PearlingtonRelief

Books About Pearlington

2009-02-13T10:43:00.002-05:00

As I have time, I'll be posting more links to books regarding the rebuilding of Pearlington, Waveland, Bay St Louis, Kiln and the rest Hancock County. If you know of any, please let me know. I've long held I wouldn't advertise anything that was a for-profit endeavor, but I think at this point, they need to be shown in an effort to prove rebuilding has yet to be complete.

The first is Pat Holt's Rebuilding Pearlington. She's a lady from basically all over the nation, having served in the military and after retiring, took up photography. I wish her memoir included many more of her photographs, but perhaps she is working on a separate book for those.

I do have a few others, which will be posted in the appropriate blog, and then all will be collected on the KatrinaNetworking blog

The New School

2008-01-25T17:11:00.000-05:00

Online the new school goes by the combined initials of the two old schools - Bayview (BV) and Charles B Murphy (CBM), so I don't know if THEY know what it's going to be called.

However, groundbreaking has occured!

http://www.hancock.k12.ms.us/SHE/New_School.JPg

Everyone is absolutely thrilled about it and with any luck they will be having classes there by the next school year! WOW.

For those who may not know, most schools along the Gulf Coast were moved into FEMA trailers. The less fortunate are still in those trailers awaiting new buildings when the old ones were destroyed in the Storm.

These are views of the Hancock County Schools that are still in FEMA trailers.

Gotta love the landscaping!

Blog Index

2008-01-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

Items in RED are NEW
Items in GREEN are UPDATED

Other Sites Related to Pearlington Relief
Katrina Networking Site
Hancock County Agency Information
Waveland
BayStLouis
Gulf Coast Artist Relief Blog
Gulf Coast Emergency Services Relief Blog
Real People Relief

1/1/08 News From a Volunteer

Volunteer Information
For Agencies and Organizations
Katrina's Angels
For Non-Profits and Municipalities
Assistance For Schools
Grants for Non-Profits
Grants For Communities
Citizen Action Team
Community Gardens Effort
City Action Partnership
Gulf Coast Civic Works Project - please support
MS United Methodist Disaster Response
UMCOR Response
Safety Guidelines For Volunteers

For Individuals
Resource Pages
Grandfamily/Single Parent Resources
Family Resources
Medical Resources
LA Family Resources
Education Assistance
Businesses
Mortgage Resources
Furniture and More
Home/Utility
Elderly
Resources for Children/Childcare
Disabled
Grants for Individuals - does not include homeowner or repair grants
Dental

Articles, etc.
Article Index
Pictures and Videos Collected
Blogs To Follow
FEMA Information

Children
1/25/08 Picture of New School and Current FEMA School Buildings
May School Building Article
Charles B Murphy Needs and Update
Boys and Girls Clubs

Pearlington Agencies
Fire Department

Pearlington Photos
Not Recent Photos of Current Damage
Linda F's New Home in Pearlington
December Pictures of Pearlington
A Pearlington Wedding
The Wedding Ceremony
The Wedding Reception
General Landscape Photos

Organizations to Volunteer With
12/16/07 Pickin' Up The Pieces - From GA
The Pearlington Project
New Contact
Pearlington Project Recovery Coordinator
Angel Blakledge 17461 Cornellia Kiln, MS 395561
504-957-3028 angelblackledge_ 8@hotmail. com
Armstrong University
The BRICK Layers
One House At A Time
KenTenn Relief
Loving Neighbors
HANDS
Presbytery Disaster Assistance

Helping Without Going Down

Christmas Volunteer Fire Fighter

2008-01-01T22:45:00.000-05:00

A few installments over the next 9 days - all will be here.
1/1/08
Today was spent working at the chief's house putting a partition in a shed, finishing a retaining wall and filling in some holes. Nothing too serious but with a gang of people it wasn't so bad. A few less items for him to have to worry about.

We got a call for a sick person - unknown problems early this morning. When we got there a woman was outside and claimed that somehow the guy inside was unresponsive. While the crew is on the porch in front of the trailer, a black guy comes up and says the guy inside just called him a little while ago and seemed fine. I didn't notice it but the gal left the house after we got in with her bra in her hand and had gotten her purse out of the bedroom.

She left with the black guy that I had spoken too. Just another fine day in Pearlington. Oh the guy seemed fine once the crew was able to talk to him. I think he had placed an order for something other than pizza but I'm just guessing.

12/31
I spent all day cleaning tools and stenciling them. There are four fire fighters down from just north of Philadelphia and we are able to accomplish a lot just by putting elbow grease to work.

This evening we got a call for a wreck and the address given was HWY 604 an 90 which is just 1/2 mile down the road. We get down there and don't see anything. The actual address was 10 miles east at 607 and Hwy 90. A Jeep Cherokee ran off the right side of the road and into the trees where he naturaly stopped.

He wasn't injured but the sheriff was running him through fine screen since he had a 9 page criminal history, no license and no insurance (Welcome to Hancock County where laws are regarded as suggestions). The sheriff thought he had thrown some stuff in the ditch and we spent a good amount of time looking for it but I purposely didn't want to find it since that might make me have to go to court. I don't know if I could get court time for that or would have to take vacation so I just kind of stood back and let everyone else look.

This group is cooking meals so I took them to Gulfport yesterday and we spent over $400 on food for 7 days. I think they bought heavy but it beats eating fried food every day. I picked up a pork loin to cook. This one is pre-seasoned with lemon pepper and I hope its as good as the last. I am still getting compliments on that. I need to copy my scratch recipe and show these people I really can cook. I already had a discussion with one lady who thought it was her husband who cooked it.

Weather is warm today and hopefully the rest of the week.

Just as I was getting ready to hit send, we got alerted for an elderly lady with her foot caught in a bed rail. naturally I expected to find a lady laying in bed stuck but she was in a scooter and had run her foot over the rail and then it fell slightly. This was just enough to get her stuck in her chair. There was no way she could move at the angle she was at.

Using engineering tricks not taught in any university, we helped her stand and get into a lower chair then held her foot up and moved the bed and suddenly she was free.

12/25
I woke up to the sound of rain beating on the double wide this mornining. Shortly after that the Kiln got alerted for a house fire. It didn't take long before they started to scream for more tankers including specifically West Hnacock's. Having been up already I was out the door by the time the tones went off.

I had to wait a few minutes for another person, but we headed out in under 5 minutes I think. The tanker is slow to get rooling since it has 2,000 gallons of water. Being heavy I didn't want to go very fast out to the interstate. There isn't a lot of room to manuver. The road has no shoulders and ditches on both sides so you have to be a good judge of speed. there are only two curvew but the tanker has a lot of sway.

Finally got up to the interstate and could run wide open which is 69.5 mph. People are still screaming for water and tankers are having problem keeping up with the flow etc. Its starting to sound like a real cluster but I am maxed out and there is nothing I can do to get there any quicker.

When we hit the 603 exit the Chief from Kiln is calling for ETA's and people are saying its getting hot. The guy with me wants to call for directions. I told him not to worry we go to the Jordan Shores development and look for all the blinking lights. That's where the party will be.

The house was a cape cod style 1.5 story w/ dormers, ordinary construction. When we turned off there was a big column of smoke but 5 minutes later it seemed fairly well knocked down. They hook me up to the ladder pipe and I give him 2,000 gallons in under 2 minutes. The chief is still screaming for water. I counted two hose lines. The entire front of the house is burned off including the roof. I double checked to make sure everyone was out before pumping the tower.

I knew I should have taken my camera.

According to the owner, the Christmas lights or outlet shorted out and set off the vinyl siding. That seems about right given the weather as i woke up. It was a rebuilt home since the storm. The owner said the outlets were explosion proof (I'm guessing that't redneck talk for ground fault). Either it malfunctioned or they were not ground faults. Its hard to say.

12/23
All is well here. The engine and tanker have had some nice organizational work done. Thecross lays are now 1.75" brand new blue hose. Still canvas but they are gradually making headway. The rescue tools have been placed in a wooden box and there are two sets. The only problem is they are sitting working end up so you have to grab the cuttind edges. Its a little hard to get to but it should work. Daryl is going to look at teh box and see if he can rebuild it so the handle sits up.

They are going to have a big party here tomorrow with lots to eat. I have offered to cook a pork loin.

I'll keep you posted daily or more frequent if anything exciting happens. I got my gear all set so now we just need the tones.

Pickin Up The Pieces - GA

2007-12-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

You can contact us at linda@pickinupthepieces.org
Pickin' Up the Pieces Relief Corp
P.O. Box 9634
Savannah, Georgia 31412

Our Last Rebuilding Trip of the Year!

December 26 - 31, 2007

End 2007 on a meaningful note: join us in helping families in Pearlington, Mississippi rebuild their homes. There is still a tremendous need for volunteers, and skilled volunteers are especially needed.

As always, we will be staying at the Camp Coastal Outpost volunteer center in Kiln, Mississippi. Costs for food and lodging are $15 per night, per person. We will also make our usual side trip to New Orleans one afternoon and evening. You won't believe what you will see, nearly two and a half years after the storm!

Anyone interested in participating in this trip please contact Linda at linda@pickinupthepieces.org or 912-429-4220. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now!

12/13/06
Thank you to all for the tremendous response to our "Adopt and Angel Program"!! We adopted out 162 children!!
It was great. We ended up servicing 280 with the help of the Stennis Rotary Club. All of our Angels got adopted out and we also had 6 families. We ran out of Angels to adopt :-)

12/2
Hi Again...
Some of you have asked about whether we were planning a trip over the holidays...the answer is YES!
December 26 - 30. Anyone wishing to finish out the 2006 year making a difference in the lives of those affected by Katrina are welcome to join us. Please visit our website under "How You Can Help" at Pickin Up The Pieces for more information.
Linda Edwards

11/29 Adopt an Angel
We are doing an Adopt an Angel Project similar to the one that we did last year. There are 126 children under 10 y.o. in the Pearlington, MS community that we would like to share a little holiday cheer with. These children continue to face the after-effects of hurricane Katrina in a community that is still struggling to recover.
Many of these families haven't had Christmas since before The Storm, so please take that into consideration when you give this year.

If you choose to buy online, you can ship directly to the addresses given here and most companies are giving free shipping online until at least the first week of December.

I would love to know if you plan on helping, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post - click on the word 'comment'. Thank you!

You can contact us at linda@pickinupthepieces.org
Pickin' Up the Pieces Relief Corp
P.O. Box 9634
Savannah, Georgia 31412
Gifts should not exceed $50 per child and need to be in Savannah no later than 12/14
All of these kids are from Pearlington, MS and those 10 yrs and older will be receiving gift cards.

