Special thanks to Erika Barthelmess and all the New Orleans volunteers who brought their story home to share with us.
March 2011A group of church members and friends are volunteering their time and muscles to help restore the spirit and homes of families in New Orleans. They are sending photos and messages daily so we can all learn from and appreciate their experience.
The crew, pictured here at a planning potluck at the Strome-Witmers' house, includes (left to right) front row - Jeff Grigel, Ian Corse, Ryan Hicks, Jim Michaelson; second row - Mike Corse, Valerie Ingram, Kathy Wyckoff, Betsy Kepes, Erika Barthelmess, Pete Wyckoff; back row - Galen Pletcher, Aaron Woodruff, Stevie Michaelson. Missing from the photograph is Carl Woodruff.
Click here to read an article by Martha Ellen that appeared in the Watertown Daily Times describing the group's plans.
All of the photos on this page can also be viewed in the New Orleans Photo Album (reached from the navigation bar at left). Click on photos on this page for enlarged images.
Enroute
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3/11/11 We are in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, about to begin the last few hour drive to New Orleans. We've been on the road for a week and we're ready to settle in for a while. Temperatures are cool for those who live here, in the 40's at night and 60 during the day, but feel so good to us. The last few days have been all highway and roadside motels. Pete and Kathy Pete hanging out with his buddy Thomas Jefferson in (or near) Oceans Springs |
Ian, Mike, Betsy, and Jeff enroute via train...
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We visited the Hull-House Museum and
plan on going to the art museum later today. As of now it is sunny and
warm. Pictures of the train will come tomorrow. Anticipating the next
leg of the journey... |
3/12/11Aaron, Valerie, and Erika --
Burlington, VT, to NOLA!
Pete and I are settled in the house awaiting the rest of the travelers. Just had lunch and walked around with Jim and Stevie in the French Quarter. It's exciting, colorful, very high energy here. The weather is absolutely beautiful and the forecast is looking good for the whole week.
Tomorrow's agenda will include the church service at the First UU Church then an orientation and dinner at the center (all in the same building). Most of our crew will be working for Miss Gwen (in photo with Pete and me) on Monday and Tuesday.
First Day of Work in New Orleans
Somehow we managed to get all nine people in our little house ready to go by 8am this morning. Most of us met at Miss Gwen’s house, very near the UU Church. Valerie and Aaron and Carl were already there hearing stories from Miss Gwen, a 68 year old great-grandmother who saved up to buy her own home then had the whole place flooded for three weeks under 8 feet of water. Most of the house has been repaired (it has been five years since the disaster) but the garage out back is still in bad shape.
We divided up into crews. Carl and Aaron took sledge hammers to the front walk, so buckled up from the flood that it was an impossible way to get in to the house. By the end of the day they’d created a lovely new, flat and level walkway to the front porch. They dug out the soil and added a thick layer of sand then paving bricks. It looks very sharp and Miss Gwen was very pleased.
Meanwhile the rest of us were tackling the garage. We carried out loads and loads of junk from inside and piled it on the small lawn. Much of the plywood siding had rotted and needed to be removed. The remainder needed to be scraped and primed. We removed one garage door and salvaged panels from it to fix the other garage door. Ryan began framing in a new door—the old garage was only accessible through the lift-up garage doors. To make the busy scene even more festive most of us wore our new team t-shirts—a bright tie dye.
We often spotted little lizards scurrying away as we pulled off plywood and a warm breeze kept us from getting too hot, though many of us were sunburned by the end of the day. We’ll remember sunscreen tomorrow.
Our only mishap was lunch. We forgot to unload our lunch cooler from Pete’s truck and he and Erika disappeared to get a long list of supplies from Lowe’s just about when we were all getting hungry. Fortunately Ryan had some snacks in his car to tide us over. When the truck did arrive back at Miss Gwen’s we all rushed toward the bag lunches and Ryan had the bad luck of discovering that we were one short. We all shared with him and he ended up with perhaps the biggest lunch of all. Galen had counted out the lunch bags so we decided that his math skills have declined since he retired.
For all of us, it was a great first day with lots of progress on our first project. We hope to get most of the work finished tomorrow, including the cleanup. We might even be able to put in some shrubs for Miss Gwen. Most landscaping plants in the flooded areas were killed by the three weeks of salt water.
Which leads me to the work Kathy, Galen and Stevie did today with the Lot Next Door program. When homeowners buy a neighboring lot, a spot where a house was demolished, they are given a good price if they promise to landscape it and keep it green. This crew helped plant a huge number of shrubs for a woman they described as very sharp and delighted to have help.
Back at the UU church the cook served a delicious dinner of Jambalaya ( rice and vegetables and spices and sausage), collard greens and a mixed veggie dish with corn, lima beans and okra. Beverages were water or iced tea. Fruit for dessert. We had a de-briefing with the staff and they wanted to hear how our day went. Our fellow volunteers are kids and leaders from a private high school in Pennsylvania and they helped clean out the cages at an animal shelter today. A huge number of animals were homeless after the hurricane and this shelter is the only no-kill facility in Louisiana.
