a different perspective... [Eve]

I am back in Los Angeles from my trip to Biloxi, and I don't know where to begin. There is so much to say, yet I want to refrain from having y'all read a novel (I talk real southern now ;). It is important for me to state that I was so elated to come to work one morning several months ago to find an email that changed my life; that mass email addressed to "Public LA" about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for the victims of Katrina. I signed up immediately.

I think the reason I was so excited, like many other coworkers, was for the first time I saw myself being able to really make a difference for those who had lost so much. After Katrina first hit, I felt miniscule in my capacity to make a real difference, but this project enabled me to see how I and others can contribute and really show our support. It made so much sense.
As an aside: My only real connection to any where in the Deep South was a brief visit to my dad’s family in Atlanta post-Katrina. I went to a fairly popular open mic event one evening where coincidentally many of the victims of Katrina happened to be there and took the mic. It was the first time I heard people who had been personally affected by this catastrophe and I was completely moved by what they shared; how they felt left behind by our government and president, and their feelings about being called "refugees", resonated with me. At one point, a poet took stage and talked about how Katrina was a sign from God, Who was trying to wash away all the injustices and pain from the history of racism in this country. It was very deep, and definitely startled me, however it echoed with irony, because in both instances the victims of many of the grave injustices have been blacks.

But to return to the main point, before Katrina hit, Biloxi, Mississippi was a beautiful, and booming, beach-front city situated on the Gulf of Mexico. Little did I know, before the storm hit, Biloxi and the surrounding Gulf Coast region was considered a leading gambling center in the southern United States. Along the coast, the highway was filled with antebellum homes, high-rises, several restaurants, the oh-so-popular Waffle House chain, gas stations, and the beaches were often filled with people and their families.

Unlike New Orleans there are no levees, seawalls, or barriers that could have deflected storm surges, which should not surprise the reader to know Biloxi was hit much harder than New Orleans, by a 30-foot storm surge that gutted third floor levels and pushed its casinos inland. Yet, Biloxi has had received little press attention.


First and foremost, I am inspired by the victims of the hurricane and the government's failed response to its devastation, because of their strength and initiative to get through these hard times and help rebuild their loves. Yet, I am also very proud of my 14 coworkers and I, who put our blood and sweat into house building, devoted to a cause greater than they and I as individuals. My coworkers and I are responsible for putting up rooftops and shingles, doors, etc. lending a hand as we could. Every where we went, as a group, we were noticed, and the people were appreciative of us taking time out of our lives to come help them in their serious time of need, when they have been seemingly abandoned by the government. After almost two years there has not been much rebuilding of homes, save the few that Habitat for Humanity has helped construct. I remain shocked that a casino has been rebuilt in that time, yet many remain homeless, or relegated to trailers that they will soon lose, leaving me to wonder where the priorities rest. My housing coordinator, quit her job as a financial consultant and moved to Biloxi 8 months ago, has built over 40 houses, but I was told by her that FEMA has only provided people vouchers to purchase trailer homes which will be taken back in August, leaving people once again without homes.

thanks for reading ;)

Eve

Deep thoughts, by Jack Handy (Craig)

Although I love being back in the real world, dealing with traffic, bills and clients, I do miss a few things about Biloxi. A few of those things are:

• Hitting the sweet spot on a 16er and watching the nail go perfectly into the scaffold support beam
• Enjoying 12 seconds of a Steve Miller Band song between rounds of Tricia using the nail compressor to install a window
• Hitting a straight flush and avoiding a David hand
• Good BBQ
• Kind, simple people
• Finding a new bruise and wondering how it got there
• Zoning out in the van while others continue talking about God knows what
• The girls flirting with Mr. Bill
• Cutting a shingle to fit exactly 1/8” over the edge of the roof
• Being comfortable while working on the edge of the roof
• Good BBQ
• Being humbled every day instead of being caught up in my daily routine
• Being outside all day

We are working on a video that incorporates all/most of the pictures the team took, so keep an eye out for that in the next week or so.

Now go back to work.

We're home! (Diane)

It's the first day back at work after returning from our amazing week in Biloxi. I've had a couple days to reflect on the trip and all our adventures.

While it's great to be home, so many things seem trivial compared to what the people there continue to face every day. The friendliness and resilience of the folks we met was incredible. It's a great reminder about what is truly important and valuable. As I make my way back into "normal" life, I want to remember how incredibly lucky I am.

