Day 6; Oct 8

LAST DAY!!
* first correction from yesterday's posting the second homeowner we were honored to met last night was Zander Murray.

Though we only worked at our site in the morning, it was still a tiring day! We started our morning at 5:30am; and prepared breakfast for the Olive Tree village.

Joyce and Jimmie made some delicious french toast that everyone had at least two!  They had vanilla and cinnamon, yummy!!! With an early rising we had a little more time to put our things together and even relax with the puzzle. Unfortunately, as of this post the puzzle is incomplete.

Arriving at the worksite, we were geared to do as much as possible before we had to leave for lunch. But first the site had to be cleaned up. Even more exciting for our day was with going out for lunch and dinner and all our other volunteers were also out in the city; Betty joined us at the site!  She was a fantastic cleaner-upper.

 After Betty helped us prepare our rooms for tiling; Collette and Betty helped prepare John and Minnie's one bedroom that had tiled prior to Katrina and it had withstood.  However a few tiles needed to be repaired and Kate even found similar tiles at Lowes this year! What luck!

 Paul and Jimmie also had different tasks throughout the house. Jimmie took some special time to create a threshold for the entry door that was individualized for their home to fit the door and for when the tile goes in. What skills. Kristina and Kate truly valued their help in such concerns as this for the Philips home.

Paul caring up and setting up the saw

Jimmie checking his cut and angle for the threshold.

And before you know it,  the time was up and we had to clean up!  We had cut all the tiles to complete our room 1 and room 2 had already hit 1/2 way; wow we were such a team!

Sarah sweeping up the mess from tiling

With our construction team leadership, John & Minnie and even Wesley Hall whom the team worked with last year all came to lunch with us at The Joint and had some delicious BBQ. We got to catch up and relax.  

Paul and Sheri in front of home they worked on 2009

We  headed out after  lunch to  a special event,  a home dedication of Laurie's the second home Frankfort worked on last year. It was special to see the community , young people and all the volunteers welcome Laurie home. There were presentations from Project Homecoming, the Presbytery of Southern Louisiana and even the Vice Moderator of the  PC (USA). Laurie's uncle prayed for us all; we blessed the home and she was shared some special gifts from across the country to welcome her home!  I think the most beautiful moment was when the executive director of Project Homecoming presented Laurie with a loaf of bread to represent the breaking of bread that will happen together in her home and the relationship we have as Christians at the Lord's Supper.

 Christina, our construction site manager at the Philip's home this year was the construction site manager at Laurie's home presented the family with a folder of letters from volunteer's that worked on her home. She read a few special letters and presented them with a CD of her music. Our team also purchased a few of her CD's she recorded; so we have some lovely music to come home with.






After that dedication we traveled to the Lower 9th Ward and visited Wesley Hall's home. Other members of First Presbyterian worked on his home last year. Wesley gave us all a lovely tour of his home, shared his story of how he got to work rebuilding his home. And of course shared many words of thanks for everything we had done. It was beautiful to see his come completed and recognize the small things we were doing this week will one day become a true home like Wesley's.  

Collette, Sandy and Paul with Wesley Hall; the home they worked on in 2009

 Though it was sad to see as we entered the Lower 9th Ward and Wesley's street there are still many destroyed and abandoned homes from Katrina. They now refer to these places as 'blighted' and it will be interested to hear in the future how the city plans to deal with the thousand of homes and land.   Wesley was the only home on his street for two blocks but yet determined this was home.

After such a lovely visit with Wesley we took a short tour of the area of the Lower 9th Ward; most was still empty fields and desolate homes. But a few were in the process of rebuilding; using companies like: Demo Diva and their pink equipment, pictured below.

We also toured near where the Levee broke and saw the homes created by Brad Pitt's organization; Make It Right; Nola These were beautiful and unique homes, each so creative and just so creative. You really must check out the website to get a full picture of all the different homes that were lining the streets.  This home specifically I learned is a the home of a community leader whom Kristina introduced the group to last year. He had a special garden out front in memory of his grandson whom he lost in the flooding of the levee.  This year we just passed by and offered prayers for his continual strength.

 Finally, we ended our day at Felix's Restaurant & Oyster Bar to relax after such a long day. There was enjoyable conversation, filling food and even the Olive Tree manager, Dan met us too.  This filling of our stomach of course reminded us that our time here in New Orleans is ending in the morning. The suitcases repacked, rooms cleaned and we begin the long journey home to our home.

 We are thankful for the friends we have made, the friends we have reconnected with and the working of God through us for these people whose determination and strenght has been uplifting for us. The work will continue even as we say goodbye and God bless.

And may the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with all the people of New Orleans, today and always. Amen

Joyce getting to know the homeowner dedicated today, Laurie

And thank you for joining us on this trip!  Tune in 1 more time tomorrow for a special montage of candit moments of the volunteers!