Not quite yet ready to settle down for the night, seven of us drove to the French Quarter to wander around the Bourbon Street area. We were all a bit shell-shocked from the crowds and noise of live bands blaring out of many bars. Apparently bad taste is good taste in New Orleans, at least from what we could tell at the souvenir stores. We found a few slightly quieter streets and admired the ornate balconies and windows and doors. Jackson Square was busy with tourists and we imagined the Mardi Gras crowds must be intense, a solid mass of people.
It’s midnight and your scribe-of-the-day – Betsy – is the last one awake. We have the front door open for a breeze and a few mosquitoes are coming in. When one buzzed Erika last night she said, “Wow! A mosquito!” We are all soaking in the warmth, both physical and emotional that we’ve experienced so far in New Orleans.
Additional from Kathy:
Crew #2, much smaller but no less dedicated, did some landscape plantings for Joan Harris who lives in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, near Lake Ponchartrain. This project was part of the "Lot Next Door" program, which encourages property owners to purchase and improve the empty lot next door. We completed our task a few hours early so we treated ourselves to beignets and coffee in the French Quarter...I love new Orleans!
3/15/11
Hi from Stevie. Day two started for our work crew sub-set of Kathy, Galen and me the same as day one--with shovels in hand. Today found us at the Holly Grove Urban Gardens and Market ,"flipping" a big mound of compost to aerate as it mixes with a newer pile. After an
hour we got to lay the shovels down and sort fresh organic produce for the days market. The growing season is twelve months down here and so strange to see the "end" of the strawberries already! Greens of all sorts are always on the menus and we are eating locally grown food everyday so far. The normal number of snafus occur daily to keep things interesting--a hat misplaced, tools left behind, an extra trip to retrieve something forgotten.
The crew at Miss Gwen's
Food at the Center has been delicious. The diva chef is amazing. Tonight we had cornbread with rosemary - absolutely wonderful.
3/16/11
We made it to Miss Gwen’s house before 8am this morning, hoping to get an hour of work done before half the crew left the site for the next assignment. We’re getting better at knowing what work needs to be done—caulking, priming, spackling, putting up sheets of siding.
Pete, Ryan, Mike, and Ian drove off to begin a flooring project in the Ninth Ward. They report seeing many empty houses with spray paint on the doors- NO ENTRY. One house had a huge hole in the roof and others are boarded up. Miss Rose can’t live in her house yet (remember, it’s been five years since Katrina) as there is no electricity or water at her site and the house still needs work. Tomorrow we’ll all work at Miss Rose’s to finish the flooring and begin painting the exterior. Fortunately it’s a one-story house.
Back at Miss Gwen’s the painting crew scurried around, finally finished with all the prep work on the garage. The tan paint definitely spruced up the building and the new door looks great. Miss Gwen made us chili and cornbread for lunch—superb—and we thought we could finish all the painting by the end of the day. Well… we almost finished all the painting by the end of the day.
Erika has a video camera and she set up a shoot for Miss Gwen to record some of her stories about leaving New Orleans before the hurricane and what it was like to come back, months later. In a bizarre technological twist, she used Google Earth on a computer to see that her house was under eight feet of water. Miss Gwen also remembered her first visit to the New Orleans UU Church and the principle that intrigued her: “the inherent worth and dignity of all.”
Today, Stevie and I worked in the
Mid-City food bank at Pray The Word Say The Word Ministries. With a group of young volunteers from Texas, we packed bags and boxes of food for over 150 people needing some help to get by.
We have taken a different path from the rest of the group and though I miss working with the Canton UU Krewe we are having interesting and varied experiences. Each day we go somewhere new and get to check out, and contribute to, a different aspect of life in New Orleans.
Our Canton UUs are doing great work and getting along fabulously. Tonight we're having a party and have invited the staff from the Center, people we've been working for, the neighbors and almost everyone we've met (Erika refrained from inviting the guy from Lowes!).
Burlington, VT, to NOLA!
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More from Ian and the train crew: pictures were taken this morning and afternoon south of Memphis, TN. The weather is great - warm, sunny, the grass is a vivid shade of green, trees already have leaves. Getting ready to eat real-live new Orleanian food!
In New Orleans
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Pete and I are settled in the house awaiting the rest of the travelers. Just had lunch and walked around with Jim and Stevie in the French Quarter. It's exciting, colorful, very high energy here. The weather is absolutely beautiful and the forecast is looking good for the whole week.
Tomorrow's agenda will include the church service at the First UU Church then an orientation and dinner at the center (all in the same building). Most of our crew will be working for Miss Gwen (in photo with Pete and me) on Monday and Tuesday.
