UUAC Rebuilding New Orleans

Home Again

2009-11-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Most of us were on the same flight home. A few left earlier and Dave "Sparky" Hatton was scheduled for a layover in Dallas. Sally and Roger shoved off late this morning.

See you in church!

The Road Home

2009-11-14T04:52:00.000-08:00

Sort of a play on words. The Road Home is a federal program to get people back into their homes in NOLA. For me (today) it means going home. It's not really the same...or it is...only on a very small scale. Thankfully I have the means to go home, whereas many from here have not been able to find the means or get through the masses of red tape, barricading their road home.

Today, the work load shifts to cleaning, organizing, packing and one last walk around the labryinth. You may have seen the edges of it in our group photo. The tiles were donated and trucked in by a man known as "Brooklyn." Marcie Brennan is a parishoner who planned and laid the tiles. It took her six months, on her hands and knees after working full shifts as an welder. The woman is 100% dedicated to the rebuilding of her church.

Hey! Time to get crackin' here! See you in church!

Full and Tired

2009-11-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hello all! It's later Friday night (I am starting this at 10:30 CT).

One more apology to David RABINOVITZ....not Abromovitz. Jees. The poor guy.

We had a full day of work. The good news is that all six rooms and the porch have been painted! The windows are washed. The yard has been cleaned up (we found some really funky, rotted junk that was probably there since September 2005). Roger learned how to cut glass (to repair Jalousie windows) and how to drive down the street with an 8 foot ladder surfing on the roof, untied. Dwight put down the hawk (finally) and painted the wrought iron grating in front of the windows. He also got to use caustic chemicals and a wire brush to get the search team "X" from the bricks in the front of the house. After about an hour of scraping, Janie mixed some paint to match the bricks and it disappeared.

We got to meet April (the homeowner) and she brought us some goodie bags filled with candy and beads.

We were also treated with a visit from Ifama this afternoon. She is such a beautiful woman, and is very sharp, remembering most of our names. What a joy to see her.

After saying our goodbyes, cleaning the home and yard, and packing the vans, it was a mad dash back to FUUNO to shower and go out to dinner at Dookie Chase's. It was everything that was reported by earlier teams. Thank you for the suggestion.

SO, thus the title: Full (from Dookie Chase's) and Tired. Boy - am I tired!

It has been a wonderful experience to be together and part of the combined team with Follen Church in Lexington. It has been a joy to get to know them and work side by side with them.

Ann, Stan, David, John, Wendy, Karen, Zehra, Lori and EJ - we love you!

Tomorrow will involve cleaning, packing and rushing off to the airport to get home to our loved ones. Hank and Pat are already there. See you all soon!

Friday morning

2009-11-13T03:58:00.000-08:00

This is the hardest day of all. Our bodies are tired (MOST of us anyway - Dennis is still smiling!), and we know what is in front of us. There will be a massive push to get all 6 rooms painted. It is unlikely we will, and we will wish we had one more day. However, if we had one more day, we would spend it working just as hard as we did last Sunday.

I forgot to mention that we were filmed on Wednesday! How could I forget something so important? Greater New Orleans UU (GNOUU) has commissioned Tim Ryan to create a documentary about volunteerism and about the rebuilding of NOLA. I don't know if he filmed us as we worked on Miss April's house, but I do know that he videotaped one-to-one interviews with several of us in the yard. We don't have any idea when the film will be done, but we are thrilled to be asked to participate.

Off to the worksite! FYI, the time stamps are incorrect at the blogspot home base. I am finishing this just after 6:30 AM.

Hitting the Thursday Wall

2009-11-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the 20th member of the UUAC team here. David Abromovitz is a friend of George Clattenburg, and has been here with us, working elbow to elbow and living and sharing everything with us. I missed him in this morning's blog and apologized to him for that.

Secondly, I want to thank those who have commented (and/or figured out how to) to the blogs. It is nice to know that people are reading them. I have read each of your comments to the group. I can't post more pictures because this blog space seems to allow only one picture at a time. I will try to remember to post the picture of our group (both the UUAC and Follen folks).

