Memoirs of a Crew Chief

Mrs. Coleman’s house

Crew: Ron Blackburn, Trent Johnson, Beth Kulow, Katie Parks, & Bill Shanebrook.

Additional people who helped from other crews: Deanna Davis, Molly Kulow, Emily Walters, & Charles Parks.

Comments: All I can say to start is we were surprised and shocked to see the condition of the Mrs. Coleman’s house. We all believed it would be best for the residents (6 total living in a small three bedroom house) if they could stay somewhere else as the whole house needed to be gutted. The outside of the house was in reasonably good condition with recently installed roofing. It was installed in 1½ days by 4 college girls. For the most part, the damage done by Katrina was the roof and subsequent water damage to the ceiling and walls in the back bedrooms. Our assignment (three teams) was to fix two bedrooms that had water damage and the bathroom that had considerable damage (not caused by Katrina).

Our first day there we went to all the projects to understand the problems and start putting a list together for materials and tools (It never fails that the list is only the beginning and different tools and supplies are identified every day).

The second day (Sunday) we attended Christus Victor Lutheran Church. It was a very nice service and sermon. In the afternoon we toured New Orleans and some of the coastal area between New Orleans and Ocean Springs. Things are improving but have a long way to go.

The next several days were spent on the project. First was demo work. We started taking off a little to see if we could salvage drywall etc. Bottom line we took the walls and ceiling down to the studs and found mold, 5 mice and cockroaches. The floor was taken down to the first layer of sub-floor. All electrical outlets and switches in the bedrooms needed replacing. I cannot do justice describing all the work put in by everyone to get the room’s gutted, dry walled, new flooring installed, and walls and ceiling painted in 5 days. We worked 8 to 12 hour days and felt rewarded by every hour. We watched Katie Parks swing a sledge hammer during demo, Beth Kulow’s great leadership in organizing the trip, all the younger crew learning to operate power equipment (some with training wheels, right Emily), to Deanna (sometimes called Judy by mistake) and Bill running in and out to help get the laminate flooring cut to the right dimensions. Note: We made sure every night that the floor was clean and cleared to allow the residence to set up their air mattress for that night.

Tim Gibson’s team and Steve DeWitt’s team worked mainly on the bathroom. However, everyone helped from time to time. Because of the major damage in the bathroom, a portion of the wall was taken out to allow new floor joists to be put in. The old ones were rotted and sagging. The reason for the damage was not Katrina. It appears the sewer line was plugged all the way to the street and someone before us got the bright idea to open the clean out trap below the bathroom. Needless to say there was quite a mess below the house with all the drains dumping onto the ground under the bathroom and back bedroom. Don’t know how long this was there, but the smell and damage were beyond belief. Emily and Molly worked on digging a trench in the back, but only a small amount of sludge would drain. The rest was neutralized with lime pellets and shoveled out in wheelbarrows so plumbing and floor joists could be installed. Because of the damage our crew could not get the bathroom done in the 5 days. However, plumbing was 90% done, floor joists installed from outside wall through the hallway, new inside wall was installed and dry walled, hallway floor re-installed.

We left the house in much better condition than when we got there. A special award should go to Tim Gibson who stood in the middle of all the sludge to get the bathroom as far along as we did. The only comment is I would not sit next to him in church for at least a couple more weeks. We made him change his clothes every night when leaving the worksite.

There were so many things that made the trip special. However, they are too numerous to mention. Lastly, we were all saddened by the loss of John Okeson and our prayers go out to the family and especially our fellow worker Betty Okeson.

Ron Blackburn
Crew Chief

Work Notes and Reflection

The home that we were assigned was one where multiple family members had lost there homes and had been forced to share the surviving home of their parents/grand-parents. What had started as 3 families in a 2 bedroom home and Camp Victor had just finished adding 2 more bedrooms on to the home a couple months ago. This home had received damage from to the storm to part of it’s roof and in turn water damage to the living and 2 original bedrooms. With the new roof in place, our job was to make the 2 original bedrooms more livable and finish the bathroom.

During the restoration process, we replaced a section the ceiling and insulation in the one bedroom and a section of floor in the other bedroom. One thing that we could have done without was the fleas and thousands of small Cockroaches (and a few large) that we encountered while performing repairs and cleanup. 2 and a half cans of Cockroach spray later made the area bearable for the team to work. I was proud of Alysse and Kristine as they didn’t like the bugs, but they did what needed to be done anyway.After completing the repairs and cleanup (dead Cockroaches included), we repainted the ceiling, installed new carpet, and installed new doors in both bedrooms. Many thanks to Trent, Bob Cook and Don Conkle for “pop-corning ” the ceiling and the carpet work. We also were able to get a water heater closet in the bathroom dry-walled and ready for paint. The owner and her family were very happy with the carpet and the other work that we had done for them.