I was also touched by the other volunteers we met and worked with. Especially Mr. Bill, who worked on the house with us. Here's a man who is spending his retirement in an RV, helping to build houses all around the country, with Habitat and other organizations. Besides the great work he's doing, he's built a network of friends doing the same thing. (Of course, if Laurenne has her way, he'll also soon have a new lady in his life.)

At the same time, what a blast we had! Not sure if it was luck or what, but we had the best group of people on this trip. I can't remember when I've laughed so much. Who'd have thought that 15 people could spend all that time traveling in one van, working together, eating together and playing together and everyone get along so well? Especially given the large quantities of alcohol, sugar and grease we all consumed. You guys are awesome. (By the way, may I recommend our new favorite cocktail, the Biloxi Blush? It's made with Pama pomegranate liqueur, vodka and club soda. Everyone loved them. Except David, who didn't drink.)

I'd like to encourage everyone who reads this to keep remembering the people in Biloxi, New Orleans - and elsewhere - who so need our help. If you've already contributed to our trip, thank you. If you can volunteer with Habitat, do it. It's an incredible experience. Well worth the bruises and hammered fingertips. If you can afford to contribute more, please consider doing so. It will take a long time for the area and these amazing people to be fully recovered.

Back in LA (Sarah)

This past week was one of the best weeks I can remember. We worked hard, played hard, and put blood, sweat, and even a few tears into the house!! One week was not enough for me to be down there. I could have stayed another month. I knew the experience would change me, but I am actually shocked that it has changed my mentality to the degree it has.

First off I would like to say that I am so proud of each one of the 15 people that went down from Deutsch. All 15 of us worked so hard, and I heard very little complaining. Most of us are comming back with bruises, sore forearms, battered thumbs, and a new respect for how hard construction is. Each one of these 15 people are amazing, and I feel like I am a better person for meeting each one of them. Colleen, Craig, and I were were prepping the house for siding, and Craig pointed out how impressed he was that there was a very limited amount of estrogen considering 13 of the 15 people were women. We all worked so well together, and smiled and laughed our way through it.

We finally finished the roof on Friday morning. The last few shingles and nails were a great accomlishment. Megan, our supervisior, said she was shocked how fast we worked, and didnt think we would get any where near to siding the house, BUT we actually started siding on Friday after lunch. During the lunch break we ran into a sheriff from the town at the local crawfish shop. He told us he just got approved for a house from habitat. He lost everything in the storm. He and his wife (who also happens to have a brain tumor) were in the process of adopting a child and they had to put it off because they have no home. When we said how sorry we were for him, he replied "oh no, dont be sorry it's okay, we will be okay becuase of people like you who come down and help". I cant imgaine losing everything and having the high spirits that these people have. This man has faced more hardships in the last 2 years than I could ever imagine, and he was still smiling. These people are so strong!

Leaving the house on Friday I was extremely sad. I wanted to stay, I wanted to do more. One week was NOT enough. There is so much that needs to be done, and I dont think I have done enough. I would love to go to Alabama and help with relief efforts there from the tornado that hit Thursday. Maybe I will be a Megan, and go back to Mississippi in a month and not come back to L.A. All I know is that this will not be the last of my habitat experiences.

I hope that the memories and inspiration of the people in Biloxi does not fade fast. I want to remember their strories and their strength. This experience will last forever. Thank you Kathleen and Colleen for organizig this trip.

Sarah.

Nielsen DMA #160 (Mel)

It’s late Friday night, I’m dead tired, bruised and a bit sore………and I have never felt better!!!

I have had such an amazing time with and am so proud to be part of Team Biloxi. Everyone worked incredibly hard, but also paid attention to every detail to ensure that Miss Lisa will have a safe and beautiful place to live.

It’s one thing to read about Katrina’s path of destruction in the newspaper, it is another to see it first hand. There is no photography that can accurately depict how bad the damage is, but even with such destruction, the resilience and humor of the people of Biloxi is remarkable. They are so appreciative of the effort that people put forth to help rebuild their city. As Colleen wrote earlier, we have been thanked and blessed and hugged by so many people for merely doing what we should be doing in the first place.

I will remember this experience with pride and with gratitude.

