Wednesday, 8 pm

A windy but warm day found us doing a couple of projects that were more satisfying then just junk removal that we did most of the day yesterday. Cally and I were teamed with two folks from a synagogue in Chaperl Hill and a young woman who grew up in and went to college here in Mississippi.

I worked in the morning with Jake, a young man with the Chapel Hill group to basically disassemble and carry out the internal framing of an historic house. Got lots of work with a slesge hammer, and learned how to use a a "Saws All" to cut both the wood and nails. We took the whole thing down in about three hours time and it was dirty, muddy, sweaty and great fun.

Then joined Cally, who will try just about anything, to climb onto a roof and nail down tarps with wood slats to keep them down to prevent further water damage. I was on the roof with a half dozne women who discovered the joys of banging nails with hammers, and I think understood this behavior in their toddler sons from the first time! We got the roof covered up pretty well, which is a good thing because we are supposed to get major thunder storms tonight. So, tomorrow, our crew chief Eddie may have us help refine the bunk rooms with some internal carpentry.

Mike

Hi there. This afternoon Teresa, Lanier and I went to meetings in Bay St. Louis after clearing some trash out of an area across the road from a house to be rebuilt on Rippy Rd. which Mike described above. This work resulted in a mound of wood pieces and shingles about 15 ft. x 5 ft. high and two dozen bags of personal goods and other stuff strewn on the ground. We filled a trash barrel as well to be picked up by the county's collection. In Bay St. Louis we met with people from the school district and the Pearl River Valley Foundation. Though PRVF is north of the Gulf Coast, they quickly recognized the need to help the Gulf Coast's multiple cities and towns, and got permission from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to use a grant fo obesity (slated to begin Sept. 2005) for Katrina relief in stead. $600,000 went in to an after school program and 8 week summer camp program for kids in 2006. For this summer Ted Alexander, the Foundation director, needs to raise $800,000. Demand will be higher, they want to accommodate up to 3,000 kids this summer, a bit mroe than the 2,400 children who were able to attend camp last summer. Teachers and high school students are hired to be counselors.

We met with Pam Motley from an early childhood institute at Mississippi State who is training day care providers to engage in "Power Play" with 3-6 year olds, helping them with coping, teamwork, self esteem and intimacy after the trauma of the Katrina. This work actually originated with the Trauma Institute in Boston. She will be in Boston in a couple weeks to strategize with one of the directors, Steve Gross.

Divorce and suicide rates are up 300% and 600% respectively on the Gulf Coast and this was an area with families already in difficulty before the storm. In Bay St. Louis, 95% of everything standing was lost -- business, schools, homes. Almost everyone is still in trailers (350 sq. ft. for families of 2, 3 4 or more). We toured the area with a young woman named Carrie Russo, who showed us the devastation along the beach and on adjoining roads. It was a t one time an historic town full of small cottages and bungalows and its share of mansion on the beach due to people retiring from New Orleans.

We had dinner together around 7 pm back at the camp, sitting outdoors in a wind that presages some rain and predicted hail tonight. Lish fixed a baked chicken on stuffing with a tasty gravy. Mike bought pecan and cherry pies at Wlamart...Cally insists on putting the hottest sauce on everything. I have to remember to tell you all how Lanier was ready to rush a train at a crossing near our camp as we set out for Bay St. Louis. She claimed the trains are slow around here and not worth waiting for....Teresa and I encouraged her not to do so.

As Teresa said while we were in Bay St. Louis, why do we buy home or business insurance? We apparently don't get much for it. Bay St. Louis sustained $1.2 billion in damaged and destroyed buildings. I believe I heard that the schools were covered for $30 million, and have gotten $5 million and that is it says their insuror. Apparently, a suit won recently against State Farm (remember their ads?) enables everyone to sue their insurors for money due them, but this takes legal assistance, and few people ahve the money for that.

We listened to the CFO of the school district, a man named Garland, talk about the hoops that government makes you jump thru to get any assistance, and that $0 is available for rebuilding. We didn't even get to talk about Homeland Security funds held up in Jackson (the capital). He and his family have lived in Bay St. Louis for generations (few like him have moved away); he is so heartbroken he won't cross the highway to see damage sustained by some of his favorite places (the Coliseum being one). So he focuses on helping the school district get back on its feet, working around the clock, and only last week visited his own home to assess the damage there and start to plan for his own rebuilding effort. Despite the obvious sadness in the room, the dozen or so people who took the time to meet with us are clearly a determined group, feel forgotten by Washington, the media, and organizations that sent immediate donations of supplies right after the storm.

Bev