Kathy
3/14/113/13/11
All 14 of us went to church this morning at the First UU Church in New Orleans. The service was very comfortable and familiar including the singing of "Spirit of Life" and "Our World is One World." We were acknowledged and applauded during the service for coming to New Orleans to assist in the recovery.
In the afternoon, we had a good orientation session with another work group of high school students and advisors from Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. This was followed by a facilitated discussion about racism in America and how it impacted what happened in the aftermath of the Katrina and in the years since the disaster. I was very moved by the perspective of the facilitators and humbled by what I didn't know.
I think our group is reenergized about why we are here and ready to get out there tomorrow and do what we can to contribute to the recovery of New Orleans.
From Galen...
All 14 of us went to church this morning at the First UU Church in New Orleans. The service was very comfortable and familiar including the singing of "Spirit of Life" and "Our World is One World." We were acknowledged and applauded during the service for coming to New Orleans to assist in the recovery.
In the afternoon, we had a good orientation session with another work group of high school students and advisors from Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. This was followed by a facilitated discussion about racism in America and how it impacted what happened in the aftermath of the Katrina and in the years since the disaster. I was very moved by the perspective of the facilitators and humbled by what I didn't know.
I think our group is reenergized about why we are here and ready to get out there tomorrow and do what we can to contribute to the recovery of New Orleans.
Kathy
From Galen...
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| The front and the back of our new T-shirts as we are getting ready for our "briefing." The two meetings went a total of 4 hours!! | First UU Church, which sponsors volunteers on a regular basis and where today's meetings were held. | Here's where we are living, very comfortable home, very close to the Mississippi (separated from it by a huge levee). That's my car in the driveway. You can just make out the NY plate. |
First Day of Work in New Orleans
Somehow we managed to get all nine people in our little house ready to go by 8am this morning. Most of us met at Miss Gwen’s house, very near the UU Church. Valerie and Aaron and Carl were already there hearing stories from Miss Gwen, a 68 year old great-grandmother who saved up to buy her own home then had the whole place flooded for three weeks under 8 feet of water. Most of the house has been repaired (it has been five years since the disaster) but the garage out back is still in bad shape.
We divided up into crews. Carl and Aaron took sledge hammers to the front walk, so buckled up from the flood that it was an impossible way to get in to the house. By the end of the day they’d created a lovely new, flat and level walkway to the front porch. They dug out the soil and added a thick layer of sand then paving bricks. It looks very sharp and Miss Gwen was very pleased. Meanwhile the rest of us were tackling the garage. We carried out loads and loads of junk from inside and piled it on the small lawn. Much of the plywood siding had rotted and needed to be removed. The remainder needed to be scraped and primed. We removed one garage door and salvaged panels from it to fix the other garage door. Ryan began framing in a new door—the old garage was only accessible through the lift-up garage doors. To make the busy scene even more festive most of us wore our new team t-shirts—a bright tie dye. We often spotted little lizards scurrying away as we pulled off plywood and a warm breeze kept us from getting too hot, though many of us were sunburned by the end of the day. We’ll remember sunscreen tomorrow.
Our only mishap was lunch. We forgot to unload our lunch cooler from Pete’s truck and he and Erika disappeared to get a long list of supplies from Lowe’s just about when we were all getting hungry. Fortunately Ryan had some snacks in his car to tide us over. When the truck did arrive back at Miss Gwen’s we all rushed toward the bag lunches and Ryan had the bad luck of discovering that we were one short. We all shared with him and he ended up with perhaps the biggest lunch of all. Galen had counted out the lunch bags so we decided that his math skills have declined since he retired. For all of us, it was a great first day with lots of progress on our first project. We hope to get most of the work finished tomorrow, including the cleanup. We might even be able to put in some shrubs for Miss Gwen. Most landscaping plants in the flooded areas were killed by the three weeks of salt water.
Which leads me to the work Kathy, Galen and Stevie did today with the Lot Next Door program. When homeowners buy a neighboring lot, a spot where a house was demolished, they are given a good price if they promise to landscape it and keep it green. This crew helped plant a huge number of shrubs for a woman they described as very sharp and delighted to have help.
Back at the UU church the cook served a delicious dinner of Jambalaya ( rice and vegetables and spices and sausage), collard greens and a mixed veggie dish with corn, lima beans and okra. Beverages were water or iced tea. Fruit for dessert. We had a de-briefing with the staff and they wanted to hear how our day went. Our fellow volunteers are kids and leaders from a private high school in Pennsylvania and they helped clean out the cages at an animal shelter today. A huge number of animals were homeless after the hurricane and this shelter is the only no-kill facility in Louisiana. Not quite yet ready to settle down for the night, seven of us drove to the French Quarter to wander around the Bourbon Street area. We were all a bit shell-shocked from the crowds and noise of live bands blaring out of many bars. Apparently bad taste is good taste in New Orleans, at least from what we could tell at the souvenir stores. We found a few slightly quieter streets and admired the ornate balconies and windows and doors. Jackson Square was busy with tourists and we imagined the Mardi Gras crowds must be intense, a solid mass of people.
