A Comparison Between Biloxi, MS and New Orleans, LA
We spent five plus days in Biloxi and have spent one plus days in New Orleans (so far). They're in very different states of (dis)repair, but they both still need lots of people to do manual labor.
In Biloxi, we stayed with an organization called Hands On, specifically Hands On Gulf Coast. Here in New Orleans, we're staying with the Common Ground Collective. They're very different organizations, in very different buildings, but they're both doing good work and the rest doesn't matter a whole lot.
In Biloxi, there was a job board and there were chores. There are chores here too, but the job board is pretty much pick a crew that has room for you. The chores are similar. The work is not.
In Biloxi, I spent two days on a Women's Build with Habitat for Humanity (which I highly recommend for any woman who is at all interested in building, no matter your age, no matter your skill level). Needless to say, overall it was a very good experience. Pictures of the house at the end of the second day I worked there, the fourth day total:
We put up the interior framing the first day I worked and the trusses and other supports the second.
Davi and I spent another day, a half day sorting through books that had been donated to an elementary school library. Did they have quizzes in the system that students could take? If so, were they ones that the school had already purchased? It was fun, easy, and somewhat repetitive work. It brought back lots of childhood memories. Also, nobody really thinks about what happens to all of those books that some organization collected to rebuild libraries in the Gulf Coast, do they? Well, until volunteers get in there to sort them out (librarians are busy, man!), they seem to sit in boxes in a storage room. (Hint: GO VOLUNTEER!! It's not all dirty, risky work!)
Davi and I spent our final work day cleaning the local soup kitchen and serving lots of hot lunches.
So now we're in New Orleans. We got in yesterday afternoon, not early enough to go out on a work crew, so we helped prepare today's Thanksgiving meal all afternoon. I don't think I've ever had experience with pots that are two to three feet in diameter. It's an intense bulk-cooking kitchen. Plus, it was erected outdoors, mostly under a tent that has been screened in. Again, I'll post pictures when I get them.
Today, somewhat clueless, we showed up at breakfast shortly after 6:30 and attended a somewhat basic safety training at 7. We proceeded to get our gear: Tyvek (or polypropelene) body suits, rubber boots, safety goggles, and a respirator. After some amount of chaos, we showed up at a house that was, I believe, on its second day of gutting.
Personal things had been "mucked out" already, so we spent most of the day removing the molding and the plaster walls. It was like the perfect complement to the Habitat building I did in Biloxi.
The buildings were about as bad as I'd imagined, only not wet, which was really nice. The roof was intact, so it's had some time to dry out...
It's crazy how many houses still have hardly been touched since the destruction occurred.
It was funny, there was an archway in the house that had nice decorative curves to it... The plaster was attached to them by being applied over chicken wire. One of the other guys there and I had a bonding moment about how short-sighted the builder must have been because removing plaster-covered chicken wire is really difficult!
Anyway, although there was sawdust in Biloxi, it was much cleaner work than that here in New Orleans. They're very different experiences, and yet, not so much. Communal living - eating, sleeping, working, relaxing. Team work. Community service. Volunteer work. It's all good stuff and I'm really glad that we're experiencing both places.
The Thanksgiving meal today was incredible - so good and so abundant.
STB
In Biloxi, we stayed with an organization called Hands On, specifically Hands On Gulf Coast. Here in New Orleans, we're staying with the Common Ground Collective. They're very different organizations, in very different buildings, but they're both doing good work and the rest doesn't matter a whole lot.
In Biloxi, there was a job board and there were chores. There are chores here too, but the job board is pretty much pick a crew that has room for you. The chores are similar. The work is not.
In Biloxi, I spent two days on a Women's Build with Habitat for Humanity (which I highly recommend for any woman who is at all interested in building, no matter your age, no matter your skill level). Needless to say, overall it was a very good experience. Pictures of the house at the end of the second day I worked there, the fourth day total:
We put up the interior framing the first day I worked and the trusses and other supports the second.
Davi and I spent another day, a half day sorting through books that had been donated to an elementary school library. Did they have quizzes in the system that students could take? If so, were they ones that the school had already purchased? It was fun, easy, and somewhat repetitive work. It brought back lots of childhood memories. Also, nobody really thinks about what happens to all of those books that some organization collected to rebuild libraries in the Gulf Coast, do they? Well, until volunteers get in there to sort them out (librarians are busy, man!), they seem to sit in boxes in a storage room. (Hint: GO VOLUNTEER!! It's not all dirty, risky work!)
Davi and I spent our final work day cleaning the local soup kitchen and serving lots of hot lunches.
So now we're in New Orleans. We got in yesterday afternoon, not early enough to go out on a work crew, so we helped prepare today's Thanksgiving meal all afternoon. I don't think I've ever had experience with pots that are two to three feet in diameter. It's an intense bulk-cooking kitchen. Plus, it was erected outdoors, mostly under a tent that has been screened in. Again, I'll post pictures when I get them.
Today, somewhat clueless, we showed up at breakfast shortly after 6:30 and attended a somewhat basic safety training at 7. We proceeded to get our gear: Tyvek (or polypropelene) body suits, rubber boots, safety goggles, and a respirator. After some amount of chaos, we showed up at a house that was, I believe, on its second day of gutting.
Personal things had been "mucked out" already, so we spent most of the day removing the molding and the plaster walls. It was like the perfect complement to the Habitat building I did in Biloxi.
The buildings were about as bad as I'd imagined, only not wet, which was really nice. The roof was intact, so it's had some time to dry out...
It's crazy how many houses still have hardly been touched since the destruction occurred.
It was funny, there was an archway in the house that had nice decorative curves to it... The plaster was attached to them by being applied over chicken wire. One of the other guys there and I had a bonding moment about how short-sighted the builder must have been because removing plaster-covered chicken wire is really difficult!
Anyway, although there was sawdust in Biloxi, it was much cleaner work than that here in New Orleans. They're very different experiences, and yet, not so much. Communal living - eating, sleeping, working, relaxing. Team work. Community service. Volunteer work. It's all good stuff and I'm really glad that we're experiencing both places.
The Thanksgiving meal today was incredible - so good and so abundant.
STB