End of The Year = PARTY!

After we were all done with our projects it was time to sit back and relax before time for us to depart.

Summer of ....

Well it is the end of my stint in AmeriCorps. I am currently working with at risk urban youth at a service based summer camp. I wasn't able to get pictures of what we were doing but it was a good time. I was able to make a lasting impact on a lot of young people.

More from the deep south...

Up in the attic!


Grouting away.

Biloxi, Mississippi

My team and I have been in Biloxi for some time now. First and foremost it is hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July down here. Our project with Urban Life Missions has been great. We have been working on repairing one house and demolishing condemned properties. We have taken the house from studs on the wall all the way to paint and flooring. We have worked with a couple of groups of volunteers. They have been really great and very helpful.I don't really have pictures from work yet. I will add those later.


Crawfish boil!

Katrina Memorial

More News About the Biloxi Trip and Other Things

My team will be going to Biloxi, Mississippi to work with Urban Life Missions. We will be living at a volunteer station in a trailer. My team will be separated into three different crews. The first crew will be about half of the team. They will be doing basic construction and demolition. The second crew will be doing volunteer coordination and facilities. Basically they will be fixing things around the camp and giving volunteers jobs to do. The last crew is the kitchen crew. This group is responsible for cooking all the meals for our team and the other volunteers. Before we go to Biloxi, we will be staying in Sacramento,California to work with the Boys and Girls Club until April 21st!

By gosh, were going to Biloxi!

Hey, don't have much information but my team will be going to Biloxi,MS for our next project! More info to come...

Cat Island Continues

I wish I had the chance to write more on this blog, but time always seems to get away from me. Catalina Island. I am not even sure where to go with this. My time here on the island has been amazing.I have learned so much. I can demolish things, build trails, build fences, and patch pot holes. My team and I will be leaving the island shortly to go to our next place, which I can't say on here until I get clearance. Sorry. Until next time!

Catalina PICs

Traveling to PAIR O DICE

After a week or so of transition we got to finally go to Catalina Island. While on the island my team will be working with the Catalina Conserv. We will be doing out planting, trail building, construction, building guard rails and burn fences. It is very very hard work. We are living at a camp called The Catalina Experience or TCX for short.

Us on the ferry leaving the mainland of Californina.

View of the island on the ferry.

Home sweet home, TCX

End of Texas, Transition..Ok odds and Ends

After Christmas I went back to Texas for about three weeks. In total we worked on eight houses in the Beaumont area. It was really sad to leave Texas. The project sponsors and all the people we met while there will always have a special place in my heart. However leaving Texas was made much easier when my team and I found out that we were going to Catalina Island. Of course we can't go straight to Catalina, we have to have transition first. During transition there are formal debriefings and briefings and a slew of other meetings. But the great thing about transition is seeing all of the people you met earlier in the year during CTI. Over transition the guy on my team with crazy hair, cut his hair very short. But before he cut it we got to straighten it. Well I didn't but I got to watch!

You can never have too much HOPE!

Over the Holiday Break I had the wonderful opportunity to stay in Saint Bernard Parish, LA at Camp Hope. Camp Hope is an old school that is in need of repair before students can come back. In the meantime, the school is used as housing for volunteers. While staying, I met a lot of wonderful people and ate very good food. Camp Hope and the people I met will always have a special place in my heart.

NOLA

I do not even think I can begin to describe the heartbreaking destruction that is everywhere in the New Orleans area. You can drive for miles and see abandoned houses and shopping centers. Street signs are rare and so are working traffic lights. Really, you just have to be here to understand. The picture with the X: Each quadrant stands for something. One part is the organization that searched the house, the date it was looked at, and the number of bodies found. Fortunately no bodies were found in this building. Had bodies of people been found there would be a number where the zero is. If animal bodies are found it would also be written. The picture of the trailer park is one picture of many FEMA trailer parks. Some of the trailers have running water and electricity but many do not. Imagine having a family of four people living in those conditions for two years. The other pictures show the general destruction that can still be found. Some houses have special instructions written on the outside. Do not touch could be on the outside for many reasons. Most likely the house is toxic from mold. The remainder are pictures that I thought were interesting.

ISPs

In addition to our normal service hours, we have to do Individual Service Projects. One of our projects is volunteering at the Humane Society.

A LOT of FUN!

When we are not working, we are having fun. We love Dixie Dance Hall, but we can find fun anywhere!

A Little Work

Here are some pictures of us working. I do not think I can describe how great it is to be doing what we are doing. We are building houses for people who have been living in FEMA trailers for years. These houses will make great Christmas presents for the families that will be moving into the homes. The team has experienced nothing but great gratitude from the homeowners. The people we are building the houses for and with have truly made it a wonderful experience.