It’s midnight and your scribe-of-the-day – Betsy – is the last one awake. We have the front door open for a breeze and a few mosquitoes are coming in. When one buzzed Erika last night she said, “Wow! A mosquito!” We are all soaking in the warmth, both physical and emotional that we’ve experienced so far in New Orleans.
Additional from Kathy:
Crew #2, much smaller but no less dedicated, did some landscape plantings for Joan Harris who lives in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, near Lake Ponchartrain. This project was part of the "Lot Next Door" program, which encourages property owners to purchase and improve the empty lot next door. We completed our task a few hours early so we treated ourselves to beignets and coffee in the French Quarter...I love new Orleans!
3/15/11
Hi from Stevie. Day two started for our work crew sub-set of Kathy, Galen and me the same as day one--with shovels in hand. Today found us at the Holly Grove Urban Gardens and Market ,"flipping" a big mound of compost to aerate as it mixes with a newer pile. After an
hour we got to lay the shovels down and sort fresh organic produce for the days market. The growing season is twelve months down here and so strange to see the "end" of the strawberries already! Greens of all sorts are always on the menus and we are eating locally grown food everyday so far. The normal number of snafus occur daily to keep things interesting--a hat misplaced, tools left behind, an extra trip to retrieve something forgotten.The crew at Miss Gwen's
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| Work on Miss Gwen's garage has been good. Thus far we have cleaned out the garage, fixed and painted a shelfing unit, removed and fixed overhead doors, scraped old paint and put on the primer and replaced one and a half wall, and Carl and Aaron put in a new sidewalk. Yesterday I spent 4 hours scraping paint, and today I spent 4 hours (at least) painting on primer. Arms are tired! |
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| The icecream truck came by the work site today. We all threw down our tools and ran down to the street like a bunch of little kids. | Hey, lotsa geckos down here! I was pulling out old insulation today - nearly every piece had a gecko hiding inside. They come in a variety of colors - lime green, sandy, brown with black spots, etc. | ||||||
Food at the Center has been delicious. The diva chef is amazing. Tonight we had cornbread with rosemary - absolutely wonderful.
Ian
3/16/11
We made it to Miss Gwen’s house before 8am this morning, hoping to get an hour of work done before half the crew left the site for the next assignment. We’re getting better at knowing what work needs to be done—caulking, priming, spackling, putting up sheets of siding.
Pete, Ryan, Mike, and Ian drove off to begin a flooring project in the Ninth Ward. They report seeing many empty houses with spray paint on the doors- NO ENTRY. One house had a huge hole in the roof and others are boarded up. Miss Rose can’t live in her house yet (remember, it’s been five years since Katrina) as there is no electricity or water at her site and the house still needs work. Tomorrow we’ll all work at Miss Rose’s to finish the flooring and begin painting the exterior. Fortunately it’s a one-story house.
Back at Miss Gwen’s the painting crew scurried around, finally finished with all the prep work on the garage. The tan paint definitely spruced up the building and the new door looks great. Miss Gwen made us chili and cornbread for lunch—superb—and we thought we could finish all the painting by the end of the day. Well… we almost finished all the painting by the end of the day.
Erika has a video camera and she set up a shoot for Miss Gwen to record some of her stories about leaving New Orleans before the hurricane and what it was like to come back, months later. In a bizarre technological twist, she used Google Earth on a computer to see that her house was under eight feet of water. Miss Gwen also remembered her first visit to the New Orleans UU Church and the principle that intrigued her: “the inherent worth and dignity of all.”
Betsy
Today, Stevie and I worked in the Mid-City food bank at Pray The Word Say The Word Ministries. With a group of young volunteers from Texas, we packed bags and boxes of food for over 150 people needing some help to get by.We have taken a different path from the rest of the group and though I miss working with the Canton UU Krewe we are having interesting and varied experiences. Each day we go somewhere new and get to check out, and contribute to, a different aspect of life in New Orleans.
Our Canton UUs are doing great work and getting along fabulously. Tonight we're having a party and have invited the staff from the Center, people we've been working for, the neighbors and almost everyone we've met (Erika refrained from inviting the guy from Lowes!).
Kathy
Webmaster's note: We've read lots of awesome reports about how hard they're working, but...well...a few pictures popped up in my inbox--"beignet breaks"--and now I'm not so sure!
3/17/11
Hello from New Orleans. Our (Aaron & Carl and my) experience has been a little different from the rest of the group in that, after a spectacular dinner at First UU Church cooked by Diva Chef Jyaphia Christos-Rodgers, we travel about 35 miles north to stay with our friends, Phylicia and Neil, in Slidell. Their wonderful hospitality allows us to rejuvenate for the coming day. We shower, wash clothes, play with the dogs (Trey & Louie), sample their beer, and chill out. The only downside is the longish commute.