Day 5; Oct 7

Whew!  Today is the day when muscles start to ache and the team feels the drain of full days of hard work. Then we spend some time with the people we are doing this for and re-adjust our focus. The energy comes and we made it through another day!

We see real progress with the work we have done; feel connection to the people we are volunteering with and enjoy camaraderie with the homeowners with a delicious meal.  I think the dinner on thursday night is truly an humbling experience. The homeowners are invited to a fellowship dinner, given an opportunity to share their story but also become true friends.  We celebrate their strength up to this day and bless them for the many years to come.

Yet I am jumping ahead of myself, first we had a long day of hard work at the Philips home before we got to sit and break bread with them.

Our Tiling Grannies knocked out a closet and have a little less than a row before room 1 is done! Check out Joyce's mean tiling strokes as she lays the last tile in the closet!  And this is before lunch!

Joyce laying the final tiles in the closet. 

 Jimmie and Paul finished their work on the soffits and were put to work preparing the second entrance for a steel door.  For both safety and efficiency they have pre-purchased new steel doors that are a little larger than the existing entrance, it seems Jimmie's background comes to the rescue again!


And before we knew it, it was time to break for lunch!  Thus our lunch break was taken, as usual in the driveway, today however in the shade. (Minus the bathing beauties that got a little sun)

Kate and Sarah bathing in the sun after lunch

After lunch, we got back to work.  We had a good system going with 'go-fers' and even the recently trained teaching the Americorp how to properly lay tile. We will see tomorrow how well Sarah taught as we spend our last day at the work site.

But before we could head back for  dinner, all our tools had to be cleaned and major tools had to be put into our trailer for the night. Sandy made sure everything we used that day got spick-and-span.

Look at the progress in Room 1; and revisit day 2 to see where we started!

 With enough time to clean up and get a little rest, Olive Tree Village volunteer's hosted the homeowners and invited all the worksite crew to dinner. Our homeowners this week, Minnie & John and Zanrey (only 2 of the homes we are working on this week are for present occupants. The third home, on Rampart St. was donated to Project Homecoming if they can repair the street facing parts of the home in 6 wks. They have the intention to repair this home completely than sell it below market to a lower income family. Project Homecoming is also hoping this home to be an example for future work)

Both families shared their stories and thanks for all we are doing for them. We got to spend significant time with both homeowners to hear more than their survival of Katrina. John & Minnie shared with the volunteers about their lives afterwards and of course many words of thanks for all we have done.
We were so honored to have the footprints of their warmth and perseverance upon our hearts as we travel safely home.

As we bid John and Minnie goodnight, we gathered for a quick group photo. It was an exhausting day, and  we have all hit the sack hard.



so with parting words from John, may God hold you and sustain you always.  Amen

Day 4; Oct 6th

Everyone slept-in a little later this morning, as we recognized how hard we worked yesterday. We began our work at the site, recognizing what needed to be done and worked even harder today!

Today's pictures are volunteered from Colette and Joyce, so i hope you enjoy :)

 The work team and truck arrived on time to begin our work this morning. As you see in the background, our home faces a very busy St. Claribourne St bridge that goes over a large train track. That  day the two lane road was forced down to one due to construction, so it was very loud all day from traffic.

After a quick check in with Kate and Christina, we geared up to get to work.  Jimmie and Paul continued their work repairing soffits on the left side of the house. Joyce, Sheri, and Sandy got to work in bedroom one. Sarah supported then helped Christina and Elle in room two.

Jimmie and Kate checking in for the morning in front of the house.

Christina checking our work in room one.

 The team was a little frustrated as a tile laid the previous day was too low and had to be taken up. The struggle to lift it and then chisel the thinset out from beneath prior to relaying it. It was also a slow day as we learned random tiles in each box were slightly longer than rest of the tiles and had to be trashed. To count, five tiles had to be thrown out or taken out due to their mis-sized.

Collette keeps us all clean and even got back to work on the soffits. For any who have tried cleaning under where a gutter would be defiantly would understand!

 After those slow downs, the team knocked out many tiles that morning prior to lunch. We slowly learned a system to best lay the tiles and clean between each buckets of thinset. Lunch was a little early but a much needed break was taken on the driveway; the only open space around the home.  You can also see behind Paul and Jimmie, the two neighboring homes that are currently empty. It was sad to learn  the Philips home was broken into early September and copper piping was ripped out of the wall, but so did the two neighboring homes. Though they are empty, a quick glance inside we noticed some repair work has begun but for some reason or another has stopped.