Charles Hornaday and crew

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Reflections of the trip

It has been two weeks since returning from Ocean Springs, which has given me time to reflect on the experiences that we had during the trip. This trip was much different for me than the trip a year ago, last January.
It was a time of sadness due to seeing the devastation that still remains and the living conditions that some of the remaining residents endure. But even through all of this devastation and you can see hope in the lives of many that we encountered and helped.
All 3 families that were living in the home that my crew worked on were living at the poverty level prior to the storm. 2 of the families lost everything and were forced to move in with their mother/grandmother. Even though it is a crowded living situation, they happy and content, because they have each other and their God. They said that they felt blessed that they have their lives and by the sharing of the gifts that volunteers have bestowed on them. One of the passages I saw in the home was written by Paul in Philippians (4:11), “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am”. This family, as were many others that we encountered, are living testimony to Paul’s words. For me personally, I feel that they have given me more than I gave to them.

Charles

One More Letter

Greetings from the Gulf Shore! We are having a great time here. There is much to do, and many needy families. We have found that even nearly two years after the "Storm", the major problems here come with the many families that can't move away. Mom, dad, brother, sister; all have moved in together because their homes have been destroyed. This has put pressure on their homes and families. The people in charge of Camp Victor have told us that only about 20% of the homes in Mississippi have been rebuilt.
We have been working on a man's home, who is over 80 years old, and a veteran of WWII and the Ocean Springs police department. He rode out the storm and has many roof leaks. We have found and repaired them, and are working on the ceilings. We have painted the house and repaired a few doors. Tom. the homeowner, is a crabber, and his daughter came on Monday and made us crab cakes to die for. Tom and his dog Ozzie have been great hosts, and we will miss his smile and great sense of humor when we leave.
We have two young ladies working with us, Mary Ellen and Shelby. They have been great helpers, and have been covered in paint at the end of each day. Our crew also had Betty as a member, until this morning when she found out her son was very sick, and she needed to return home. We have all prayed for her safe return, and for her son. Peter joined us today and helped with the painting and repairing wood trim. The many cards from Resurrection have come in handy. We needed many different items for the house: paint, trim, all kinds of things.
Thank you for all the help and prayers. Keep them up!

~Don, Bucky, and Bob~

Another Letter!

Working in the distribution center today, we found many highs. People were so grateful as we wheeled out bags of groceries and put them in their cars. We exchanged stories of "The Storm", and there were also hugs and wishes of blessing for and from them. Tomorrow we go shopping with the gift cards given by people from home to put some much needed items on the shelves of the distribution center. Every day and hour we see God's work down here. We have an awesome God!

~Karen, Sondra, Bob and Alice~

A Note From the Nurses

Gayle and I have been working in a free clinic in Biloxi that started right after Katrina came through. The pace there is steady. Miss Judy works in the clinic 10-14 hour days, 6 days/week. She's been working this pace the past 2 years.
Drug companies will not donate any medicines, so the pharmacy is filled by donations both monetary and pharmeceutical from doctors and nurses around the country. The clinic is un entirely by volunteers. The doctors are retirees donating their time, and the nurses come from around the country to volunteer.
Even though the people we see are sick, they remain so polite and appreciative about everything. Somehow they still manage to smile. One sad thing we learned today is that for up to two years after "the storm", children watched the weather channel more than their normal shows. Another sad thing we learned is that people here really want to work, but there are no jobs. These people are just amazing!
Mississippi is a great place to be.

~Stephanie Y.

The Blog

Due to a very weak server, the internet down here has been on and off all week. Check the blog periodically, because I might be able to get on every now and then and give some updates. I should have more pictures up very soon, possibly by friday morning.
~Aaron Witters~

Thank You WELCA

It was truly an act of God that WELCA specifically appointed their collections for baby products. As we found out today, there is a dire need for baby products seeing as how there are currently none in the distribution center. What an amazing show of God's will working in and throughout our lives.

Sympathies

Our prayers and sympathies go out to the Okeson family. Betty Okeson was woken early this morning with an urgent message that her son John was ill. John passed into our Father's house Tuesday night. We extend all our love and pray that our Father embrace the Okesons in His loving arms and grant the family strength and peace as they struggle through this most difficult time.