In the morning, we start the day with oatmeal and fruit prepared by Carl. Then we head out down Route I10, back to our work site. The drive includes a 5+ mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, the second largest inland saltwater body of water in the U.S. The route takes us past examples of the range of recovery experienced in neighborhoods all over the area. Blighted and empty houses and commercial buildings sit between those completely renovated and those in use but in bad shape. Billboards advertise “elevating and leveling,” “cash for concrete” and all sorts of construction services.
I write this in the dark at 6:15 AM as we cross Lake Pontchartrain. All we can see this morning are the lights from the barges in the lake and the cars crossing the three or four other bridges visible from here. We’ve got a license plate game going to entertain us on the trip. There are people here from everywhere. Who are they? We speculate they are tourists, volunteers like us, students, and people taking advantage of the business opportunities created by the rebuilding. As we approach our worksite, we pass several places where Hispanic day workers congregate, presumably waiting to be picked up and taken to various jobs.
We’re tired this morning, from the work, being in the sun, and from not quite enough sleep each night. Last night’s party at The House with staff friends from the Center* and Miss Gwen kept us out a little later than usual. Seems like we just made this trek in the other direction. Oh, that’s right. We did!
Today we’re looking forward to finishing the tile floor at First UU (Carl) and finishing the paint job and cleanup at Miss Gwen’s (Aaron & Valerie) before heading down to join the others in the Lower Ninth Ward. First, though, we’re meeting a guy at Miss Gwen’s to load up the old concrete sidewalk and take it away. It’s going to be a good day.
*Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal or “Cels Jr.”, as they affectionately refer to it.
1 dog dead
For several of us who were working at Miss Gwen’s yesterday, today was our first trip into the lower 9th ward. I was not sure what to expect, how much blight we’d see, how welcome we would feel. It was a beautiful day – seemed like all must be good everywhere. But it is not - even 5 years after what is simply called here, “The Storm.”
In the lower 9th war
d, we’re working at Miss Rose’s house. We signed on
to install bamboo flooring in her home, but the job has become much
more than that. Today, Mike and Ryan worked on floor installation,
while Betsy, Ian, Jeff, Galen, Stevie, Jim, and I worked on scraping,
washing, and priming the exterior of her house to paint. In the
meantime, Kathy took on the backbreaking job of tackling Miss Rose’s
bathroom. In a situation that must happen often, kindhearted but
unskilled friends from Miss Rose’s church had volunteered to paint the
bathroom. Before it was painted, someone laid down a nice new tile
floor and installed a tub/shower unit. When the painter came in, he or
she neglected to put down any drop cloths or cover the tub/shower unit,
and the whole room was coated in ”overspray.” Kathy spent the day on
her hands and knees with a scraper removing all of that paint from the
tub 
and floor. With the skilled guidance of Pete (aka “the big boss”)
and the many talents of our crew, we’re confident that volunteers who
follow us will not have to undo the work we have done but will instead
be able to move our projects forward.
One of my tasks today was to accompany Miss Rose to Home Depot to purchase the paint we’ll use on her house tomorrow. We were accompanied by Mama Boen, a friend and mentor to Miss Rose. Along the way, both women gave me a narrated tour of the lower 9th. In the section I saw, only about 1 or 2 of every 5 houses has been renovated. Many remain boarded up. Kitty-corner from Mama Rose’s house in one direction is a house with a caved in roof. In the other direction, I was struck by four houses in a row, each in the “shotgun” style so common here, and 3 of the 4 for sale. None had been renovated. On one was spray-painted “1 dog dead.” Most homes here still wear the signs of the storm. For instance, after the flood, rescuers sprayed a quadrant on each house front. In the top corner, they noted the date the hou
se was searched.
In two of the remaining three corners, they noted the number of dead
people and dead animals discovered in the house. In the bottom corner
they noted which organization had done the search. Miss Rose’s house
was searched on September 10, 2005. No human or animal remains were
found there. Only one school in the lower 9th has been renovated and
opened. Many people cannot yet come home. A moment of celebration for
us today was the ceremonial painting over of the spray-paint quadrant
on Miss Rose’s house. We invited Miss Rose to do the job herself, and
she was delighted to do so, and rid her home of that bit of “ugliness.”
Webmaster's note: We've read lots of awesome reports about how hard they're working, but...well...a few pictures popped up in my inbox--"beignet breaks"--and now I'm not so sure!
 |
 |
3/17/11
Hello from New Orleans. Our (Aaron & Carl and my) experience has been a little different from the rest of the group in that, after a spectacular dinner at First UU Church cooked by Diva Chef Jyaphia Christos-Rodgers, we travel about 35 miles north to stay with our friends, Phylicia and Neil, in Slidell. Their wonderful hospitality allows us to rejuvenate for the coming day. We shower, wash clothes, play with the dogs (Trey & Louie), sample their beer, and chill out. The only downside is the longish commute.
