My trip to Mississippi was incredibly enlightening, on so many levels. I learned two new trades, I learned that sometimes people just aren't nice, I learned that there are, fortunately, a lot of people out there with huge hearts, and I learned that life and family are so truly precious that everything else pretty much just pales in comparison.

The most enlightening part of my trip occurred while driving around the ravaged streets of Biloxi and Gulfport. It has been almost 2 years since Hurricane Katrina ripped through these gorgeous towns, and there's still foundations without buildings, garbage strewn across streets, homes ravaged and destroyed, and the worst part... people living in tents in their back yards. I have never seen something so sad and so disappointing in my life.



This building along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico was completely gutted by the force of waves that the hurricanes caused. If you have ever seen the Gulf of Mexico, you would know that on a regular day there are no waves, it's a gulf!! The forceful winds of the hurricane created waves so large that they pounded up the second and third floors of an already raised, local hotel. This building, Sharkheads, that sold beach apparel and souvenirs, managed to stay up for the most part, however there is quite a large piece to it that was washed away. The fact that you can now see through the building shows the type of damaged it suffered.





During the storms many people who did not actually live on the coast, were worried about family members who do. In many cases families did not know where their loved ones were, whether they got out in time, and they had no way to get a hold of them. One woman took advantage of the media footage that was occurring and wrote her family a note to put their minds at ease. According to the stories I was told, it worked.


This is more of the destruction that is virtually plaguing the Gulf Coast. It is impossible to turn your head away from seeing it, because it is everywhere, and its not right. If there is one thing that I do not understand, it is how nothing has changed down there. Where is the government in all this? If we are such a large super power of a country, then how can we not take care of the people in our own back yards? How can anyone look at these conditions and ignore them? It seriously breaks my heart to know that there are people down there living in broken down homes, in a house with no roof. I saw a child running through the street and the first thing I noticed was that she had to navigate through piles of trash, debris that was still littering her neighborhood. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen.
I wish I could understand how this is ok? How people are not doing more. I went there for a week, I did not do much... I WANT TO DO MORE!!!! I will go back in September, and although I feel good for "doing my part" I know its not enough, and I know that there is so much more that needs to be done. Volunteers are amazing, and thanks to all of us who do volunteer our helping hands, things do get a little better for a few people, but there is so much more that needs to be done. Things that we can't help with, things that require a government to take action. I am hardly a political person... but I know that there has to be something that leading politicians can do. Money/funds that can be allocated to fixing these homes...
Americans living in third world conditions while right down the road there is excessive gambling with money that should be given to those who need it... I watched an 80 year old woman with a cigarette in her mouth pushing her walker up to the hotel bank to cash her social security check so that she can sit in front of her favorite slot machine. She sits there for hours, chain smoking and enjoying the free scotch... mindlessly pumping nickels into the slots in hopes of winning the $150,000 jackpot. I look at this and wonder why? ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! That money, that $150,000 should be going to one of the families sleeping outside because their home is unlivable. It should be going to the families who lost everything and need a new start. What is the US government thinking? Better yet, where are they???
You hear in the news about these FEMA trailers... they are there to help... they are there to give people hope and start new... somewhere to live, somewhere safe. What they arent telling you is how many people are not "qualifying". Let's think about this? There are qualifications to obtain one these trailers? How about homeless??? By the way, in all of Biloxi that we drove through, this was the only FEMA trailers we saw. We saw more people living in dilapidated houses than we did FEMA trailers. If you were to ask a local what they think about FEMA... they will tell you... not only a waste of time, but a waste of an organization. For them, FEMA stands for Federal Employees Missing Again. Disappointment after Devastation... it's not fair, and its not right!!

Even if I have to drive down there myself, at least twice a year, I will do it... If the president isnt going to fund renovations to these people's homes, then I will! If FEMA can find reasons to disqualify families in the Gulf Coast, then I can find two more reasons to want to help! One of these days I would love to create my own organization and make things right down there. I am going to keep researching, keep donating, keep working... if for nothing else but to make one more family able to go home... give one more family hope!

Thanks for listening to my rant... I will be the first to admit that I do not know a lot about politics, and I may not understand why federal aide needs to be so difficult... but I firmly believe that it shouldnt be this hard for people to be given another chance... for people to move on, and for people to receive the help they deserve.

I recently returned from a week in Biloxi, Mississippi where a group of over 60 individuals working with the Rebuilding Together (RT) organization volunteered to renovate homes devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This experience was seriously the single most amazing thing I have ever done, and in one week I not only learned two new skills, but made some awesome new friends. My time in the Gulf has further convinced me that I need to be working in efforts to improve others lives, to help people less fortunate, and to make a difference in this world, even if it means taking on one house at a time!! If there is one thing I have learned in my years of volunteering its that no effort is too small!! Every little bit truly does help, so never feel like you cant give back!!

With that said... Here are the details of my trip!!