I titled tonight's blog "Hitting the Thursday Wall" because this is the day that it really hits that we are at the point that we can see what the end-result will be by the end of tomorrow. It makes us happy to see the changes, yet very sad to see that the house will not be finished. Is a house ever finished? There is always more to be done. We are thrilled that that the drywall is completed. All of the walls are taped, mudded and mostly sanded. Terry was able to spray the texture in three of the 6 rooms before we left. We will be ready to prime and paint those rooms immediately tomorrow morning while we sand the other three rooms. The outside is finished, and the shed has been painted and roofed.

Today's weather was perfect. We have heard that you have been experiencing similar weather at home. It was near 70, total sunshine and a cooling breeze. I am extremely appreciative that the humidity has disappeared as the week progressed.

We are dusty and covered with mud and paint, but we are still smiling!

Who is here

2009-11-12T04:17:00.000-08:00

It dawned on me (about 3 AM) that you may not know who is here from UUAC.

Terry Combs is our on site construction manager (and the brunt of most of our teasing)
Molly Howes is our coordinator and compassion manager.
Nathan has just arrived and is still getting acclimated. We'll give him the dirty jobs today!
Dennis Woessner - always smiling, always willing to help.
Darrah Bryans - tiny, mighty, compassionate. She and Dennis are leading our daily check in.
Pat Manley was here until yesterday - against the wishes of her physical therapists.
Dwight Manley celebrated a "turning point" birthday here, and hasn't been seen without a hawk in hand.
Nancy Levy also celebrated a birthday here and has an incredible knack for keeping everyone smiling.
Sally and Roger. The dynamic duo. They are known to give spontaneous tours of the area.
Don Keiser is creating masterpieces with wood...but can't shake his darn cold.
Hank Rauch has the patience of a saint, and will help you figure things out with kindness.
George Clattenburg - Captain Tool Wrangler. He has been sent to find anything and everything, between doing many many other jobs.
Jon Treon - in house stand up comic....has been seen on his knees in the sanctuary for hours on end.
Dave "Sparky" Hatton, has learned that putting up drywall isn't as easy as it looks.
Kathy Copplestone - quiet but lots of fun.
Janie Howland - Always gets to be our Painting Diva. She also tackles a lot of the dirty work. As sweet as candy
Laura Jensen - Has been giving her hammer a workout - usually on the top of a ladder (we should have given her the top bunk).
And me! Donna Allen - always looking for different jobs. I learned how to drywall yesterday! Who knew I could do it? Usually found in the corner of the Dining Hall - typing on the computer.

We are off to a new work day! Enjoy yours.

Jambalya!

2009-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

It's Wednesday night and we are still alive and kicking...only we aren't kicking as high as we were on Sunday. I think I smell the aroma of Tiger Balm.

Nathan has arrived!

It was sunny and in the 70's today. There was a nice breeze this morning, which disappeared as the day wore on. I am not sure if the heat drained our energy or if it was us pushing ourselves to get all the walls done.

We sheet rocked most rooms, and many have been taped. We should be ready to paint on Friday. We were concerned about having so many people in one small house. So far, so good! We are all focused on getting as much accomplished as possible.

There were a lot of people working on projects outside in the sun.

Hopefully, it will continue as the muscles get more weary and the temperature rises.

Tomorrow, our major push will be for taping, mudding, and then plastering.

Working in the Lower 9th Ward is different than in the church. We all got to go out and look around a bit. There is great joy at seeing the city coming back, but sad to see that there are still so many abandoned homes and lots.

Hump Day

2009-11-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a very important message: When you see Terry Combs in church, ask him where he found his wallet. If there is a NOLA6 team member nearby, even better.

Tuesday night

2009-11-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I hope SOMEONE is reading the blogs because there are few comments.

Today was another busy day. After all - that's what we signed up for. Many of us started with sanding and painting their long room called Memorial Hall. It had been used to store things and collected everything that no one knew where something belonged. They had cleaned it out in preparation for our work, and when the Property Manager/Church President saw today's results, his knees nearly buckled with absolute relief.