In the morning, we start the day with oatmeal and fruit prepared by Carl. Then we head out down Route I10, back to our work site. The drive includes a 5+ mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, the second largest inland saltwater body of water in the U.S. The route takes us past examples of the range of recovery experienced in neighborhoods all over the area. Blighted and empty houses and commercial buildings sit between those completely renovated and those in use but in bad shape. Billboards advertise “elevating and leveling,” “cash for concrete” and all sorts of construction services.
I write this in the dark at 6:15 AM as we cross Lake Pontchartrain. All we can see this morning are the lights from the barges in the lake and the cars crossing the three or four other bridges visible from here. We’ve got a license plate game going to entertain us on the trip. There are people here from everywhere. Who are they? We speculate they are tourists, volunteers like us, students, and people taking advantage of the business opportunities created by the rebuilding. As we approach our worksite, we pass several places where Hispanic day workers congregate, presumably waiting to be picked up and taken to various jobs.We’re tired this morning, from the work, being in the sun, and from not quite enough sleep each night. Last night’s party at The House with staff friends from the Center* and Miss Gwen kept us out a little later than usual. Seems like we just made this trek in the other direction. Oh, that’s right. We did!
Today we’re looking forward to finishing the tile floor at First UU (Carl) and finishing the paint job and cleanup at Miss Gwen’s (Aaron & Valerie) before heading down to join the others in the Lower Ninth Ward. First, though, we’re meeting a guy at Miss Gwen’s to load up the old concrete sidewalk and take it away. It’s going to be a good day.
Valerie
*Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal or “Cels Jr.”, as they affectionately refer to it.
1 dog dead
For several of us who were working at Miss Gwen’s yesterday, today was our first trip into the lower 9th ward. I was not sure what to expect, how much blight we’d see, how welcome we would feel. It was a beautiful day – seemed like all must be good everywhere. But it is not - even 5 years after what is simply called here, “The Storm.”
In the lower 9th war
d, we’re working at Miss Rose’s house. We signed on
to install bamboo flooring in her home, but the job has become much
more than that. Today, Mike and Ryan worked on floor installation,
while Betsy, Ian, Jeff, Galen, Stevie, Jim, and I worked on scraping,
washing, and priming the exterior of her house to paint. In the
meantime, Kathy took on the backbreaking job of tackling Miss Rose’s
bathroom. In a situation that must happen often, kindhearted but
unskilled friends from Miss Rose’s church had volunteered to paint the
bathroom. Before it was painted, someone laid down a nice new tile
floor and installed a tub/shower unit. When the painter came in, he or
she neglected to put down any drop cloths or cover the tub/shower unit,
and the whole room was coated in ”overspray.” Kathy spent the day on
her hands and knees with a scraper removing all of that paint from the
tub and floor. With the skilled guidance of Pete (aka “the big boss”)
and the many talents of our crew, we’re confident that volunteers who
follow us will not have to undo the work we have done but will instead
be able to move our projects forward. One of my tasks today was to accompany Miss Rose to Home Depot to purchase the paint we’ll use on her house tomorrow. We were accompanied by Mama Boen, a friend and mentor to Miss Rose. Along the way, both women gave me a narrated tour of the lower 9th. In the section I saw, only about 1 or 2 of every 5 houses has been renovated. Many remain boarded up. Kitty-corner from Mama Rose’s house in one direction is a house with a caved in roof. In the other direction, I was struck by four houses in a row, each in the “shotgun” style so common here, and 3 of the 4 for sale. None had been renovated. On one was spray-painted “1 dog dead.” Most homes here still wear the signs of the storm. For instance, after the flood, rescuers sprayed a quadrant on each house front. In the top corner, they noted the date the hou
se was searched.
In two of the remaining three corners, they noted the number of dead
people and dead animals discovered in the house. In the bottom corner
they noted which organization had done the search. Miss Rose’s house
was searched on September 10, 2005. No human or animal remains were
found there. Only one school in the lower 9th has been renovated and
opened. Many people cannot yet come home. A moment of celebration for
us today was the ceremonial painting over of the spray-paint quadrant
on Miss Rose’s house. We invited Miss Rose to do the job herself, and
she was delighted to do so, and rid her home of that bit of “ugliness.”Kathy
Good morning from New Orleans. It’s our last workday and the weather, again, couldn’t be nicer. I did not go off with the work crew this morning but stayed back at the house to do some needed clean up and laundry.
Today will be all about finishing up what we have started, or at least getting it to a place where we feel comfortable leaving it for the volunteers to follow. Most of the group went to Miss Rose’s to complete the bamboo flooring and paint the outside of the house. Carl is back at the center seating the toilet and completing the tile floor. A few folks will stop in at Miss Gwen’s to finish the last few tasks and make sure all is cleaned up.
