Good-Byes

Dwight surveys the group's progress at the end of the last day.

Carolyn had to leave at noon on Friday to return home to her kids. Jim had provided her with a lovely blue Madison Cares shirt to signify her close ties with us. Tears and hugs all around.

Then Jim and Chuck were off to their return flight from New Orleans and George left early Saturday morning for the airport in Mobile. Glenn wisely got us to the Gulfport airport with not too much time to spare to shorten our good-byes to him!

Final Day

Raising the porch frame.

Friday brought dramatic gray clouds that finally produced showers. But nothing was going to stop us except a downpour. The sheathing for the house was completed (an estimated 104 nails per 4' x 8" board!) Maureen and Dwight had to remove and replace board from one corner and can attest to how firmly everything is nailed together!

Then the basic frame for the porch roof went up with many hands to help with the heavy lifting. Two molded bath tub enclosures were delivered and put in place. Too bad they weren't hooked up to water to sluices us down!

Glenn and Chuck went around installing bracing and squaring exterior and interior corners in preparation next week for installing the roof framing.

All in all a dramatic end to four days of work - from cement slab to walls and shed.

Carolyn pounds in her final nail.

Fire in the Hole

Ever wonder how wooden studs are attached to a cement pad? George is now our expert.

A "rams head" uses a cartridge to drive a special connector from the wooden sill into the cement below. Every time he set off the charge, George called "fire in the hole" so we wouldn't be surprised by the gun shot-like sound.

The Kindness of Strangers

Maureen and Annette work on the sheathing.

As mentioned earlier, Donna and her mother, Joyce, from across the street provided folding metal chairs for our lunch breaks (sitting on the ground attracts those pesky fire ants!). On Friday at lunch time Annette headed across the street to begin bringing over the chairs. Carolyn warned her to watch out for snakes. Suddenly a loud scream pierced the quiet neighborhood. "Snake!" Jim rushed over to rescue Annette. It was rubber snake from Donna and Joyce. As they rushed out of their house, everyone collapsed in laughter!

Jack and King Studs Make a Full House

Dwight Lopes and Glenn Steward (official van driver) take a break.

No, we haven't been spending days at the casinos. Jack and King studs are different lengths of vertical studs to support windows and doors.

The shed is completed, except for the siding that will go on when that stage of the house is completed. Brad correctly reminded us that it is not "just a shed." Everything about this construction is important to the family that will live in the house.

We had unseasonably warm weather the last two days - water is our friend! So far we haven't had any run-ins with the infamous fire ants.

The walls are completed, including 95% of the interior studs. The OSB sheathing material is up on two sides. Have I mentioned that we are doing a lot of hammering? On Friday, our last work day everyone will be working on completing the sheathing and building a front porch.

Glenn Stewart has been driving the mini-van for us. He gets a little "whiney" at the end of the day but is incredibly patient with our requests. His sense of humor is a plus!

- Maureen Lopes

The mens' bunkhouse.

Thursday update

Yankie Stadium

John Brady writes, "Worked hard today. Finished up the shed with meticulous nail work by Pam. Hanging plywood sheathing on house today and have pretty much finished framing the house.

Topped it off with a delicious dinner at the Shed - perfect for us shed people. Waitresses call us "honey" and "baby" - but we have learned we aren't that special - the Mississippi people are that nice to everybody. Yankie Stadium (pictured above) is where we are staying."

The Madison Cares crew enjoys great barbecue and music at "The Shed."

Maureen hammers away another day in Biloxi

Wednesday was a great day

The group from Madison Cares gets a "Tool Box Talk" on safety.

We had a great day today. Breakfast at 7 and the job site in Gauthier a bit after 8. First job was sliding metal strapping that goes under the (bolted down) sills and then is nailed to the studs - keeps the home from floating or blowing off the slab.

Everyone's hammering skills are coming along nicely. Dwight and Maureen did the same strapping connecting the top of the 1st floor to the studs below. Made more "jacks" that support windows and doors, completed more interior rooms. Build the backyard shed from slab to plywood roof. Slapped on the door, put our ladders and nails inside, then locked 'er up with the key that came with the lock set!

Everybody has sore legs but dinner out tonight (Chilis) helped make us feel better. Now we are watching a documentary on the Katrina destruction in Biloxi made by the local TV station -WLOX. It was awful here, water chest high for miles inland.