Closets were cleaned, shelves hung, doors hung, primer, paint, and so many more projects were completed. Jon and Hank worked their tails off to get as many tiles set in the sanctuary. Lots of sweat and tears and even a few trickles of blood. Then we had to clean - clean - clean as best we could. There isn't a spot in this building that wasn't covered in plaster dust.

Tonight's check in was held at the center of the labyrinth in the sanctuary. We were joined by Rev. Josephine (from Pray the Word Say the Word church), Reece (the Church President) and Marcie ( who is a member of the church and the creator of the labyrinth).

Tomorrow, we will be starting our new project at April's house. We will definitely be squished into this house, but we will manage! We have loved working at FUUNO and will also enjoy working on April's home.

I hope that all is well at home.

Reading the Blog

2009-11-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hello, team!

I'm reading the blog from here at home - thanks so much, Donna! I'm smiling and appreciating you all very much....wishing I was there and remembering last year's high and low points. I'm so glad FUNNO is getting the attention it deserves.

Many blessings this week!

Maureen

The storm has passed

2009-11-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hello!

The storm passed by late last night. If the outdoor shower doors weren't slamming, we may not have even noticed. Luckily, someone placed buckets of joint compound in front of each door, solving that problem. That simple task made a huge difference for everyone.

Terry's work load has doubled. He wants to complete as many projects today, here at FUUNO, as we can. He is also choreographing the dance to fit 28 people in a shotgun house and make it work.

The homeowner's name is Alice, and she lives in the Lower 9th Ward.

Terry also met with another woman who needs her roof fixed. It's a minor repair (by Terry's standards) that he and a couple of folks will take a couple of hours to go to her home and fix it. When he told her he would be back, she told him he was Jesus. When he assured her that he wasn't Jesus, she told him, "You have Jesus in you."

Gee - as if his head wasn't big enough already! (Terry knows we love him). He is definitely full of something!

Enjoy your day.

Monday Night

2009-11-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

Another busy day. We are happy to see so many projects well under way or completed. We just got great news that we have a home to work on in the Lower 9th ward. It isn't Mack's house (he couldn't get the permits in time), but it is a home of a young woman who has been waiting to get back into her home since she returned.

The plan is to finish as much as we can here, tomorrow and then spend Wednesday through Friday to try to see how much we can accomplish in this woman's home.

More good news for us is that the storm has been downgraded and seems to be heading further east. We should hear some stronger winds and heavy rain, but it shouldn't be much worse than a summer Nor'easter.

Roger spent the day in the Men's Room.

Not to worry, he's fine. He was working away, and I happened to have my camera, and couldn't resist taking a photo!

I stole the idea for the next photo from Kathy Copplestone. Anyone who has been to FUUNO can relate to the boot line-up at the end of the day. It feels so good to get your boots off!

We miss you all and hope that all is well at home. We are enjoying our time working together and with the members of the Follen church.

Working on this church has been a spiritual awakening.

Monday morning

2009-11-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and families!

It's 6:00 AM and there are signs of life as the first few stragglers meander into the dining hall.
It's a lot easier to work at FUUNO instead of having to gather the crew into mini vans and truck off to the site. No rituals of packing and unpacking every day. When you finish your breakfast you can walk to the project.

No signs of Terry and the motherboard is missing....so I suspect that he is inspecting yesterday's progress and making up new lists for us.

Jon said that his joints ache and please send more Ibuprofen!
Sparky said that his first day was stimulating...he got a charge out of one his projects! He is happy to be working on his home away from home.

The morning news is a bit concerning for us. The gulf went all summer without a hurricane (Yay!), but Ida seems to be coming for a visit. Category 2 isn't as big a deal for the experienced folks in New Orleans. We don't get too many of those in Sherborn, MA, though. Glad I water-proofed my work boots!

We are expecting wind and rain, and another good reason to be working at FUUNO. We can all stay inside.

Our thoughts go out for the people who will have emotional trauma after suffering through Katrina, Rita and Gustav - or more.