We have made remarkable progress and even more remarkable connections with the folks we have worked for. Miss Gwen and Miss Rose have been truly appreciative of all we have done to help them move their recovery to the next level. We opened our hands to them and they in turn opened their hearts to us.
There is a fundraiser for the center happening this evening. The Wellsley Choir (50 young women now staying at the center) and a local jazz musician will provide the entertainment. Stevie and I have agreed to help set up for the event.
As much as we have enjoyed and appreciated our time here I know many of us will be happy to get home (or to our next destination) and have some time to relax and reflect on our experience. I have a feeling many of us will be back next year.
NOlastday
We began the day with our usual rush—the kitchen full of people trying to get coffee, cereal or water bottles filled for the day. By 7:30 we were ready to start the drive to Miss Rose’s house in the Lower Ninth Ward. On these morning drives we are reminded that New Orleans is a big place as the commuters fill the roads and we wait at stoplight after stoplight.
When we crossed the canal into the Lower Ninth Ward the traffic slowed down. Many businesses along the main streets are closed and boarded over. Two abandoned schools look especially grim with their upper level windows open and gaping. One of our New Orleans friends told us the Lower Ninth Ward now has exactly one school in operation and zero grocery stores. Convenience stores supply some food, but not much in the way of fruits and vegetables.
Our crew set to work with washing and priming more of the house and putting in the bamboo floor. We opened the first can of “asparagus green” paint and began adding color to our work. The color is bright and looks perfect here. It would evoke many comments if a house in Canton or Potsdam were painted that color.
Miss Rose and her friends arrived at noon with a home-cooked red beans and rice dinner, including rolls and lemonade and cookies. Her friends told us Miss Rose makes the best rice and red beans and though we didn’t have any thing to compare it to, we had to agree.
Back to work. We hoped to finish painting the whole house, am ambitious goal. We got close but as the full moon rose over a palm tree, we had to pack up before it got too dark to see. Miss Rose and more friends stopped by again (Miss Rose is living down the street with a daughter and her family) and chatted. Everyone loved the new color on the house and hugs were plentiful before we left the neighborhood. As we were getting into a car a family was walking down the sidewalk, coming home from the church fish fry dinner. A man shouted out, “Y’all done a great job today!”
Before we went out for a late dinner, we all washed up, either in the shower or in the swimming pool. It’s warm here and painting in the hot sun means we’re ready to cool off and clean up. We met Jim and Stevie at a restaurant downtown where we sat snugged together at a round table, enjoying our last meal together. (Almost together—Valerie and Aaron and Carl headed back to see their friends in Sliddell, north of the city).
Tomorrow morning our group disperses—heading north by car or plane or train. None of us are quite ready to return to our work-a-day lives up north, but we’re all looking forward to sharing our New Orleans stories with you. We’ve had a week of rich experiences and will try to reflect on what it has meant to us when we give our sermon on Sunday, April 10th.
A train rumbles over the Huey P. Long bridge and the tree frogs chirp. It’s evening in New Orleans.
3/20/11
I
am proud to be a member of such a hard-working crew. Pete has a hard
time getting us to put our nail guns and paint brushes down at the end
of the day (and he doesn’t quit early). We want to finish what we’ve
started. Tomorrow most of us will return to Miss Rose’s house to
paint. She’s making us a hot lunch of red beans and rice. Today she
cried tears of joy that we were here helping her. 
She told me that the
first thing she would do when she moves in is to soak in her tub,surrounded by candles, with bubble bath up to her nose! It is deeply
gratifying to know we are making a difference.
Of course, all work and no play is not in keeping with this group. After dinner tonight, all 14 of us gathered at “the house” where most are staying for an impromptu “awards ceremony.” We know that tomorrow is our last day and we’ve really been enjoying our time together. Though we all miss our families and friends back home, time has stood still for us for a few days here in New Orleans and we’ve enjoyed getting to know one another better. We’ve really come together as a team. And we know we couldn’t be here without the support of the whole congregation. So, lest we forget, THANK YOU.
ErikaShe told me that the
first thing she would do when she moves in is to soak in her tub,surrounded by candles, with bubble bath up to her nose! It is deeply
gratifying to know we are making a difference.Of course, all work and no play is not in keeping with this group. After dinner tonight, all 14 of us gathered at “the house” where most are staying for an impromptu “awards ceremony.” We know that tomorrow is our last day and we’ve really been enjoying our time together. Though we all miss our families and friends back home, time has stood still for us for a few days here in New Orleans and we’ve enjoyed getting to know one another better. We’ve really come together as a team. And we know we couldn’t be here without the support of the whole congregation. So, lest we forget, THANK YOU.
3/18/11
Good morning from New Orleans. It’s our last workday and the weather, again, couldn’t be nicer. I did not go off with the work crew this morning but stayed back at the house to do some needed clean up and laundry.Today will be all about finishing up what we have started, or at least getting it to a place where we feel comfortable leaving it for the volunteers to follow. Most of the group went to Miss Rose’s to complete the bamboo flooring and paint the outside of the house. Carl is back at the center seating the toilet and completing the tile floor. A few folks will stop in at Miss Gwen’s to finish the last few tasks and make sure all is cleaned up.