I will also remember that Mole Skin is like the best invention ever (thank you, Diane)

And that 52 is a special number.

And that it is a nightmare to drive nails into a ceiling.

And that the Queen/Ten is probably the lowest hand you should bet on in Three Card Poker.

It has been quite a trip....

Good Night from The Edgewater Inn...

Rosann's recap of our week in Biloxi

A dirty, bruised, battered, tired team Biloxi has just finished its week helping Miss Lisa build her new house in D'Iberville, MS. She'll be living next door to "Miss Peaches" in a cute little neighborhood just down the store from Crawdaddy's grocery/luncheon (best hushpuppies EVER!) where we met Sheriff "Chunk" (he's also living in a FEMA trailer and waiting for his Habitat application to be approved so he and his wife can move into their own house...)

We worked reallym really hard this week, and I learned how to work about 3 different types of saws (some while high up on a ladder,) how to 'wrap' a house to get it ready for siding, how to get a room ready for dry wall, and how to use a hammer the right way!

No surprise that we're a focused, energetic and efficient group -- the housing inspector said it was 'the best Habitat house he'd seen so far!' We've all done a great job, but it's on the drive in and out of work every morning we're reminded of the overwhelming destruction this area suffered: debris absolutely everywhere, beautiful white sand beaches littered with relics from people's homes, church crosses and flagpoles bent into twisted angles everywhere. Despite all that, the people here have shown nothing but unanimous support and thanks to all volunteers like us in the area. It's hard not to well up in tears everytime we're thanked and hugged by total strangers. Going home with warm feelings towards this special group of new friends who I've experienced this week with....I'd can't imagine a better week of work! Rosann

Last work day (Colleen)

Well we just finished our last work day. Hard to believe that we showed up to a few frames nailed up - and left a house that is about to have the final siding put up.

I think the most amazing thing has been how may times all of us have been thanked. I think I've teared up about 15 times this week. Today I was in the little convenience store/crawfish shack. We were all wearing our fabulous I Build Biloxi T-shirts that our design guys made for us - and a group of policemen saw the shirts. They loved the t-shirts so we went back to the work site and brought them one back. I don't think I've ever been hugged so hard. He was also about 6'3" and said his nickname was Chunk - so you can imagine! But he walked to the site so he could personally thank the entire group for coming down here and helping them re-build. We've heard a million times that if volunteers weren't down here helping, nothing would ever get done. He and his wife lost everything and are also about to get a Habitat house. President Bush was here yesterday - unfortunately, I don't think he ever hears that side of the story....

Mel and I have a ghost in our room. Friendly we think....the doors mysteriously open and shut. The other night the balcony door opened and the fog rolled in - setting offf the smoke alarm at 3:30. The day before the inside bolt somehow fliiped over and locked. The owner had to kick our door down so we could get in. Then yesterday - when those horrible storms passed through, it blew our balcony doors open and soaked the whole side of our room - unfortunately including all of Melanies clothes and her suitcase.....so we've been hanging her clothes off the balcony. But even the guy who came to suck all of the water out of the room thanksed our whole group for coming down to help.....

We were lucky that all we had were tornado warnings after seeing the news when we got home - although I will tell you that Sarah and I were racing to get the last roof shingles on when it turned into the final scene of caddyshack with 30 mile an hour winds, thinder and lightening and rain coming down in buckets. Needless to say, being on a roof in a storm is a liitle scary. I don't think any of us roof rats had ever moved so quickly....carrying a metal hammer and climbing down a giant metal ladder in a storm is not a good thing.

Everyone tells you this will be a life-changing experience - but until you do it, you can't explain it.

This group of 15 has been amazing. I've never seen people work so hard - and also everyone has been so great about driving around packed in a van - eating crap, being bleeding, sore and tired. I also don't think I have laughed as hard as I have this week. I'm so proud of our Team Biloxi - and we got glowing reviews from some pretty hardened construction workers - a true sign of accomplishment.

I will look at my purple, internal bleeding thumb for weeks to come and smile about how I was able to, after putting in 500 nails, slam the hammer into it on the last day, then announce thirty minutes later "this is how I did this last time" then promptly do it again to the amusement of Craig and Sarah.

Sitting at a desk next week is going to seem very cushy......Off to the shower to try and sandpaper the dirt off of my body...
-CK