2010 Mission Trip — Day 2
Sore and achy muscles — tired bodies — but blessed hearts — your Mis sion Team has completed our second day of work in Violet and Chalmette, Louisiana. It was filled with work and connections and flexibility.
The teams stayed in their same configuration from yesterday — and went back to pretty much the same tasks as yesterday. The Mehle Road team completed two rooms of laminate flooring installation. And several of them began the arduous task of “chiseling” old laminate flooring that had been glued directly to the cement flooring back in the 60’s. It was a humbling task. The Barlow Home team finished the floors in the bathrooms, installed doors and windowsills and baseboards — plus caulking around windows, etc. The house transformed from a construction project into a nearly complete house today.
The folks at the Barlow Home had some interesting visitors at the worksite today. A mother duck and her four ducklings wandered into the house and began to make themselves at home! You can find the pictures above. After an appropriate time of watching the wildlife, the team “removed” the ducks — gave Cheri Nixon the task of cleaning up after them (Cheri insists she got the job because she’s the only woman on the team!) — and resumed work. It was a nice break.
The Barlow family consists of 29 year old father, Robert; 28 year old mother, Amy; and three very active sons (the oldest of which is 7) and they are expecting another child sometime in October. Mom, who is experiencing significant morning sickness, is not able to visit the new house because she feels so ill. Dad, who works as a roofer, checks out the progress each day on his way home from work. They presently live with Amy’s parents, and are VERY anxious to get into their own home. Their trailer was totally destroyed by the storm. Amy describes the first time they came back to their home — seven months after the storm — as completely devastating and depressing. Their mobile home had been totally destroyed, and the only home they could afford to purchase was an uninhabitable wreck, as the St. Bernard’s project described it. They bought it from a woman who had been raised in it, but who couldn’t return to it after the storm. Amy fewels that the woman they bought the house from was sent down from heaven to help her family. The location of the house is perfect — near the school which the children will attend — and big enough for their growing family. It is a large 2300 square foot, 4 bedroom home with a backyard for the children to play in. Their finances were tapped out with the mortgage, and they turned to the St. Bernard Project, which had helped Amy’s Mom rebuild her house.
We’ve told you about the cement slabs that dot the neighborhoods in St. Bernard’s Parish. They remain after the homes that once rested on them were destroyed. The Parish has purchased them from families they could find — and have “taken” them from families they could not find after the storm. Can you imagine simply leaving your home and never returning to “claim” it in any fashion? Apparently there are quite a number of families who have done that. Stories say they have move to Texas or Georgia or other parts of Louisiana — or even in places up north, like New Hampshire. But they have just left, to start over again. We talk about the courage of those who have stayed to rebuild. But it takes another kind of courage to move someplace entirely different and start over completely.
The Parish has done something interesting in tending to the lots that they now own. They have contracted with different construction companies to break them up and remove them. But in the time before the destruction begins the construction companies must maintain the lots. So we find lots with the grass mowed and the walkways neatly trimmed — but with a bare slab sitting in the middle. Looks strange. Once the slab and walkways are cleared out, the hole is filled and graded and grass is seeded. Then the lot is offered to the neighbors, who can buy it for $4,000 for themselves — or they can split the lot with the neighbor on the other side, for $2,000 each.
There are still unrepaired homes that haven’t been destroyed yet. If someone comes along before the bulldozer, the Parish will sell them to folks for anyplace between $20,000 and $35,000. The new owners would then be required to rebuild them — like our Barlow family.
This evening the team took a ride to Shell Beach to see a special Hurricane Katrina Memorial — memorializing all the people who died as a result of the storm. Their names are all listed on the memorial. On the way home we stopped for ice cream — a nice treat to end the day.
We’re proud to represent our Church Family, and know that you continue to hold us in prayer.