RED is girls, BLUE is boys, and BOLD type will be infants 1 y.o. and younger

1. A, BABY BOY 1 y.o. boy
2. A, ANGEL 3 y.o. boy
3. A, ANGIE 3 month old boy
4. A, ARTHUR 7 y.o. boy
5. A, CASSANDRA Girl
6. A, KANE 3 y.o. boy
7. A, KEELAN 6 y.o. boy
8. A, KEIRA 7 month old girl
9. A, ROLAND 4 y.o. boy
10. A, KALI 10 y.o. girl
11. A, KATIE 8 y.o. girl
12. A, LISA 5 y.o. girl
13. B, TYLER 12 y.o. boy
14. B, SELEN 5 y.o. girl
15. B, BEAU 8 y.o. boy
16. B, CHRISTIAN 1 y.o. boy
17. B, HAYDEN 2 y.o. boy
18. B, KAITLYN 5 y.o. girl
19. B, BRAD 16 y.o. boy
20. B, COURTNEY 13 y.o. girl
21. B, HARLEIGH 10 y.o. girl
22. B, JOBY 10 y.o. boy
23. B, MIRANDA 10 y.o. girl
24. B, TY 2 y.o. boy
25. B, SAM 8 y.o. boy
26. B, HANNAH 2 y.o. girl
27. B, HAYDEN 3 y.o. boy
28. B, CHASE 13 y.o. boy
29. B, COLE 8 y.o. boy
30. B, BROOKE 8 y.o. girl
31. B, CAMERON 15 y.o. boy
32. B, ALISHA 12 y.o. girl
33. B, JULLIAN 10 y.o. boy
34. B, ALEIGH 9 y.o. girl
35. B, DUSTIN 16 y.o. boy
36. B, GIRL 3 y.o. girl
37. B, CHRIS 15 y.o. boy
38. B, GIRL 17 y.o. girl
39. B, TAYLOR 10 y.o. girl
40. B, TAJAH 2.5 y.o. girl
41. B, ALICIA 15 y.o. girl
42. B, ALISHA 15 y.o. girl
43. B, DAQUIRIE 10 y.o. girl
44. B, DUJUANYA 8 y.o. girl
45. B, JASMINE 1 y.o. girl
46. B, SCOOTER 9 y.o. boy
47. B, SHONDRIKA 16 y.o. girl
48. B, WAYNE 9 y.o. boy
49. B, DONALD 12 y.o. boy
50. B, JOHN 15 y.o. boy
51. B, QUINAN 16 y.o. boy
52. B, WILLIAM 16 y.o. boy
53. C W, ALSIIA 7 y.o. girl
54. C W, TYDE 8 y.o. boy
55. C, BREANNE 11 y.o. girl
56. C, JOHNNY LYNN 5 y.o. girl
57. C, SELENA 12 y.o. girl
58. C, SHELBY 15 y.o. girl
59. C, TORI 15 y.o. girl
60. C, GLORIA 12 y.o. girl
61. D, BRYAN 5 y.o. boy
62. D, CHELSEA 14 y.o. girl
63. D, DAVID 4 y.o. boy
64. D, DONOVAN 10 y.o. boy
65. D, NATHANIEL 10 y.o. boy
66. D, OLIVIA 15 y.o. girl
67. D, JOSEPH 13 y.o. boy
68. D, KATIE 16 y.o. girl
69. D, ALEXIS 8 y.o. girl
70. D, ERIN 15 y.o. girl
71. D, JOSEPH 6 y.o. boy
72. D, SCOTT 16 y.o. boy
73. D, CIARA 7 y.o. girl
74. E, BRITTANY 14 y.o. girl
75. E, MICHAEL 11 y.o. boy
76. E, DARIAN 13 y.o. boy
77. E, HEATHER 16 y.o. girl
78. E, TREY 4 y.o. boy
79. E, LAURNA 12 y.o. girl
80. F, AARON 11 y.o. boy
81. F, DEANNA 1 y.o. boy
82. F, DALTON 14 y.o. boy
83. F, BRAYDEN 1 y.o. boy
84. F, JAYDA 3 y.o. girl
85. F, MACIE 5 y.o. girl
86. F, AMY 6 y.o. girl
87. F, ERICA 8 y.o. girl
88. F, RYAN 10 y.o. boy
89. G, TANYIAH 4 y.o. girl
90. G, ASHLEY 17 y.o. girl
91. G, STEVEN 16 y.o. boy
92. G, DONNIE 17 y.o. boy
93. G, PAIGE 15 y.o. girl
94. G, DEVANTE 13 y.o. boy
95. H, JOSHUA 8 y.o. boy
96. H, BZ 17 y.o. girl
97. H, JANSEN 16 y.o. boy
98. H, ALEXIS 4 y.o. girl
99. H, BRAD 15 y.o. boy
100. H, SAMANTHA 9 y.o. girl
101. H, KENTRELL 6 y.o. boy
102. H, KENYA 4 y.o. girl
103. H, RYAN 9 y.o. boy
104. H, SASHA 6 month old girl
105. A, AARON 10 y.o. boy
106. J, JUJU 4 y.o. boy
107. J, MASON 8 y.o. boy
108. J, OLIVIA 5 y.o. girl
109. J, STEVEN 15 y.o. boy
110. J, TENESA 1 month old boy
111. J BABY BOY 1 ½ month old boy
112. J, DAKOTA 14 y.o. boy
113. J, HANNAH 11 y.o. girl
114. J, RYAN 13 y.o. boy
115. K, DANIEL 10 y.o. boy
116. L, VANESSA 16 y.o. girl
117. L, VICKIE 9 y.o. girl
118. L, DYLAN 12 y.o. boy
119. L, ASHTON 3 y.o. girl
120. L, JET 17 y.o. boy
121. L, JOSHUA 16 y.o. boy
122. L, KAYLYNN 4 y.o. girl
123. L, ONEISHA 4 y.o. girl
124. L, ASHANTI 6 y.o. girl
125. L, JAREL 10 y.o. boy
126. L, DAJONTAE 3 y.o. boy
127. L, SHAYLA 8 y.o. girl
128. L, TAMEA 6 y.o. girl
129. L, AMANDA 16 y.o. girl
130. L, STEPHEN 15 y.o. boy
131. L, ALISSA 6 y.o. girl
132. L, SHEA 17 y.o. boy
133. L, BEAUTIFUL 2 y.o. girl
134. L, BRETT 2 y.o. boy
135. L, FRANK 1 y.o. boy
136. L, KENDRICK 6 y.o. girl
137. L, AMBER 14 y.o. girl
138. L, BROOKE 16 y.o. girl
139. L, ERIC 17 y.o. boy
140. L, JACOB 15 y.o. boy
141. L, JEWEL 10 y.o. boy
142. L, KAREN 16 y.o. girl
143. L, KAYLA 16 y.o. girl
144. L, KEVIN 11 y.o. boy
145. L, CRYSTAL 6 y.o. girl
146. L, LANDON 8 y.o. boy
147. M, JOHN 16 y.o. boy
148. M, AMANDA 14 y.o. girl
149. M, BABY GIRL 18 month old girl
150. M, BENA 6 y.o. girl
151. M, CHRIS 2 y.o. boy
152. M, CHRISTOPHER 3 y.o. boy
153. M, HANNAH 1 y.o. girl
154. M, LAURA 7 y.o. girl
155. M, MIA 1 y.o. girl
156. M, MICHAEL 1 month old boy
157. M, SHAKEM 3 y.o. boy
158. M, TIFFANY 13 y.o. girl
159. M, KORD 17 y.o. boy
160. M, ALEX 6 y.o. boy
161. M, ARIAN 14 y.o. girl
162. M, CHANCE 11 y.o. boy
163. M, HUNTER 8 y.o. boy
164. M, AMBRYE 16 y.o. girl
165. M, JAMES 9 y.o. boy
166. M, OJ 2 y.o. boy
167. M, BREESHON 8 y.o. boy
168. M, CAITLYN 7 y.o. girl
169. M, CARISSA 10 y.o. girl
170. M, HARLEY 10 y.o. boy
171. M, CARL 17 y.o. boy
172. M, CHELSEA 8 y.o. girl
173. M, ISABELLE 7 y.o. girl
174. M, MALLORY 8 y.o. girl
175. M, MICHAEL 8 y.o. boy
176. M, SELENA 14 y.o. girl
177. N, FAITH 8 y.o. girl
178. N, JONATHAN 16 y.o. boy
179. N, PAIGE 12 y.o. girl
180. N, DALTON 6 y.o. boy
181. N, SAMANTHA 9 y.o. girl
182. P, ALEXIS 7 y.o. girl
183. P, ATHENA 16 y.o. girl
184. P, BRITTANY 10 y.o. girl
185. P, DAVID 10 y.o. boy
186. P, JOSHUA 4 y.o. boy
187. P, SAMUEL 9 y.o. boy
188. P, SONNY 15 y.o. boy
189. P, WHITNEY 12 y.o. girl
190. P, ALLISON 16 y.o. girl
191. P, MATTHEW 10 y.o. boy
192. P, MALLORY 13 y.o. girl
193. P, MELINDA 13 y.o. girl
194. R, BRITTANY 5 y.o. girl
195. R, WHITNEY 16 y.o. boy
196. R, CIARA 6 y.o. girl
197. R, JOSH 7 y.o. boy
198. R, LUCAS 3 y.o. boy
199. R, ABBY 8 y.o. girl
200. R, ALEXIS 6 y.o. girl
201. R, HEATHER 9 y.o. girl
202. R, SKYLAR 8 y.o. boy
203. R, MARTY 14 y.o. boy
204. R, GLENDA 9 y.o. girl
205. S (DAWN’S SON) 5 y.o. boy
206. S, RYAN 16 y.o. boy
207. S, TRAVIS 16 y.o. boy
208. S, ZAZALONDRE 1 ½ y.o. boy
209. S, CHEYENNE 13 y.o. girl
210. S, DESTIN 7 y.o. boy
211. T, HOLLY 13 y.o. girl
212. T, CALEB 6 y.o. boy
213. V, ABIGAIL 4 y.o. girl
214. V, ANAI 9 y.o. girl
215. V, BRITTANY 10 y.o. girl
216. V, BROOKE 10 y.o. girl
217. V, BUBBA 8 y.o. boy
218. V, GRACIE 1 y.o. girl
219. V, JEFFERSON 14 y.o. boy
220. V, KAYLEE 8 y.o. girl
221. V, TY 1 y.o. boy
222. V, TRAVIS 8 y.o. boy
223. V, TREY 12 y.o. boy
224. V, BABY GIRL NEWBORN
225. V, DANIELLE 7 y.o. girl
226. W, TIFFANY 13 y.o. girl
227. W, TRAVIS 16 y.o. boy
228. W, ASHLEY 8 y.o girl
229. W, ROSS 14 y.o. boy
230. W, KAISER 12 y.o. boy
231. W, KRISTEN 11 y.o. girl
232. W, COURTNEY 16 y.o. girl
234. W, KELLY 16 y.o. girl
235. W, MEGAN 15 y.o. girl
236. W, REAGAN 6 y.o. girl
237. W, BRITTANY 8 y.o. girl
238. W, DALTON 6 y.o. boy
239. W, GARY 16 y.o. boy
240. G, LOREN 15 y.o. boy

The information we have are names, ages and M/F. We will need to collect all toys by Thursday, December 14, since we will be making our delivery Saturday, Dec. 16th. We ask that gifts be limited to no more than $50.00.