- John Brady

Everyone's legs were tired at the end of the day.

Nails, Nails Everywhere

Dwight Lopes take a break.

Day 2 (Wednesday) had the entire crew pounding nails - building interior walls, slipping U-straps between the sill and studs (hurricane protection), installing a top cap to the exterior walls with U-straps AND building a shed. By the end of the day the shed was complete with door to store our tools.

Today we had more opportunity to get to know Shadae (pronounced sha-day), our Americorp volunteer. She is only 19 years old and an only child from North Carolina. Americorp provides her this year of working and credit toward college when she returns home. Shadae want to become a speech therapist. She may be short in height but big in spirit and willingness to learn.

Local neighbor, Donna, came to the rescue of Annette and Barbara when the afternoon heat became too much. She invited them to sit on her cool porch for awhile. Everyone has been helpful and grateful for the help. When you look at the roof material on the homes in the neighborhood, everything is new.

In the evening we watched a documentary on the hurricane, from the beginning through recovery. The images of enormous casinos on barges pushed across the sand to the highway were very dramatic. A quick drive through the local neighborhoods of Biloxi shows the debris is gone but there are many empty lots, very similar to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.

- Maureen Lopes

The crew works on a shed.

An Amazing First Day

The dream of every Habitat volunteer is to frame walls and see a home rise around them. The dream came true yesterday for our crew - we built and raised four outer walls and several internal, in 7 hours. Lots of pounding! Our house is built on a cement slab and the bottom of the walls are attached by bolts.

We are working in Gautier (pronounced "Gau-shay") MS, 25 minutes east of Biloxi off Interstate 10 in an existing small home community. The area is cleared of debris but individual homes are still unoccupied. We expect to make great progress this week with our crew of 12 (ten from Madison Cares plus Carolyn from near Harrisburg, PA plus an Americorp volunteer). Brad is our construction manager - a good and patient teacher!

Although the temperature was around 80 yesterday, the sun is quite warm by the afternoon. We chugged gallons of water and bought a case of Gatorade for today. Everyone ended the day in good shape, except for a couple of bruised fingers.

We found out that the Habitat activities will be moving to a new site, in Ocean Springs, in January to free up the stadium for the Salvation Army community center. So this operation is committed to building many more houses - the need is still large.

Thanks again to everyone who is supporting us in making this trip, including Larkins Run for my dog and Carolyn's friend who is taking care of her three children for a week!

- Maureen Lopes

Tuesday - Satisfying progress

John Brady writes: "We worked on a new house today (Tuesday) - stick builders we are. We arrived to find a slab. By day's end we had constructed all exterior framing walls (4th shown in photo) and a few interior walls. Very satisfying to see such progress. We have a lot of talent on the team, including some burgeoning hammer experts (Pam, Barbara, John, Maureen, Annette). The other guys really know what they are doing."

They've arrived!

Hello to all Madison Cares supporters from Bilox, MS!

We are gathered under the seating area in the former Yankee Stadium. The Salvation Army bought the property just three days before Katrina (for a community center). Since Katrina and Rita it has served a number of local charitable organizations seeking to rebuild the area.

Our drive from the Gulfport airport to Biloxi along the shoreline passed mile after mile of sandy beach. Unfortunately, the water is still polluted from the storms and industry further east of Biloxi. The buildings across Rt. 90 are a mix of renovated/new homes and businesses and boarded up facades. Tomorrow we will see more of the town as we drive to our work site.

This Habitat affiliate has built approximately 250 homes in the last three years but there are still approximately 7,000 families living in tiny FEMA trailers. The storm surge here was 20-30 feet, dwarfing the previous record of Camille in the late 60's.

Everyone arrived safely and is eager to begin work tomorrow. Check the Madison Cares site during the week for photos from our super photographer, Pam Skelley.

- Maureen Lopes

The Biloxi group is safely on its way!

Travelers met at the commuter lot at Exit 61 and left for LaGuardia Airport in a school bus graciously donated by Magda Grayson of Durham School Bus Services and driven by Nick.

Everyone was in high spirits despite the early hour. "At first everyone wondered if Pam thought they were going by boat since she arrived with her life preserver on, but then realized it was a bright orange neck pillow!," wrote Madison Cares Board Member Elaine Romano.