My biggest concern today is loss of power. We won't be able to do as much as we would like without the power tools.

We will check in again as soon as we can.

Plenty of work to do

2009-11-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Can you imagine 28 people working in harmony? No complaints, no proscrastinating, just working together to get as much done as we could do in a day.

We tried to be very quiet during the church service, but we were told that we made just enough noise to make everyone happy - knowing that long awaited projects were being tackled.

Tonight, there are a lot of tired folks, all very happy to be here and to witness the joy on the faces of the members of the congregation (except for one 7 year old girl who was not happy that we cut down a living tree).

Tomorrow should be a challenge to get these aching bones out of bed!

The work begins!

2009-11-08T04:15:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday morning and people are starting to arise. We are a little bleary-eyed, but ready to start the FUUNO projects.

We did receive some unhappy news. We probably won't be able to work on Mack's house. There have been hurdles for him to get the proper permits and inspections. Quo Vadis is searching for another residence for us. There are many on the waiting list.

If we can't find one that is ready for us, we can definitely stay busy at FUUNO.

Uh-oh...here comes Terry with the work schedule (aka his motherboard).

All present and accounted for

2009-11-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

We have arrived! Planes, vans and automobiles have all arrived safely, and we are just waiting for the pizzas to arrive. We are bonding with our new friends from Follen Church and making up our bunks. Note to Pat - we left lower bunk open for you.

It's warmer than expected and HUMID! Quite a change from the thick frost I had to scrape from my windshield this AM!

We love you and miss you and promise to do our best to help build a stronger New Orleans.

Message from Sally

2009-11-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post Sally's Friday afternoon email to the crew:

Here we are in N’Orleans, as of about 1:30 this afternoon. Temps in the mid-70’s, sunny, nice. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe right next to Snug Harbor, where we had been hoping to go tonight to hear Ellis Marsalis, who plays there EVERY Friday night. Except tonight. Maybe we can get some of you to go with us next Friday.

Now, more than 4 years post-Katrina, it’s hard to find a blue tarp or a FEMA trailer, though there are a few around. There are still pockets of blocks where nothing has been done, but in general there seems to be a lot of energy about the place, even in the 9th. Even in the “bad” parts of the 9th. There are now 3 Brad Pitt houses across from the Williams’ house, one used by the green organizations as a demo, and 2 for sale – for $180,000, which is a bit steep for most who would come back. And there are still no schools in the 9th.

We went by Mack’s house, and met a couple of neighbors. One, Keith Calhoun (Google him if you have a chance) is a well-known photographer who is now chronicling the black experience in NOLA. He didn’t tell us that, Quo Vadis and Google did. Anyway, he’s very pleasant and we’ll probably be seeing him. We may end up in a book of his work, who knows! The house itself is clearly ready for some help but must have been a showplace in its day. The house next door has a grant from an historic preservation organization to help him get started; the home-owner was there but not talkative.

Wait till you see all that has happened at FUUNO in the last year! It is quite amazing: 3 showers in the courtyard that are, um, rustic (this from someone who LOVED the showers at First Pres.) and probably dark. Dave, bring light bulbs. Also wires and so forth. Lighting the courtyard beyond the Christmas lights currently strung is probably on Quo Vadis’ list. Anyway, lots more improvements – you will be in awe. And I would not have believed it, but there are even more bunks in the ladies’ dorm. (I didn’t look at the men’s.)

We’re dining in the Garden District this evening, getting ready for red beans and rice for the rest of the week. We’ll shop for beer and wine in the morning, also salad stuff, and be ready to greet all of you at FUUNO when you get here. And also to collect Don at the airport about 2.

Many hugs to everyone –

Sally

2009-11-06T13:06:00.001-08:00

Hello all blog readers. Tomorrow is the day that most of us will be traveling/arriving at FUUNO. We are anxious to get there and meet our friends from the Follen Church in Lexington, and to get started on our work projects. Keep the home fires burning. Thank you all for your support.