Please contact me either by e-mail or phone if you, your group or organization would like more information on how to participate.

Linda Edwards

11/13 Partnering with Pickin' Up The Pieces is Armstrong U:
http://katrina.armstrong.edu/progress.htm which is helping with the Thanksgiving food drive along with 5 current material drives and 12 past ones, as well as 2 previous trips to help in Pearlington and a current one being scheduled for March. WOW - Great people!

11/10
Also - if you want to help with their Thanksgiving Food Drive:
http://www.pickinupthepieces.org/images/thanksgiving.pdf

If you have been wanting a hands on experience to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina here is your chance! Residents in the Gulf still desperately need your help. If you want to participate in an unforgettable experience, you may want to consider a trip to Mississippi. If you have been considering going down to Mississippi, but didn't quite know how to go about doing it, please join us in our effort to make a difference

Charles B Murphy School Article

2007-06-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

The Hancock County School District on Thursday took three bids under advisement for the construction of two new schools to be built in Lakeshore and Leetown. It may be a while before the bids can be awarded, however, as the board has asked for a state ethics ruling because one of the board members currently works for the low-bidder.
When the issue came up on the agenda, District One board member Packer Ladner left the room, because he is employed by one of the companies (Roy Anderson Corp) which turned in a bid.
Board President Morgan Ladner announced that Roy Anderson Corp. was indeed the low-bidder with a bid on both schools for $31.68 million.
Two other bids were turned in. Starks Construction turned in a bid for $17.1 million for South Hancock and Worstim Corp turned in a bid for $17.5 million.
The two other bids combined total nearly $3 million more than the bid by Roy Anderson.
With the possibility of a conflict with state law because of a Roy Anderson employee being on the school board, the board directed attorney Mark Alexander to seek an opinion from the state ethics commission if the board could accept the low bid.
"This is a lot of money," Morgan Ladner said. "Its high, but its kind of what we expected. They (Roy Anderson) are the low bidder and it is several million less than the others."
Besides the possible conflict, time is another factor the school board is facing in regards to the new schools being built.
The school district has expressed a strong desire for the two new schools to be completed by the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.
For that to happen, construction must begin by June 1 of this year.
Superintendent David Kopf said the contract allows for 400 days of construction time.
Alexander said he hopes for an opinion by the end of next week. He said the ethics commission meets next week.
"They are aware of our time restraints," he said.
The board took no action on the bids, but rather took them under advisement.
If the ethics commission rules the district cannot accept the low bid, the district would either have to accept the other bids--which would cost taxpayers nearly $3 more-- or rebid the projects, which could take up to two months to receive.

Laurie a S. MS Hero

2007-03-18T17:28:00.000-05:00

Rebecca Powers Profiles Pearlington's Laurie Spaschak
Those who know her say she has a heart of gold. The State Health Department's District 9 Health Officer Dr. Bob Travnicek, nominated Laurie Spaschak. So did 13 Pearlington residents, including Bobby Carden. He wrote, "She has helped me personally and almost everyone I know. She organized recovery for our whole town. Almost everyone here has benefited greatly from her love. She truly is an angel in disguise." That's why we honor Laurie Spaschak as a South Mississippi Hero.

Laurie left her family back in Albany NY, her daughter staying with Laurie's mom.

The Pearlington Project

2007-03-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc.PO Box 127 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
info@pearlingtonproject.org

Make A Donation...
The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc gratefully accepts your donations for the building of homes in Pearlington, MS. The Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.
To Donate Online
http://www.pearlingtonproject.org/donation.htm
You will receive a receipt via email after making your online donation.
To donate by check,
The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 127
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation. Its mission is simple: To build permanent homes for the residents of Pearlington, Mississippi, who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.

Pearlington, Mississippi is a small, rural, unincorporated community. As such, there is no government to advocate for these citizens. Therefore, The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation was formed to provide permanent, safe shelter for those who have none.

The urgent mission of The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation is to start, finish, and furnish as many homes as possible utilizing a “blitz build.” “Blitz building” is a proven technique in which skilled construction volunteers build a home in a very short period of time. Our skilled volunteers will frame the walls and roofs off-site 2 weeks prior to traveling to Pearlington. Simultaneous to this process, other skilled volunteers will be in Pearlington laying the foundations for the homes. Then, over a 1 week period, the homes will be fully constructed and furnished on-site. Leading this initial “blitz build” for the Foundation is an experienced builder who has held leadership positions in accelerated builds around the country.

Pre-building of the walls and roofs will occur off site with construction in Pearlington taking place. Since the Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, all your donations are tax-deductible. Donations are used to purchase building materials and basic furniture with construction provided by volunteer labor. Furniture is purchased from James Furniture, a local furniture dealer in Picayune, MS, that has rebounded from its Hurricane Katrina losses. It is the philosophy of the Foundation to support the local Gulf Coast economy as much as possible. With your help, this will be the first of many Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation "blitz build" projects.

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation is the evolution of the work of Angela Cole, a healthcare professional and business owner, who has brought attention and resources to the people of this small, rural community for the past year. Her efforts, initially dubbed “The Pearlington Project,” caught the attention of both the New York Times and CNN. CNN has now aired four segments on the situation in Pearlington. All media coverage may be viewed in the Media Section of this website.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation early this year. Time is running out for the people of Pearlington and The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc. needs your help in order to help them. Monies received will fund the building of houses in Pearlington, Mississippi only. Teams of volunteer builders will fund their travel to and from Pearlington to construct the homes. In Dutchess County NY experienced, volunteer home builders are ready to start their hammers as soon as adequate funding for materials is received.

Housing Funds

2007-02-10T23:34:00.000-05:00

GULFPORT, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Community Foundation will administer more than $30 million donated for Hurricane Katrina recovery.

The money comes from the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund, which Gov. Haley Barbour established for contributions pouring in from individuals, companies and foundations.

Rodger Wilder, the foundation's executive director, said so far $15 million is earmarked to rebuild and repair homes, and $6 million to build community centers in George County, Pearlington, west Gulfport, Woolmarket and Biloxi and other areas to be determined.

Eligibility for housing funds will be determined through a series of roundtables and committees that focus on unmet needs in the six South Mississippi counties.

"We're not going to make the decision as to who gets the money," Wilder said Thursday. "It's going to be done through the roundtable, and they have a case management process that's been operating pretty well."

Wilder said the funds will be available immediately.

The foundation already has handed out $6 million in Katrina-recovery grants to individuals and organizations.

West Hancock Fire and Rescue

2007-02-08T16:32:00.000-05:00

From a volunteer out of AZ who toured the FD because of another volunteer who is very partial to WHFR. She is sending this letter out to everyone she can think of. Please help her. This isn't the only fire department in need down there. They are all in similar situations. This will also be the Letter of The Week coming soon for you to send to your local church groups, FDs, county emergency services coordinators.

I just became aware of this situation and wanted to share it with you, as it is critical. I also find it astonishing as we are a year and a half post-Katrina. I am hoping that you can help me rally assistance for these firefighters so that this vital community component can stabilize and rebuild. Please share this with any firefighters, churches, first responder & medical personnel, foundations or individuals you know who may be willing to reach out to this community. They have already lost so much. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any additional questions that you may have:

The West Hancock Fire Rescue is the first responder to 18 miles of US Interstate-10 and is responsible for the emergency response to an industrial port - Port Bienville, in Mississippi – in addition to handling the wide range of emergency calls that come in to assist the residents of both Pearlington and West Hancock County. Pearlington was Ground Zero for Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. The town and its residents lost 100% of their buildings. The neighboring cities in Hancock County were also virtually wiped out, so they cannot help remedy this situation.

West Hancock Fire Rescue is a 100% volunteer department. The doors that they used to knock on for donations are all now gone, although many of the residents remain as they try to rebuild. The fire department is ineligible for grant monies because they do not have the 10% match of funds required to receive grants. It will be two more years before their tax base is rebuilt and they’re eligible for distribution of any local county funds. Meanwhile they have several complex situations they must be prepared for and respond to so that they can be there for their community.

As of today the West Hancock Fire Rescue Department has about a three week supply of fuel left. They have been donated several fire trucks from mid to small sized fire departments throughout the country. They will need assistance in sustaining a fuel supply in order to continue to be able to respond to emergency calls.

These firefighters are also in need of everything from basic response equipment and supplies on up to things such as an extraction tool, Haz Mat suits, a ram and VHF radios. They unfortunately do not have the funds to fix anything that needs even “just a little fixing”. As they stabilize and rebuild they are in need of their firefighter brothers and sisters, paramedics and EMT’s to come to the area and support them in responding to calls, as they have lost more than 60% of their department. They need help with funds to rebuild at least one of their two fire stations which were completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Every department member has lost their own home and struggles to juggle their paying jobs, rebuilding their own home and responding to the needs of a community that has already lost so much.

I know that the men and women of West Hancock Fire Rescue are so grateful for the outreach they have received in the weeks and months after Hurricane Katrina. They are determined to move themselves and their community past this situation. The reality is that they are in great need of physical and financial support in order to stabilize and rebuild - in what has now become an extraordinary situation, on top of an extraordinary situation. Today they deploy to their calls out of a trailer with the limited firefighting and rescue equipment that they have.

