways - Sunday afternoon / night football, Scattergories, and a few side conversations.

The other US groups and the UK / Dublin folks got here between 9 pm - 10:30 pm. We're still missing one of our members - but she will arrive later today. We're going to do better introductions with the entire group this morning. This morning will be the first time that many of our group were able to meet our UK / Dublin folks.

Last night was an interesting sleeping experience. Those of us that are up right now generally slept minimally. Our hope is that we'll be soooo tired tonight that regardless of noisy matresses, cold breezes from the door, squeeky matresses and a number of other challenges we'll sleep better. I'm hearing now that there were a few folks that slept in the minivans and in the church. Lest you think that we had luxurious accomodations. We'll find out how the next few days progress in this regard.......

I'm impressed that the UK folks are going for a morning jog this morning. Keep in mind that they had a very big time zone change - which makes their eagerness extra impressive.

We heard last night that we will likely be working on two projects on Monday - a house blitzing (a house raising) in partnership with a group from South Carolina and another project. All of our projects are very local - within 10 minutes of the church.

Hancock Bank (a SEI banking client) is hosting a dinner for us this evening at a local community center. They saw the press release a month or so back and called me to arrange it. We're really looking forward to it!!!

Well - it's almost breakfast time - so I'll sign off after sharing a few more funny things....

We're thinking about adopting nicknames for everyone. Somehow I got the nick name Pedro. (Pedro for President - for those that remember that movie..... smile)

A certain lady within our group is extra funny. She isn't fond of a cat (Pagey the cat - she came with the name) on the grounds and is the only one to hang up her clothes. Any guesses on who it is?? :)

Check in often. We'll be blogging again soon!!