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!!