The immediate priorities of the West Hancock Fire Rescue are as follows. (Any and all support that you are able to provide in remedying this critical situation will be greatly appreciated.)
1- Fuel (gasoline and diesel) – $1,900 at per month x 24 months
2- EMT and Medic Supplies – The needs are various and ongoing until the community & department are stabilized
3- Grant Match Support of $11,000 - Currently they have been approved for a Fire Grant and will remain eligible for only a short while longer unless they are able to provide the “match”. The $11,000 would be the required match to then receive a $110,000 Fire Grant that would be provided to them by the government to buy much needed Fire Safety and Prevention equipment.
4- Firefighting & Personal Safety Equipment – All of there equipment/assets were destroyed and need to be replaced. (Today this Fire Department does not even have one Jaws of Life. As you know this tool is critical to saving lives on Interstate-10 and in places that other serious auto accidents occur Delayed removal of victims from an automobile in a serious accident can literally be the difference between life and death. It will also greatly raise the moral of the department, so that they are not in a situation where they leave scene thinking “If only I’d had a Jaws…”)
5- Fire House Funds – The cost to rebuild the West Hancock Fire Station is $345,000
6- Firefighter, Paramedic & EMT Support – West Hancock Fire Rescue is in need of trained professionals to volunteer come to the area to help them respond to calls, they are currently down to 9 department members who are providing round-the-clock response to all of their calls. This is a Call to Action to all First Responder brothers and sisters everywhere who would be willing to spend a day, a weekend or more down in Pearlington at the West Hancock Fire Rescue. Your presence would be of great physical and emotional help to this department. (Please contact the Department directly via the information on their website - hyperlinked at the top of this page)
Donations can be made directly to the Department. They are a non-profit. Anyone that you know who is interested in helping out, can also contact me via email or phone as indicated below with questions, to request a list of needed supplies or to coordinate support to this department. I have gotten FedEx to agree to assist with free shipping to Pearlington for those willing to donate supplies or equipment to WHFR. Anyone needing help with shipping should contact me directly to facilitate this.

Suzanne Stahl
suzanneinmississippi@earthlink.net

Cell 602-791-7799
Office Direct 602-787-5356

Pictures of the FD
http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/12/west-hancock-fire-and-rescue.html
Articles re: WHFR
http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/10/west-hancock-vfd-getting-help.html
http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/09/west-hancock-fd-struggles.html
http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/07/fresh-eyes-ii.html

Washington Post Article

2007-02-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/27/AR2007012701154.html?nav=rss_nation

As Aid Lags, Volunteers Shoulder Rebuilding on Gulf Coast
Local Gratitude Mixes With Frustration Over Government's Failures
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 28, 2007; A03
PEARLINGTON, Miss. -- The two-by-fours inside the walls of George and Margaret Ladner's new home are inscribed with biblical verses, each written by one of the Alabama schoolchildren who raised money to buy the lumber.
The framing work on the house was done by a Christian from Pennsylvania, the exterior planking was put up by people from Texarkana, Tex., and a group from Destin, Fla., worked on other details.
"This home was built by the hands of God," Margaret Ladner, 75, said from the couch of her new living room last week.
In this small rural community, as in much of the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast, this kind of motley charity effort accounts for the vast bulk of what halting progress has been made in the immense task of rebuilding.
While the national debate over the recovery has focused on the billions expected in federal aid and insurance, those sources have so far provided little for places such as Pearlington, and charity efforts have constituted more than 80 percent of the home rebuilding completed so far, local and charity officials said.
Fewer than one in five families here are back in their homes, but nearly all of them have relied to some extent on charity groups. The waves of volunteers typically come down for a week or two, work during the day and at night sleep on cots and bunks set up in places such as the old school library and huts on the community's football field.
"Without the volunteers and the donations, we'd still be in the mud," said Rocky Pullman, a tugboat captain who represents the Pearlington area on the Hancock County Commission.
In a county where nearly 11,000 homes were destroyed by the storm, the largest single home rebuilder is the local Habitat for Humanity project, which is undertaking the construction of 19 homes in the area, according to an official with the governor's commission on recovery. Other groups are aiming at similar numbers.
The reason for the charity's dominant role in the rebuilding is that little, if any, of the $3.2 billion in federal aid for Mississippi homeowners has reached anyone here -- it is tied up for now at the state level. As for insurance, most residents of this rural community lacked any form of flood policy. People say there just hadn't been a flood in recent memory, and of those who did have coverage, most had too little.
"If it wasn't for the good American citizens coming here, we'd be in a world of hurt," said Chuck Benvenutti, Hancock County representative on the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, Renewal.
The fact that now, 17 months after Hurricane Katrina, only a small fraction of the home rebuilding has been completed and that most of it has been done by charity groups is viewed here as both wonderful and disappointing -- wonderful that so many strangers have arrived to help, but disappointing that the federal aid and insurance payouts have proved, for now, so unavailable.
The charitable groups and residents also say they sometimes worry that as the rest of the country forgets about their plight, the flow of volunteers that they have relied upon could shrink.
Several expressed outrage that there was no mention of the hurricane recovery in President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday.
"We still look like a bomb hit us, and then the president in his national address doesn't even mention us?" said Larry Randall, a retired boat captain and a coordinator of relief efforts at the Pearlington Recovery Center. "That really hurt."
Katrina made a nearly direct hit on this modest community, which once had about 1,700 people, about 77 percent of them white, about 20 percent black, census figures show. Most maintained houses -- a typical one sold for about $50,000 before the storm -- and the rest had mobile homes.
Katrina pushed ashore a surge of water that simply washed many homes away and filled others with as much as 10 feet of water, according to recovery officials. Eight local people died. Several rode out the storm by climbing tall trees and resting in their branches; others jumped from rooftops into boats.
Now the vast majority of the residents who have returned live in FEMA trailers, the skinny, 27-foot-long homes on wheels provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that house families in cramped quarters. Along the woodsy roadsides, hand-painted plywood signs offer community encouragement -- "Keep Hope Alive" and "Katrina Was Big, God Was Bigger." Stray dogs roam.
Every week, scores of volunteers descend on this community to fill the cots at the school library or the parsonage at the local Baptist Church or a camp run by Presbyterians. Last week there were more than 80 here, but at other times there have been as many as 200.
By day, they go out in work crews, framing houses, putting up drywall, installing doors. At night, some have prayer meetings.
This past week, at various sites one could run into Amish from Pennsylvania, Catholics from Massachusetts, Methodists from Illinois, Baptists from Mississippi and a Florida church group. The Amish crews, clad in their distinctive suspenders and wide-brimmed hats, have a non-Amish driver who takes them to work sites.
"Many of us were born with a hammer in our hands," said Sam Stoltzfus, 41, part of an Amish crew from the Williamsport, Pa., area. "This is fun. Yes, we're supposed to help people, but it's not like a chain around our necks."
Russell Geeraerts, 38, a general contractor from Helena, Mont., said he came down after the hurricane "for all the wrong reasons." He was going to volunteer for a couple of weeks and then come back with his own work crew to make some money.
"But then I asked myself, 'How could you?' " he said last week after lunch at a local kitchen, which like the various camps was set up to serve volunteers. "Just look at this place."
The $3.2 billion in federal aid disbursed by the Mississippi program has largely been untouchable by people in Pearlington.
The program's first phase doles out money to people who were flooded but did not live in the federally designated flood zone.
Most people in Pearlington live in the flood zone and must wait for the second phase to begin. Under its guidelines, families of low and moderate income will be eligible for as much as $100,000, less any insurance and FEMA rebuilding payments they have received.
In the meantime, not knowing whether they will receive aid, many families here say they have accepted, sometimes reluctantly, the help of the charity groups in the rebuilding.
Many put what they have into building a foundation, getting the home started. Then the charitable groups, which provide materials and work crews, do the rest.
Even so, many feel uncomfortable about receiving the help.
Frank Bello and his wife, for example, are raising five children. He worked in maintenance at the local elementary school. She is a nurse.
Last week, an Amish crew was putting together the frame on a new house for the family.
Just before Christmas, when Bello was hauling three loads of dirt to his home site, it began to rain. He told the volunteer work crew that he was sorry that they had to work in such conditions.
"They said, 'Don't worry, we're glad to do it,' and that made me feel better," Bello said. "But I still feel bad about it. Personally, myself, I like to be doing that sort of thing for other people, not having them do it for me. But now that's the way it is."

Community Center Funding

2007-01-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

GCCF to give out $30M to help with Katrina recovery
12/29/2006, 5:14 p.m. CT
The Associated Press GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — The Gulf Coast Community Foundation will administer more than $30 million donated for Hurricane Katrina recovery.The money comes from the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund, which Gov. Haley Barbour established for contributions pouring in from individuals, companies and foundations.
Rodger Wilder, the foundation's executive director, said so far $15 million is earmarked to rebuild and repair homes, and $6 million to build community centers in George County, Pearlington, west Gulfport, Woolmarket and Biloxi and other areas to be determined.
Eligibility for housing funds will be determined through a series of roundtables and committees that focus on unmet needs in the six South Mississippi counties.
"We're not going to make the decision as to who gets the money," Wilder said Thursday. "It's going to be done through the roundtable, and they have a case management process that's been operating pretty well."
Wilder said the funds will be available immediately.
The foundation already has handed out $6 million in Katrina-recovery grants to individuals and organizations.

More Pictures From Gary's Trip

2007-01-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

Newly rebuilt houses, I think mostly by the Presbyterians and Baptists.

A very scary situation - too many fuels too close together!

Affectionately known at The Igloo House.

Sunset on New Year's Eve

Another sunset picture

December/January bugs.

New House off Pearl River

More Pictures

2006-12-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Water damage from Storm Surge - typical damage to roads, IF they still exist.

Damaged home in I think Pearlington - it might be Biloxi - Gary didn't say.

Another destroyed home - check out the flag in the middle of it all.

What was once known as a home is now a pile among the trees and shrubs.

West Hancock Fire and Rescue

2006-12-26T17:37:00.000-05:00

Thank you Gary for the photos! All photos herein are property of Gary McGinnis and copyrighted December, 2006.

A paid worker fell off a ladder and has been collared/boarded for transport to the hospital. His coworkers are there as well.

Nice Grouping.

A donated Engine. WOW. Great of departments to do this considering how MUCH these puppies cost. Call and ask your local FD to get an idea of the generosity.

EMA gave all emergency services a double wide to work out of. Not bad compared to the regular tuna cans...

One Tower/Ladder donated.

The New Rescue

A donated Tanker. Looks like a GREAT workhorse!

Another Ladder Truck

Another need discovered - DOT Level III Traffic cones. If anyone knows of any, please contact Leslie at KatrinaCoalition@aol.com

Linda Fs New Home!