We have made remarkable progress and even more remarkable connections with the folks we have worked for. Miss Gwen and Miss Rose have been truly appreciative of all we have done to help them move their recovery to the next level. We opened our hands to them and they in turn opened their hearts to us.There is a fundraiser for the center happening this evening. The Wellsley Choir (50 young women now staying at the center) and a local jazz musician will provide the entertainment. Stevie and I have agreed to help set up for the event.
As much as we have enjoyed and appreciated our time here I know many of us will be happy to get home (or to our next destination) and have some time to relax and reflect on our experience. I have a feeling many of us will be back next year.NOlastday
We began the day with our usual rush—the kitchen full of people trying to get coffee, cereal or water bottles filled for the day. By 7:30 we were ready to start the drive to Miss Rose’s house in the Lower Ninth Ward. On these morning drives we are reminded that New Orleans is a big place as the commuters fill the roads and we wait at stoplight after stoplight.
When we crossed the canal into the Lower Ninth Ward the traffic slowed down. Many businesses along the main streets are closed and boarded over. Two abandoned schools look especially grim with their upper level windows open and gaping. One of our New Orleans friends told us the Lower Ninth Ward now has exactly one school in operation and zero grocery stores. Convenience stores supply some food, but not much in the way of fruits and vegetables.
Our crew set to work with washing and priming more of the house and putting in the bamboo floor. We opened the first can of “asparagus green” paint and began adding color to our work. The color is bright and looks perfect here. It would evoke many comments if a house in Canton or Potsdam were painted that color. Miss Rose and her friends arrived at noon with a home-cooked red beans and rice dinner, including rolls and lemonade and cookies. Her friends told us Miss Rose makes the best rice and red beans and though we didn’t have any thing to compare it to, we had to agree.
Back to work. We hoped to finish painting the whole house, am ambitious goal. We got close but as the full moon rose over a palm tree, we had to pack up before it got too dark to see. Miss Rose and more friends stopped by again (Miss Rose is living down the street with a daughter and her family) and chatted. Everyone loved the new color on the house and hugs were plentiful before we left the neighborhood. As we were getting into a car a family was walking down the sidewalk, coming home from the church fish fry dinner. A man shouted out, “Y’all done a great job today!”
Before we went out for a late dinner, we all washed up, either in the shower or in the swimming pool. It’s warm here and painting in the hot sun means we’re ready to cool off and clean up. We met Jim and Stevie at a restaurant downtown where we sat snugged together at a round table, enjoying our last meal together. (Almost together—Valerie and Aaron and Carl headed back to see their friends in Sliddell, north of the city).
Tomorrow morning our group disperses—heading north by car or plane or train. None of us are quite ready to return to our work-a-day lives up north, but we’re all looking forward to sharing our New Orleans stories with you. We’ve had a week of rich experiences and will try to reflect on what it has meant to us when we give our sermon on Sunday, April 10th.
A train rumbles over the Huey P. Long bridge and the tree frogs chirp. It’s evening in New Orleans.
Betsy
3/20/11
All Aboard!
The rail travelers are back on the tracks for the long trek north. I think we are all feeling the effects of the past week focusing on the present task at hand and are now found with several hours of downtime; a good time for reflection.
We were truly blessed with great weather, great times, great memories and, of course, a great crew.
Though we came close to achieving all our goals, reality set in and we were not able to finish painting Ms. Rose's house. I spoke to Ms. Rose and friends that, personally, it was hard to quit when we were so close to completing the job. Her friend stated that finishing the house was like growing a garden. One crew plants the seed, one crew waters, one crew... well, you get the picture.
Her words made it so much easier to accept the fact that our time there was done.
I am so happy to have had this experience to do such rewarding work and am especially glad to have spent it with my son by my side. Thank you Pete and Kathy for getting this rewarding opportunity off the ground.
Now back to my nap.
The rail travelers are back on the tracks for the long trek north. I think we are all feeling the effects of the past week focusing on the present task at hand and are now found with several hours of downtime; a good time for reflection.
We were truly blessed with great weather, great times, great memories and, of course, a great crew.
Though we came close to achieving all our goals, reality set in and we were not able to finish painting Ms. Rose's house. I spoke to Ms. Rose and friends that, personally, it was hard to quit when we were so close to completing the job. Her friend stated that finishing the house was like growing a garden. One crew plants the seed, one crew waters, one crew... well, you get the picture.
Her words made it so much easier to accept the fact that our time there was done.
I am so happy to have had this experience to do such rewarding work and am especially glad to have spent it with my son by my side. Thank you Pete and Kathy for getting this rewarding opportunity off the ground.
Now back to my nap.
Mike
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