After a relaxing rest and sustenance; we went back to our various works and were visited by the Project Homecoming's YAV (young adult volunteer), Lauren.  She jumped right into work by mixing us a batch of thinset. Kristina also gave her a quick training on laying of tiles and she too got her hands dirty!
Lauren hails from Dallas TX and majored in Religion at University of Tulsa; after learning about the various places young adult volunteer's work found New Orleans the best fit. Young Adult Volunteers is a program of the Presbyterian church where young people agree to serve and learn in intentional spiritual community for a year. They have sites internationally and nationally such as New Orleans here. Her special gift has been teaching the visiting teams about New Orleans, the recovery and Project Homecoming as well as serving at the sites with us.

Lauren stayed all afternoon with us and together we laid nearly 5 rows of tile. Sheri cut and Joyce laid even difficult tile in a closet by themselves!

The photos below are is the progress we had today and we feel a sense of accomplishment for the day!

Tonight was also special as a native of New Orleans came to the camp and cooks us authentic gumbo and bread pudding!  For those who have been on a mission trip two year ago, will remember half worked on the home of a woman named Beth. Her friend was so touched by the service of PDA volunteers asked to share her gifts with them by providing dinner once a week. So we got to enjoy some delicious true local fare as well as learn from another YAV of the protection of costal Louisiana. 

This young man shared the history, destruction and general information about wetlands. The organization he is volunteering at Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act passed along fascinating information about the lost of our coastal wetlands. 

Sandy with a friend from New Orleans who is now hooked on hooking!

That left us some down time where a few went to bed early, caught up on tv, or in Sandy's case, rug hooking.  Tonight she even won over a convert!  As we go to 'post' she may even have a second. You'll have to check back tomorrow to find out!  As well as check in with the "Tiling Grannies."

God bless, Sarah and the New Orleans Mission Team 2010

DAY 3; Oct 5th

We have found our grove and had a special treat today. The homeowners, Minnie and John Phillips stopped by this afternoon.

Today's pictures have been provided by Paul and Sheri, enjoy :)

Everyone slept deeply and woke up to some delicious biscuits and gravy provided by the team from Cary NC. After an uplifting prayer together in the parking lot, all teams at Olive Village headed off to their separate sites, 7 in all this week throughout the city.

We arrived at our home this morning ready to work and that we did. This morning, our now confident tile layers laid nearly two rows of tile!  Betty stayed at Olive Village to begin the preparation for the camp of a KY BBQ for dinner.  Jimmie shared a special recipe for BBQ.

The tile layers had a great system going and Sheri even learned to cut a corner for the laying of tile into a closet. Sandy used her years of craft skills to measure the cut. It fit!

 Collette and Sarah spent some time cleaning the soffit (for those like me who have no idea where a soffit is, it is the edge and underneath of the roof towards the actual house). This was slow work as paint may have been lead based, as we learned the Philips home was build in the the 70's. So faces were covered with lovely facemasks and bleach water was used to kill the mold that had accumulated.

Kate put Paul and Jimmie to work, of rebuilding the rotten soffits along the corners. Enjoy pictures of Jimmie and Paul at different stages of replacement. 

The beginning brace for the soffit. good job Jimmie!

Friends of Minnie and John stopped by to check out the progress and send their thanks. A special friend is a local firefighter, who we also learned will be helping the Philip's with plumbing later in the building process. He inspected our work and shared more about his relationship to the Philip family.

We also got to know our Americorps' volunteers, Jessica and Ellie a little better as we learned more about NCCC (referred to as N triple C) and their volunteer work. Jessica is from Connecticut and Ellie is from many places; both have enjoyed their work since June. They have signed on for a 10 month service commitment. They too are learning with us from a killer tiller, Christina, how to properly lay tile.

Kate, Construction site manager; Jessica, Americorp; Christina, Construction site manager; and Elle, Americorp

 As we were continuing our work this afternoon, the homeowners, John and Minnie Philips stopped by to say hello. They took the time to share a little about their story, how they met and their families.  Minnie and John met as waiters at a restaurant. John has three children and Minnie has four, all adults and throughout the country. John has lived in their home on Clouet St for over 45 years and are honored to have us helping them rebuild.   Here are John and Minnie standing proud and dedicated to coming home. They both took time to speak with every volunteer and we hope to see more of them!

As we laid our last tile for the day and cleaned all the tools, Betty finished up preparing a delicious BBQ for the camp, with Jimmie and Paul's support.  Rave reviews and seconds abounded for great BBQ, fixins and brownies, of course with ice cream.

Betty preparing dinner for Olive Village

Dinner and an Olive Tree Village members devotion with the leadership of Carrolton, NC closed out Day 2. Team member's broke for personal time, catching up with family, relaxing with rug hooking and the blog. 

thanks for joining us for Day 2!  Leave a comment on your checking in on us below!  -Sarah signing off