2006-12-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Again, pictures from Lynn N. Thank you Lynn!

Linda's New Home WOW - thank you New Hope Construction and all of OHAAT!

A new picture for a new wall.

Reporter Leslie with Linda

December in Pearlington

2006-12-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Lynn N. Thank you!
Bunkhouses, tents, back of what's left of the school 12/13/06

Christmas in Pearlington with both Homes.

A dog at the recovery center

Just another of Santa's Helpers

Pearlmart, Christmas Style
Abandoned house in Pearlington

The Helper - preparing!

Armstrong Atlantic State University

2006-11-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

Looking Ahead
Due to the success of the previous relief trips, as well as the continued need for help in the Mississippi area, another Alternative Spring Break trip is planned for March 10 - 14, 2007. Students wishing to sign up for the trip should contact Alice Adams @ adamsali@mail.armstrong.edu. The cost of the trip is $75.00 for food and lodging; a variety of fundraising events will be held over the next few months to help offset the transportation expenses. Donations for this very worthwhile cause would also be greatly appreciated.
Donations can be made payable to Pickin' Up the Pieces Relief Corps and mailed to Alice Adams, Armstrong Atlantic State University, 11935 Abercorn Street, 201 Solms Hall, Savannah, GA 31419-1

Are you interested in helping to plan and implement Armstrong Atlantic's hurricane relief effort? We need student, staff, and faculty volunteers to help lead this initiative and make a difference in the lives of those affected by hurricane Katrina. A variety of opportunities are available, so sign up today to join us! Please send an email with the following information to richleig@mail.armstrong.edu

Name
Email
Phone
Are you a: __Student __Staff member __Faculty member __Other
Which committee(s) are you interested in joining?
__Student Group Liaison __Community Agency Liaison __Public Relations/Promotions__Event Organizing __Donations & Accounting __Discussion Forum__I'm not sure, please contact me.
Get Help
Are you in need of volunteers? To request volunteers for your upcoming events, please send an email with the following information to richleig@mail.armstrong.edu
Your Name
Your Group’s Name
Event Name
Types of Volunteers Needed
Your Contact Information

Their October Trip
A group of 21 students, staff, and faculty joined forces with Walls of Hope (http://katrina.armstrong.edu , www.wallsofhope.net) in the construction of 2 homes in Pearlington, MS. In addition to the construction, students also completed the gutting and clean up a home belonging to a widow and her 3 yr old grandson. The home is scheduled to be rebuilt by another group out of Colorado beginning in November. Thanks to all of the faculty and staff who contributed to help offset the cost of the trip!

An Armstrong Alumnus Writes:I received in the mail this week the winter 2006 issue of Compass. The article on Hurricane Katrina compels me to write. I have seen and felt the destruction in New Orleans and many of the surrounding communities. I know people who lost everything they own. I know people killed by this storm. Hurricane Katrina is forever tattooed on the hearts and souls of those of us who survived.
As an Armstrong alumnus, I read with great pride and appreciation of the Armstrong community's efforts to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Your efforts are still very much needed. Thank you for caring and acting. May blessings abound in your lives for the generosity and humanity so well expressed through your good work.
Paul Forbes (BA 1977)
Director, Professional Development Institute & Elmwood Campus
University College, Tulane University
New Orleans, LA

Thanksgiving Food Drive Donations Needed!
Armstrong students are holding a Thanksgiving drive to provide non-perishable food items to families in Mississippi and Louisiana who continue to rebuild their homes and their lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Suggested donations include canned hams or other canned meats, canned vegetables and fruit, dried fruit, stuffing mix, instant mashed potatoes, gravy mixes, pie crust mixes, cake/brownie/muffin mixes, frosting, boxes of macaroni and cheese, drink mixes, small boxes of cooking items (flour, sugar, brown sugar, etc.), small bottles of cooking oil. Please, no open/used, breakable, or perishable items! Also, funds to help cover shipping costs are needed.
Food items can be dropped off at 201 Solms Hall by Friday, November 10, 2006.
Monetary donations can be made payable to Pickin' Up the Pieces Relief Corps and mailed to Leigh Rich, Armstrong Atlantic State University, 11935 Abercorn Street, 201 Solms Hall, Savannah, GA 31419-1997

Other Events
The History Department is collecting books for the New Orleans Public Library more...
Lane Library is collecting donations of money and books for evacuee shelters and libraries in the affected areas.

The Department of Health Sciences (Solms Hall 201) is collecting diabetic supplies (glucometers, test strips, lancets, alcohol swabs, band-aids, etc.) for the American Diabetes Association.

The Inkwell is collecting toys (new toys preferred) for disaster victims. Toys will be delivered in small batches throughout the year.

West Hancock VFD Getting Help

2006-10-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

Water is usually a welcome site for any firefighter. But Katrina's 13 foot storm surge was much more water than members of the West Hancock Volunteer Fire Department ever wanted to see.
Kim Jones, Chief of the West Hancock Volunteer Fire Department, took WLOX on a tour of his storm damaged fire station.
"In here, the water just wiped out the living quarters completely. We had 11 trucks total, nine of them were destroyed."
Heavy damage to the building left the department with nowhere to house the fire trucks that weathered the storm or those donated to the department.
"Ever since Katrina, we've had our trucks sitting outdoors in the atmosphere getting beat up by hail storms and the sun hitting the hose line, which the ultra violet rays were destroying those."
Chief Kim Jones says a new, temporary fire house will provide much needed shelter for the department's equipment and five fire trucks. FEMA paid for the $14,000 facility. Seabees from the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 provided the manpower and construction expertise.
"It's projects like these that are great training for our Seabees. Junior Seabees get an opportunity to come out here and use those types of skills, 'cause it's similar type facilities that we're building out on deployment wherever we're at in the world," Seabee Commander Allan Stratman said.
"When we showed up here it still looked like the storm had just hit yesterday, so it was nice to come into an area that really wasn't getting much help and be able to help them get off the ground and get back on their feet," Seabee Andrew Brandmeier said.
Chief Jones says it will cost between $200,000 and $300,000 to repair their storm damaged station, so the temporary facility will likely be home for a long time.
FEMA is also funding a mini fueling station for the fire department. Right now, there are no working gas stations in Pearlington. Fire fighters have been driving 25 minutes to Bay St. Louis or Waveland just to gas up.

New Site Being Established

2006-10-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

11/7 One Family From Pearlington So far
William
http://realpeoplerelief.blogspot.com/2006/10/william.html

Please print the picture to post in your neighborhood shopping areas for added assistance to these families. Right click on the picture to save, and then print with your color printer. It is sized for 8/5x11 paper.

As some of you may know, I've registered with the Make a Difference Day initiative being held on October 28, 2006. First, I urge you to do the same thing - http://www.makeadifferenceday.com/ is where you can do this.

Next, I registered a project that I had been planning for some time, and had only just decided to initiate. Because I want the Gulf Coast to have as much focus as possible, I am delaying the project by about a week. My project is called - Real People Relief and the address will be http://www.realpeoplerelief.blogspot.com/. I have already registered the name, so no worries about a name change.

I know many of you work with individual families who, along with you, are struggling to find the money for their daily living and recovery efforts. I am able to highlight up to 1 family a week from each organization who contacts me - leaving the information of each family up as long as I receive 2 updates a month - whether from them or you. I am willing to post up to 3 current pictures (I'll touch them up if needed, and resize if needed) and will rotate pictures as new ones become available.

Individuals who contact me directly will be placed under my banner of Katrina Networking. All of you who send me information will have those families placed under YOUR organization's banner, along with your website and contact information, should a person choose who wants to help actually chooses to volunteer.

I will send you the links for each family (or person) whose information you send to me, so that you have me edit the information as needed. You will also be able to send this link to your reader/volunteer base so they can follow the information with less effort on your part.

Since I continue to receive an increasing number of emails from both organizations and citizens alike regarding the fact little money is trickling down to their level, I feel this is a very important thing to do. Add that most people are just wanting to know they are not forgotten, I feel this will be a very important emotional assistance to those we are all trying to assist.

With that, I will paste my questionnaire into this email and would great appreciate any participation on your part.

Sincerely,
Leslie Holly

Questionnaire For Inclusion On Real People Relief

Information Posted on Your Page
Name: - I would like first and last, but please note what you feel comfortable having posted for all to see.

Email: - only contact information public will have about you. You will decide if you want them to know your full information by emailing them.

Location: - where you were; where you are; where you plan to be in a year.

Number in Household: - Please include pets. First names, sex and age of each person.

Situation: – brief paragraph of what you’ve been through, who you’ve applied for help with, what has happened in the last year.

Current Living Arrangements: - FEMA Trailer, Apartment, House, Tent?

Help: - what help, if any, have you received thus far?

Photos: - Up to current photos – can be rotated through as new images are sent.

Needs: Please list preferences; if you’re going to want, you might as well want what you want! Below are examples and in the categories to be listed under.
Foods – non-perishable only
Paper Products – Napkins, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, etc.
School Supplies – notebooks, pens, pencils, folders, etc.
Computer Supplies – paper, ink (give specific cartridges)
Clothing – list sizes and style color preference
Cleaning Supplies – Windex, Dishwashing liquid, Laundry detergent, etc.
Household Supplies – light bulbs, kitchen supplies (pans, pots, etc.)
Stores you shop at – for possible gift cards or gift registry

Information Not Posted
Full Name
Mailing Address
Phone Number

What I Need from you
Twice monthly updates: - The more often I can update your information, the more frequently your information will be reviewed. People view blogs like an ongoing story. They get hooked on new little tidbits. If I don’t receive regular updates, the information will be pulled after 8 weeks.