I flew into Gulfport, MS on Sunday March 18. I will never fly Delta, if I don't have to, ever again!! Not only is their customer service horrible, but they conveniently didn't fly the six of us who flew in together's luggage. So regardless we ventured on to our hotel that RT was putting us up in, the IP Hotel and Casino (apparently casinos are prevalent in the Gulf region... an excellent way to bring in revenue into the area, but also confusing to me, which I will explain in a follow up blog I am planning, so look for it!!). The coordinators of this trip worked with the hotel and was able to find some amazing deals to take care of us for the week. The hotel was not only extremely generous in what they provided to us (in thanks for our help) but their customer service was incredible!! They truly were appreciative of what we set out to do there, and showed it in many ways. We started the week with a small banquet to get to know each other and review the homes that we would be working on.

There were six homes in total that we planned to help throughout the week. Two that needed extensive work, one that needed more skilled work, and three that needed moderate help. The three smaller were grouped together and the volunteers for each worked together between the three. I chose to work for the Moran house. This home had been devastated by over 6 feet of water that flooded the home for a little less than a week. The family had tried to work on their home, but the man of the house suffered a heart attack and was unable to continue. The mother of the house was suffering from stress induced high blood pressure and the daughter had health issues of her own.

Our day was going to start at 5:30 am... crawling out of bed and getting ready to start the morning right. We were served breakfast at 6 and on the buses with our boxed lunch by 7 am. Each group was taken to their respective homes, and we were dropped off at ours. To be honest our first thought was how nice the area was but thought nothing of it... we had work to do. Our job focus was to install kitchen cabinets, tile and pergo flooring, and installation of all lighting. We were there to finish what the Morans were no longer capable of doing on their own. The first day took a little while to get into a groove, learning what each of us could do, and what exactly needed to get done. I scraped floors in efforts to prepare them for flooring installations. There was a lot of cleanup to be done as well, and toward the end of the day we were surprisingly tired, but excited for the next day. I fell asleep right after dinner and slept like a baby!!!

Day two started the same, breakfast at 6, bus by 7 and working hard by 8!! Day two was an exciting day for me. I was introduced to Howard, one of the electricians at our site. He needed help putting ceiling fans together for installation. Another volunteer, Ashley, and I sat on the floor and started assembly. When Howard was ready to put the fan in, he called me over to help. I found a ladder and climbed up to meet Howard already holding the fan up. My trusty tool belt that my boss lent to me came in handy... I loaded it with screw drivers and Twister Pros!!! I had no idea what a Twister Pro was, but Howard said I needed them!! While up on our ladders he taught me all about black, white and green wires... which were hot, which neutral and of course the ground!!! He taught me how to "pigtail" the wires and how the most important thing about doing electrical work is to remember to make sure that the power is turned off!!! Here is me putting the ceiling fan in...


After Howard taught me how to do a ceiling fan, he explained how easy it was to install a light too...


Howard let Ashley and I install a couple of our own after that. And after religiously checking to make sure the power was off for each one, we accurately completed two more... ALL BY OURSELVES!!!! Howard was very proud, as were we!! :-)


Day three held something new for me... With most of the upstairs lighting done, and Howard, Sam (the other electrician), and Ashley working hard, I was reassigned to flooring. Brendan needed help with laying the tile. I put the thinset down on the floors as Bren laid the tiles. When the time came for some tiles to be cut in order to fit some tight areas, Bren taught me how to use the wet saw. I was scared at first, but it turned out to not only be the coolest thing I've done... but I actually got pretty good at it!!! The pro's even said so!! :-)


The rest of the week I remained on floors, and if I do say so myself, they came out great!!! Brendan is awesome... he taught me so much, and is certainly amazingly talented at his profession.

Notice the awesome cabinets in the background?? Those were put in too... but by the rest of the team...


After all the work that we did, we got some upsetting news on our last day at the house. We were tipped off by a neighbor that the people we were helping had actually bought the house a year AFTER Katrina hit. Now normally I doubt it would have been a problem... we went down there to help, and if this family needed help, then we were there for them!! The problem was, that when confronted by the officials of RT, the family forged the dates on their copy of the land deed to reflect dates before the storm. They fraudulently modified a legal document. Fortunately RT was able to get a copy of the real document with the correct dates. Due to their scam, we were not going to complete the work on their house. It was a very sad moment for all of us... not just for feeling like we did all that work for nothing, but because we didn't get to see a completed process. We were taken advantage of and that was very sad!! There were so many people that we saw, so many homes that we drove by that really needed our help, and here we were helping someone who lied to us. For the most part we were sad... also angry!! BUT... we went down there for a reason... to help... and thats what we did... whether they deserved the help or not isnt really for me to decide. Regardless, we did an awesome job, and I personally learned so much!!!!

The Crew:












My awesome teachers... Howard the Electrician, me and Brendan the Tiler Master!!:















Well, when we left the house... we had to wait for a ride to one of the other sites, so in the meantime we helped out the neighbors with the work they had... Sam and I put in some electrical outlets for one neighbor, and a few of the others helped another neighbor paint doors.
When our ride came to get us, I went to the Durel house and met one of the sweetest ladies ever... Miss Mary Durel. Here is some of the work that was done to Miss Mary's house:

Before and After:




























Here I am doing a little work at the Durel house with Bob:


And here is the outside of the Durel House:


After our last day of work our fearless leaders Bob and Sarah invited us all to go on a boat cruise around the Gulf. It was pretty awesome... we had pizza and beer, and it really took our minds off the drama from earlier on during the day. It was an excellent closer to an awesome week (regardless of the scam). We all had a great time!!