A seat for Don

2009-11-05T19:24:00.001-08:00

All that stuff and a seat kept clean to pick up Don at the airport. Sure hope he doesn't have a lot of luggage. They might have to strap him to the roof along with the 8 foot ladders!

The van is in Alabama

2009-11-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

Received email from Roger and Sally. They are in Alabama. They sent pictures of the equipment van (sort of like the Red Sox and Spring Training!).

Testing the blog site for NOLA6

2009-10-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hello! We are getting excited about the upcoming trip and work assignments at FUUNO and Mack's house. One of us will try to add to the blog every night so family and friends can share the experience.

Donna

2009-04-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Massachusetts, I can't believe that it is already Thursday. We have accomplished so much on Miss Ifama's house. It has really transformed into something beautiful. She has been very sick because of her diabetes but I really think our efforts have given her some new energy and hope. Thanks for reading -Luke

p.s. Oh, has anyone heard about the word?

2009-04-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to see it full size.

All the youth on a tree in Audubon Park. It's late, more pictures will be uploaded tomorrow.

-Luke and Jonah

Day Two Work Complete

2009-04-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

We completed our second successful day preparing Ms. Ifama's home for painting. We are all tired and feeling satisfied by a hard days work. Showers are going on, I'm waiting for now don't want to wait in line.

Our group has discovered that Girls have the magic touch when it comes to using a nail gun, especially the Nail Queen, Meg! The youth are learning great skills under Darryl, Dave and Jeff's tutoring. Papa Terry would be proud in hearing Darryl remind when he hands over a new task..."remember progress not perfection" Darryl is doing a great job!

We had some particular work heros today, Luke, Tyler, and Jeff. They worked up on ladders all day scraping the eves and roof joists without a complaint. It was a hard, hot and dirty job. They deserve the HERO OF THE DAY AWARD!

Everyone has sore arms and shoulders from sanding and scraping the house. The house already looks transformed, can't wait to see the finished product.

Dinner is soon. Going to try and get a shower while the troops all gather for chow.

Love and gratitude to all who supported us in making this trip possible.

Tuesday morning

2009-04-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

Fantastic trip thusfar. I want to give some impressions from Sunday and bring you up-to-date on Monday. I hope others might find a window today to share their experiences and post some photos.

The walk on Sunday, from the volunteer center/UU church where we're staying to the Earth Day service and potluck in Audubon Park was wonderful. All 11 youth and most adults enjoyed glorious weather and company. The verdant foliage, coming into bloom in many cases, and beautiful distinctive architecture gave us an image of a unique, beloved place. The streets of New Orleans, the Tulane campus, the stunning park, and side trip to last year's youth residence made it a rich experience.

The gathering at the park of three UU resident congregations and 4 UU volunteer congregations (also from Lexington, Chelmsford and Duxbury) under a massive oak tree that must be several hundred years old was impressive.

The tour was sobering. We experienced sadness, anger, and hopefulness at the sight of some progress, among many other feelings. Some of the hardest hit areas have very few remaining homes. Established neighborhoods with houses that had been in families for generations are no longer. There is a lot of community organizing to try to help residents counter the many forces against them, hold onto some of what they had and get on with their lives.

Yesterday was our first work day. Great planning and organization, assisted by more glorious weather, meant that we had a productive start to our week. Our task this week is the exterior of Ms. Ifama's house, about 75 feet long and 30 feet wide, so space for all to be contributing, and a doable project for the week. We broke into youth-led, task-focused teams of two youth and one adult for tasks such as power-washing, scrubbing and sanding, removing termite-damaged clapboards, and priming clapboards. We made great progress. Some reported at the end of the day that it was fun, not "work" as they conventionally thought of it. The power-washer and sawsall (sp?) were highlights.

After dinner and showers, we went to Bourbon Street for coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde and to take in the sights and sounds of that one-of-a-kind place. It was a great end to the day.

For many, the most meaningful encounters have been with residents, including a very welcoming man on the tour who is setting up a museum about local musical traditions adjacent to some homes that have been rebuilt for musicians with in a Habitat for Humanity project.