Free Legal Services

2006-10-13T08:45:00.000-05:00

Coast residents dealing with post-Katrina woes took advantage of free legal services Thursday. The Mississippi Center for Justice set up shop in the storm devastated Pearlington community.
Mitchell Fairley lost his home and nearly his life when Hurricane Katrina covered his Pearlington home with water.
"It's been tough, but you've got to roll with the punches," Fairley said.
Finding the money to build a new house has proven difficult for Fairley and his family.
"Right now we're in a FEMA trailer. We appreciate it, but really we need our own home."
Fairley is seeking help from attorneys with the Center for Justice to help him qualify for an SBA loan.
"We have been denied the SBA loan, so I come here today to try to appeal it, and maybe we'll have better luck this time."
The Mississippi Center for Justice is offering free legal services to Coast residents who may not be able to afford legal representation.
"We've been to Pearlington twice, and if you look around, it looks like the storm just happened. Debris is still everywhere. Pearlington residents, it's a rural area and they are not likely to travel to Biloxi to get the legal aid, so we're coming to them," Center for Justice Attorney Crystal Utley said.
Since the storm, the center has helped thousands of residents tackle Katrina related troubles.
"We are still seeing a lot of FEMA issues, people who are still waiting for FEMA trailers. Besides that, I've seen probably ten contractor disputes this week. Some of them, the contractor is taking a down payment and never coming back, or they're doing an awful job. We're also seeing insurance disputes."
She says regardless of the Katrina related issue, the Center for Justice will be there to help for as long as the service is needed.
The Mississippi Center for Justice will hold its next walk-in workshop Thursday, October 19th at its Biloxi Office on Division Street from 4pm to 7pm.
For help before that date, you can make an appointment by contacting Crystal Utley at (601)-352-2269.

West Hancock FD Struggles

2006-09-21T07:19:00.000-05:00

Mailed to me from a friend working closely with the WHVFD (Pearlington)

I got a message to call West Hancock last night. I spoke to Chief Jones. There are new FEMA players in town and they want to start over from scratch. Nobody is interested in there rhetoric. They are back to replacing in kind apparatus that was lost. In other words if you had a 1970 fire engine they will replace it with a 1970 fire engine. I don’t know what the probabilities are of finding a 1970 fire engine that is in good shape. I would be very leery of buying anyone else’s antique fire apparatus. West Hancock can not obtain fire apparatus more than 15 years old due to insurance restrictions.

Who ever is running this program doesn’t understand that there are certain requirements for fire engines and you can’t just go out and obtain old equipment. At one time the fire departments were promised new apparatus. This issue has see sawed more than a inner city play ground. I told the officials when I was down there that obtaining antique fire apparatus was dangerous and subjected the departments to liability since the equipment would not meet NFPA standards. Certainly no one on the US Fire Administration side of DHS/FEMA would condone such equipment being put on front line status.

My thoughts are to organize the fire departments into a single voice and have them talk to their Congressman and Senators. There is no reason for all this back and forth stuff and having to redo paper work that was redone only to find that original paperwork was adequate. FEMA is asking for paperwork from insurance companies that have been provided several times already. The insurance company, I am told, is refusing to supply the same paper work over and over and over.

The new FEMA faces are of course contractors. Storms seem to breed contractors to do all sorts of things, except get stuff done. Chief Jones told me that of all the fire departments down there, West Hancock was the only one to receive any money. They have managed to get around $40 - $45K so far.

I am also told that the cities (BSL and Waveland) are getting new apparatus but didn’t lose any. I’m avoiding that contest. Waveland says they lost apparatus and I’m not so sure the Bay didn’t either. (this is rumor only. They have lost huge amounts of equipment, vehicles and buildings)

Mobile Library is Back!

2006-09-11T16:52:00.000-05:00

I love posting good news!

Ms Mary put this on as a comment and I'm taking the liberty of creating an actual post for it. People NEED to see this!

Pearlington Mobile Library
Children and adults of Pearlington can now check out books, DVD movies, books on CD and much more at the Pearlington Mobile Library. The Mobile Library is open Tuesday-Friday 12 noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The Pearlington Mobile Library is located on the grounds of the Charles B. Murphy Elementary School and the Pearl Mart.

For more info, call 228-216-7300.

Volunteer Reunion

2006-08-13T08:53:00.000-05:00

Sent to me by Shannon Erwin of Walton County Habitat:

The Pearlington Community invites you to come and share in their Volunteer’s Reunion Appreciation Gospel Musical on Friday, August 25, 2006, at 7 p.m. The event will be held at the New Hope Baptist Church in Pearlington, MS.

Many of you know Ms. Susie & Mr. Josh who are the recipients of the first house built through the One House at a Time project. I recently visited with Ms. Susie and she said she hopes to see everyone at the reunion. I was also told by another home recipient who is helping coordinate the reunion that Ms. Susie will be singing a solo. I also wanted to let you know that it was such a blessing to me personally to get to visit with some of the people that have been helped by the OHAAT project and I wanted to pass along to you how grateful they are to each of you.

Pearlington In Danger

2006-08-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

8/9
WAPT.com
Toxicologist: Arsenic Levels In Soil Are Not Dangerous

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi Poison Control Center director Doctor Robert Cox said there are no findings to support claims of dangerous levels of arsenic in the soil on the coast.
Cox was responding to claims by Wilma Subra, a chemist who last week said arsenic levels were dangerously high.
Subra said she came to work along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and has taken soil samples in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.
She said 90 percent of the samples have exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for arsenic.

WAPT.com
Chemist Finds High-Level Of Arsenic In Katrina's Wake
POSTED: 9:07 am CDT July 31, 2006
UPDATED: 9:14 am CDT July 31, 2006

BILOXI, Miss. -- A chemist said soil samples taken in the wakes of hurricanes Katrina and Rita show dangerously high levels of arsenic in some areas along the coast.
Wilma Subra said she believes arsenic, other heavy metals and bacteria in the soils of coastal areas battered by hurricanes last year are causing residents to become sick with unexplained illnesses.

Some who attended a meeting organized by the Outreach of Love to publicize Subra's findings said they or their family members are suffering from unexplained health problems.
Subra said 90 percent of the samples taken in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas have exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for arsenic.

She found the highest levels in Mississippi at Moss Point, Gulfport and Pearlington, where arsenic is at levels 27 times beyond what the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality considers safe.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Found on Gulf Coast News www.GulfCoastNews.com

High level of arsenic found in Katrina's wake
The Associated Press
BILOXI — A chemist said soil samples taken in the wakes of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita show dangerously high levels of arsenic in some areas along the coast.
Wilma Subra believes arsenic, other heavy metals and bacteria in the soils of coastal areas battered by hurricanes last year are causing residents to become sick with unexplained illnesses.
"It gets kicked up in the air so you can inhale it, ingest it and you can come in contact with it," she said. "If you walked through it, once it started drying, it would scoop up into the air."
Some members of the public who attended the meeting, which was organized by the Outreach of Love, said they or family members are suffering from unexplained health problems.
Subra said she came to work along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and has taken soil samples in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama. She said 90 percent of the samples have exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for arsenic.
She found the highest levels in Mississippi at Moss Point, Gulfport and Pearlington where arsenic is at levels 27 times beyond what the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality considers safe.
Subra said the arsenic built up in the Gulf Coast's riverbeds and was spread by the hurricanes. After the storm surge receded, many residents found the ground covered with a toxic sludge.
"It looked like when your mom would make a chocolate cake," she said.
Subra contends the sludge should have been removed and will now be even more difficult to dispose of. She claimed health problems such as skin allergies, infections or respiratory problems that do not respond to antibiotic treatment can be caused by the toxic sludge, which also contains petroleum products stored in houses that were destroyed.

More Security Needed

2006-07-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

8/14

Had a conversation with a volunteer friend who is not IN P-ton at all times. She was very disturbed by the drug activity among the youth. She was very uneasy driving through a certain part of town due to the open use of drugs as she went through, along with the obvious nature that she was NOT a local.

She was so sad about it that it consumed much of the conversation.

This is a byproduct of disasters. Youth are many more times likely to become abusers of drugs and each other when the emotional aspect of a disaster is not dealt with properly.

There are long-term volunteers that are in P-ton on a daily basis that have experience with this aspect of disaster recovery. Unfortunately, I've not heard of any solid efforts to establish programs to help deal with the emotional aftermath. Hopefully this will change in the near future.

Just sent to me this AM (7/24)
Leslie,

Just to give you a quick update.

The insulation my dad purchased for his rebuilding efforts was stolen from inside of the house he is trying to rebuild. I am so pissed, that someone could do such a thing to a 89 year old man.

Do you think the National Guard will police Pearlington? The local officials are of no help, hell they are probably involved.

I guess you could say I am very bitter right now.
WL

This isn't the first time this man has had something bad happen to him. He's had grifters try to take him for no work done, he's had promises by local volunteers that have never come through, and I believe he's had a generator stolen as well.

I truly believe the area needs more patrols AND a better sense of communal security. People really need to do more checking on each other.

A New Home In Pearlington

2006-07-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

From the Clarion Ledger

PEARLINGTON — As framed houses slowly go up along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a new yellow house belonging to Rupert Ray "Tater" Smith and his wife, Ann, stands out among the trailers, debris and vacant lots where their neighbors once lived.

"It just floated like a barge," said Tater Smith, 71. "We started (rebuilding) from the ground up."
The Smiths are unlike a lot of this town's estimated 2,000 residents - and many others - along the Gulf Coast looking to rebuild their lives. Thousands of residents are weary and restless, left waiting for insurance settlements and federal block grants 10 months after the storm.

Scott Hamilton, spokesman for the Mississippi Development Authority, said federal grant money won't come until the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules on an objection to the implementation of the program filed by a national mortgage bankers association. The MDA had hoped to make grants available this week.

Some people haven't waited on the grants to rebuild, though. They have used insurance settlements, savings and credit cards to move ahead. Others got loans from the Small Business Administration, banks or their families. Many, like the Smiths, have gotten help from thousands of volunteers.

"If it had not been for these volunteers, I don't know what we would do," said Tater Smith, whose Hancock County town was hit with a 28-foot storm surge. "We didn't have the money to go buy property. We live on fixed incomes. All we get is Social Security."
The Smiths recently had a grant application appointment in Bay St. Louis. Tater Smith said he didn't think he and his wife would get anything.

The Smiths got $8,000 from their insurance company and $10,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace their home, which was valued around $60,000. He has about $4,000 left, which won't cover all the flooring and interior work left to be completed before he and his wife can move in.

"It's been a long, hard road for us," Tater Smith said.

The Smiths were not in the flood zone and are eligible to apply for one of the $150,000 grants.
Mississippi's grant program, administered through the MDA, was approved by HUD in April. About 16,000 residents began applying that same month for an estimated $3 billion.
Meanwhile, Hamilton said some grant applicants could get as much as 35 percent more money to make up for the rising cost of construction. Eligible residents who didn't apply still can do so, he said.

But volunteers across the Coast, who stepped up to help residents immediately after the storm, continue to lead the way in hurricane recovery. They have taken the lead in home reconstruction as grant approvals and distributions have been delayed.

Edith Cook, 66, is among those who have benefited from strangers' generosity. She said she never dreamed she would live in a house on her Pass Christian property again after the storm. The storm took away the house of the retired caregiver.

"There was nothing but the blocks," she said. "The house was up the street. I was definitely not going to rebuild. I thought I would rent for the rest of my life."

Volunteers from a Falls Church, Va., church are rebuilding the homes of Cook and two others, volunteer Eldon Stoffel said. He recently was among a group working at Cook's new house, which stands on blocks at least 10 feet high.

Stoffel, a professional painter, said his church has raised more than $220,000 to rebuild the three houses.

Cook said one of her daughters applied to have the group rebuild the house for free.
"It's unbelievable," she said. "Rebuilding was not in my plan. I didn't see where I could afford it. It's a gift. The Falls Church group are all angels. Every one of them."

Gary Reynolds, 50, of Biloxi is using flood insurance money and his skills as a general construction contractor to rebuild his home that faces the Back Bay of Biloxi. The storm pushed close to 4 feet of water into his house.

Fresh Eyes II

2006-07-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

From Gary upon his return to DC:

The fire departments need someone savvy at hooking up lights and generators. This is an urgent need. They are running night calls up on I 10 without scene lighting. They rely on mutual aid to assist with lights but nothing is sure. It would be a lot better if they could get lights operating on their own trucks. Tommy Dean does some maintenance work on the vehicles, but he is trying to get his new house finished as well.

As he said the trucks are getting broke faster than he can fix.

Another urgent need is ANSI Class III traffic vest and cones. Accidents occur almost daily up on I 10 and there are no safety vests. I think we ran three medical calls a fire and 9 or 10 accident calls while I was there. Its bad enough that you could almost justify staging vehicles at the Mississippi Welcome Center.

Replace Vital Records

2006-07-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery/Vital_Docs.shtml

This site has for citizens, businesses, not-for-profits and Federal employees

It have links and directions to replace your:

Bank Records
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
Damaged Money
Driver's License and Vehicle Registry
Civilian Personnel Records
Immigration Documents
Has a medical information form
Medicare Card Replacement
Military Service Records
Passport
Savings Bonds
SS Card
Tax Returns

There is a phone directory if you'd rather do this by phone and a FAQ sheet.

Please Check it out

Fresh Eyes

2006-07-01T19:15:00.000-05:00

Just about all posts at the moment will be updates from a gentleman named Gary who has travelled down again to do what he is able. He was with FEMA the first 3 months he was there. And now he is just Joe Citizen trying to make a difference.

His contacts are GREAT, so his difference WILL show! His work is mostly with Fire Service, so try to look at it through those eyes.

7/1
Have arrived at Hancock County and find that day time help is very limited. There are difficulties in getting FEMA money they are entitled to and forms from MEMA just confues the fire department.

I looked over all the engines and tanker that I used to drive to refresh my memory. I had to touch the buttons to get the feel of what was where. It has been six months since I drove. I don't know why but air pressure doesn't seem to hold as long as it should. You have to build it back up every few days.

All donations have been made at this time. Laurie over to the school remembered me from October and greatly appreciated the food, soap etc I dropped off. I have not seen the little girl that has the library, but she is living next to Laurie.

It sounds like Pealington is the community that no one cares about. Little head way has been made. A few new homes are built or being built. Water and sewer service are a primary concern. Lots are not big enough to meet building code for septic system. In the past sewage was run in ditches or over ground but that is no longer allowed.

You would not think a community had open sewage in 2006!!!! Supposedly a sewer is going to be built. I don't believe much without seeing it first hand.

The Presidnet of the IAFC promises to help anywya he can. He stayed aout a half hour. We need to get a list of equipment needed as well as a list of equipment that has been received and donated to othre communities.

I hope to visit a couple of the other stations while I am down here. More later.

Later...

A few people have rebuilt. A few more are in the process. I would say less than 10% though. We drove around last night checking on fires. There is a burn ban in effect but rules and laws don' t mean a heck of a lot. I still see people living in tents. The FEMA trailer lot in Purvis is full again. It was almost empty in January. That raises some issues. Trailers are brought down one at a time. So God knows how much money was spent to transport trailers only to have them sit in a vacant field. An optimist would think they are returns from people who have rebuilt but I very much doubt that.

Today the "Castle Law" takes effect in Mississippi. If someone breaks into your home or car while you are in it you can assume they are intending to do serious harm and shoot them. Guns in cars were a common item before and now will be even more common. I wonder how many people will be shot around here.

The fire danger is extreme. There have been many forrest fires. Unfortunately, the only thing that happens when youi put them out is you get more dead forrest to burn. The fires get into the pine trees and start to crown (fire gets into the tops of the trees insted of just on the ground). I don't have to explain what a few thousand Christmas Tree fires going off at one time is going to look like. Somehow they manage to get the fires out. FEMA trailers and RV parks are up against the woods and in some cases actually in the woods.

Debris pick up has stopped. So now the locals put debris in the back of the pick up truck and take it down and toss it in the ditch. Some lots have been cleared and debris pushed into the ditch. Its just a matter of time before someone gets tired of looking at it and lights a match. There is no such thing as a little fire. Everyone has a lot of potential since things are so dry. Fireworks are included in the burn ban but can be purchased with in a short drive. I expect a busy weekend.

EZ Mart Open!

2006-07-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

It may not sound like much but the small EZ mart opened today. Finally there is a place to buy small snacks, drinks and beer in Pearlington. Be it ever so small a sign of recovery non the less. I bought two pints of choclate milk. There were no shelves just coolers. A few snacks were avaiable. It looked like they would put up the shelves as they went along.

There are no fireworks this weekend anywhere in the county. The fire risk is too great. I think I could have found an area near the beach to light them safely provided the breeze blew back into the Gulf but I guess since there is no way to make sure it is just too dangerous to try.

The only other idea I can think of would have been a display from barges off shore. Slidell will have displays though. I can live without but it is a bit of a disapointment.

I have to go back over to see the little girl doing the library. I hope she gets the books put up and I can get a picture of her and all her books. What a precious heart touching story.

Not much else is new in Pearlington today. Catch you all later.

Preparing For Disasters

2006-06-21T06:40:00.000-05:00

Disasters can be as small as a single person or as large as an entire nation. A disaster can be a house fire, a wildfire, a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake, a pandemic or a terrorist action.

How you prepare is the same regardless of the size or type of disaster. There are several publications out by countless organizations to deal with disaster preparedness.

I am going to supply the links, and let you decide which one makes the most sense for you. If you happen to have a source for preparation, please let me know and I’ll add it to the list!

First, Personal Preparation
There are a couple of links
I like The Red File – it is well written, concise and has tons of common sense. www.TheRedFile.com
Citizen Corp has many links to publications to assist you in every aspect, from preparing, preventing and recovering. Very good! http://www.citizencorps.gov/ready/cc_pubs.shtm

Emotional Preparation
North Carolina has done a great job compiling links and publications to assist folks with the emotional aspect of any disaster. http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/disasterpreparedness/index.html
Child Advocate has come out with a small booklet for children and I have found this to be the best out there: http://childadvocate.net/disasterbooklet.pdf
A book entitled Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. While this book deals with coping with disaster after the fact, reading it before it happens will give you a great weapon on coping before during and after such a serious event.

Financial Preparation
The best I have found in handling this particular aspect is from an organization called Operation Hope. It’s detailed, calls for several lifestyle adjustments in order to put their plan into place, BUT it will work! They have what they call an Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) that you can download for free:
http://www.operationhope.org/fileupload/File/effak_english.pdf - This is 28 pages.
And a Personal Disaster Preparedness Guide
http://www.operationhope.org/fileupload/File/pdpg_english.pdf - 18 pages.

Finally, Professional/Business Preparation
The Hancock County Chamber of Commerce gave this to me. I’ve not found it in any files or websites I’ve come across and it’s simple, common sense stuff that is so easy to overlook. I have left this information at the top of their page: http://hancockcountyrelief.blogspot.com/2006/06/chamber-lagniappe.html

I feel these links do the best job of covering all aspects of preparing for a disaster. Please let me know if there are others you find that you feel are better or more concise, etc. I’m more than willing to add to the list!

Teacher Thanks

2006-06-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

The past few weeks have been bittersweet with the ending of the school year and the combining of Charles B. Murphy with Gulfview E. Elementary. Though we both lost our campuses and were relocated to trailers next to one another this year, we remained separate, holding our breaths for any glimmer that we might be rebuilt at some point in time. That does not seem to be the case... at least for the moment. We spent the last days packing and moving once again as our CBM teachers and staff were mixed into the other faculty and classes.

Just so you'll know, we took the students on a field trip to a small playground/zoo about 75 miles from us. Having real grass to run and play on, animals to see, and a small rain to ride was quite an adventure. Funny, sometimes you forget just how the storm affected the kids. A second grader sitting next to me on the bus looked out the window and said, "Ms Jeanne, they must not have had a hurricane here!" "Why's that?" I replied. "Cause their grass is green and there aren't any FEMA trailers." he answered.

Needless to say, the trip was worth every dime we spent. I also used your donations to provide hot pizza for the school (a welcome change from the dreaded BROWN BAG!), icy watermelon for all of us one hot afternoon, and had field day with awards for everyone, hot dog lunches, and "just goofing off time" with frisbees and balls ! I even treated all the staff to a farewell dinner one night at Outback, and provided Subway sandwiches for our last work/moving day.

Your money, your books, your supplies, and your notes and calls of support and encouragement were well used. In fact, I stayed so busy that somehow I only managed to get digital pictures those last days of the kids eating watermelon, and a few of us clowning at Outback,and a priceless kindergarten picture with an almost Biblical look, while another worn-out classmate just can't make it till dismissal time.

Please know that you certainly made a difference...not just now but all year! There are no words to say what you have done for us...and for me personally. I've grown to know each of you as though we've been friends for a lifetime, and truly, since August 29th, 2005, it has been a lifetime! It's hard to write what I feel and even harder to say the words.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet someone who entered our lives because of Katrina. Gary Newell, of Buccaneer Computer Systems in Warrenton, Va , in partneship with C. Hunter Richie Elementary provided thousands of dollars in computers, routers, servers, and other AV materials as well as adopting children for Christmas. But whether it was change earned at a child's lemonade stand or gift cards, or used books, or teaching supplies, everything was sent with the utmost love and concern...and it showed!

I've learned to understand "Mainer" talk, and can hold my own with Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and all you "Yankees", as easily as my California buddies. Colorado holds my "extended family" as do almost every state across the country. YOU ARE THE HEROES OF THIS DISASTER! YOU WERE THE "FIRST RESPONDERS'...THE ONES WHO REALLY CARED ! So many friends, so many places, so much in my heart!

In searching for words, I ran across a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled "Success". He said it better than I, so here it is. Each of you, in your own unique way, brought joy to my life and impacted the lives of each child, each teacher, and each family in Pearlington. You are the cause of our success because each of you embody the traits of a successful person.

"To laugh often and much to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the bestin others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or redeemed social condition;
to know evenone life has breathed easier becauseyou have lived.
This is to have succeeded."

Each one of you is a success!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for another unusual school year!

I treasure you all!

Jeanne Brooks

HANDS

2006-05-28T08:18:00.000-05:00

http://www.hands.ms/index2.html
handsrelief@bellsouth.net

HANDS is a 501 (c) 3 that is funded solely through the generous donations of foundations, corporations, churches, and individuals. If you would like to make a contribution to HANDS’ relief efforts,

please contact our distribution center at 601-957-0094.
Make checks payable to:
HANDS
P.O. Box 16449
Jackson, MS 39236

HANDS, Helping Americans Needing Disaster Support, is a Mississippi faith-based non-profit founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. HANDS’ mission is to help rebuild, recover, renew, and restore the individuals, families, and communities devastated by Katrina and other disasters. HANDS is adapting to the changing needs during the different stages of recovery, including the distribution of supplies and clothing, coordinating cleaning and debris removal, and partnering individual families with churches and communities groups to assist in the recovery process.

Dear Friends:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we have seen the horrific television footage. We have all
struggled with a sense of helplessness at the devastation and number of families left in need. I thank each and every one of you that have taken part in the recovery efforts through sending supplies, money, or volunteering your time. Without your support, the relief efforts would have suffered greatly. However, there is much more work to be done. The recovery process is just beginning. Some of you have toured the coast and seen the devastation first-hand. For those who have not, the destruction is indescribable.

Approximately 70,000 homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast were completely destroyed, and thousands more were damaged by wind, trees, and water. While the physical destruction has been staggering, the hope and faith of the people affected has been greatly strained. Each passing day our neighbors on the coast see what you and I may catch as a glimpse hidden on the news. We believe God has raised up HANDS to bring the hope of Christ to the region through the physical rebuilding as well as emotional and spiritual support.

While this is sobering news to hear eight months post Katrina, the Mississippi,Faith-based nonprofit, HANDS (Helping Americans Needing Disaster Support), offers a brighter vision for the future.

The goal of HANDS is “to rebuild the Coast one family at a time” using a new initiative called the Family Connection Program. HANDS has gathered data on the needs of over 1,500 families, or approximately 6,300 individuals, from the devastated region, including Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland, Pearlington, and Pass Christian. There are far too many needs to list in this letter, but none are greater than their need for a renewed spirit of hope. In the early days after the storm, many people placed their hope in their insurance companies, the government, and the nation, assuming that these groups would be able to provide enough support to help them rebuild. However, the harsh reality is that many people have gone back to their normal routines, offers of assistance have dwindled, and many Coastal residents have begun experiencing
widespread depression as they face their bleak future. We believe Jesus has called us to love our
neighbor during this time of need and the Family Connection Program is a vehicle to do just that.

The Family Connection Program offers you, your family, your church, or your business an
opportunity to take a personal hand in rebuilding the Coast. Each HANDS Sponsor Group is assigned one family, and is asked to commit one full year to developing a relationship with the family and addressing their emotional needs. Pray for them, Care for them and Share with them in their time of need. After becoming “intimately” involved in the family’s life, if there are physical or financial needs that you feel led to address, HANDS’ encourages you to do so. Each family in the Family Connection Program shares similar emotional needs, but the financial needs vary from family to family. Using detailed research data, HANDS can match each sponsor group with a family based upon the sponsor’s anticipated time and available resources.

For more information on the Family Connection Program, contact HANDS at 877-426-3703 or 601-957-0094. You can also visit their web site at www.hands.ms.

Through the Family Connection Program, HANDS is making a profound impact in the lives of many people, and I encourage you to become a part.

As Americans, we can find no greater way to promote the general welfare of our nation and our
people than a program such as this. The largest natural disaster in the history of our nation is upon us and now is the time for each of us to make a personal difference and exhibit the passion Christ has placed in our hearts to Love our Neighbor as ourselves.

HELPING AMERICANS NEEDING DISASTER SUPPORT

One House At A Time

2006-05-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

www.OneHouseAtATime.com
1/15 Kris set this up on their website:
http://www.moonlightpainting.com/pearlington.htm

Pearlington Contact:
Glenn Locklin - 615.496.6981

Volunteer Contact: Kris Locklin - kdlocklin@moonlightpainting.com

12/14 - From a Previous OHAAT Volunteer who just returned from a trip to P-ton...
Suzanne Rester Watson and I had a great meeting with Leslie Eaton of the NY Times in Pearlington on Wednesday. She seems to be moving along on her story on modular housing innovations for the Gulf Coast. We would have love to have Leslie from upstate New York along.
It was truly a memorable day.
In addition, Ms. Eaton found the trip to Pearlington informative for a second, more personal story on housing concerns. (She couldn't make any promises to write about "One House at a Time" since the Pearlington story wasn't on her original assignment list.) We visited several homes built by "One House at Time," including the new home of Linda Freeman. It's larger than the first prototype cottage and promises to make a wonderful permanent residence for Linda, and her son Dalton. (Check out more on their home at www.OperationEden.blogspot.com) The house was funded by "One House at a Time" and an anonymous grant.

Leslie seems like a serious journalist who has a big heart for the people of the Gulf Coast. She has been covering New Orleans since Katrina and hopes to continue the in-depth coverage of the region published in the Times. She usually spends a week a month in New Orleans. I'll keep you posted if I hear when the story is running.

Best wishes for a happy New Year, Lynn

11/29 - From Kris Locklin...
Greetings! It's Kris, Glenn Locklin's wife, and I just returned from a visit in Pearlington. Glenn's been down there since January '06 and I admit that this was my first visit, but it definitely won't be the last. I will slowly be jumping in with both feet (can one jump slowly?) to get things more organized and going in a fashion resembling the way Shannon took care of things when One House at a Time was in the hands of Habitat for Humanity of Walton County, FL. Thanks for all you did Shannon!

Work is going slowly for Glenn right now and several projects are near completion but waiting on one or two little things (big enough to stall the project, so not so little) to be done or inspected. Many are hoping to be in their homes by Christmas so we're praying the little things through! I will be working more closely with Glenn to get news out to all of you interested in the goings on of One House projects. Hopefully after the first of the year we can kick it up into high gear and I'll have more to report. For now, feel free to contact me regarding any questions, comments, suggestions or volunteer/donation interests you may have regarding One House at a Time. I can be emailed directly at kdlocklin@moonlightpainting.com and I will do my best to get with you as soon as possible.

Thanks, Leslie, for this forum to bring awareness to One House at a TIme, Glenn and his efforts in Pearlington, MS and all the others who actually make the project of rebuilding Pearlington a reality.

-- Kris Locklin

Picture taken 12/13/06

11/10 - Just found on Pickin' Up The Pieces Website:
- Pickin' Up The Pieces - From GA

11/10
The Hope Center Fellowship of Hendersonville TN
has taken over the work of OHAAT.
http://www.hopecenteronline.org/hopecenter/welcome
Now - from what I've heard from Walton County Habitat is that Glenn will remain the contact person on the ground in Pearlington.
THCF's website does not have any information regarding the OHAAT project. I'll keep checking it from time to time for that update.
I have Suzanne's phone number, but as of yet, have been unable to contact her (no voicemail) and do not have her email to get more details of their plans. Their Pastor - Jeremy Bradley's email is jbradley1179@yahoo.com. Last time I contacted him, I was given a very non-commital answer.
I wish I had more news and hope to have more soon....

10/30
It is great to see that you are still hard at it. Sorry for the long delay in contacting you regarding the One House at a Time project. The transfer is finally complete!! This leaves me with happy and sad emotions. I am extremely happy that the project goes on. New Community Church of Hendersonville, TN is overseeing the project and they plan to complete all the projects and to continue working for hurricane relief.

I have heard from some of the residents, one imparticularly that is handicapped, that could really use a stackable washer / dryer combo if you happen to know of any resources to refer them to. In the near future we will be sending thank yous out to the unit sponsors and plan to make the need known as well, but if you happen to hear of anything that would be great.

I will keep looking for your blogs and I will keep in touch. I have the wall quilting you made hanging by my desk, so I think of you often. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do.
Take Care,
Shannon
9/20
Glenn asked me to write or call you last week and give you an update on how things are going there. He is continuing with the building of the projects that have been started with a completion date of all projects started to be completed by November 1st.

In addition to that he and his family and church are actively seeking funds to carry on the One House project to continue on in remodeling and building for additional Katrina victims in Pearlington, as well as carrying the project on for future storm victims.

9/6
Hey Leslie,
Good to hear from you. Sorry I have not sent an update before now. I did not get to go to the reunion, but I wanted to go. Glenn said they were going to make a dvd or something like that to share, and if I receive a copy I will definitely pass it on to you.

As for the OHAAT project we are in the process of lining things up to turn the project over to a church in Hendersonville, TN. The church plans to finish the current projects, and plan to start doing refurbishing work in Pearlington, and they will try to raise funds and awareness to continue building. I know they would love for you to keep plugging for them as well. I will get details such as the pastor's contact information as soon as we get everything worked out.
Thanks,
Shannon

8/11 - I spoke with Shannon again. It seems there is a church in TN that is seriously interested in taking on the One House project since New Hope has bowed out. I feel that would be positively incredible! Nothing has been finalized, but the folks at the church are very excited and so I have a very good feeling about this. I feel that a church organization will be perfect for this mission. So many churches have done such incredible things with what you would think was a very finite amount of financial and physical parameters. But God is good and with faith, anything IS possible!

Also, she sent me the invitation for the One Year "Reunion" for all PearlingtonVolunteers. While I can't make it this year, I'd absolutely love to next year! We'll see.

http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/volunteer-reunion.html has all the information.

The following is excerpts form the project report put out in early June:

Recovery Efforts
Habitat for Humanity of Walton County Florida in partnership with The Hurricane Relief Coalition of Walton County; New Hope Construction of Hendersonville, TN; Walton County community volunteer organizations; and local churches and individuals, adopted the small village of Pearlington, Mississippi in the Autumn of 2005, in an attempt to build transitional housing for the families of Pearlington.
More than $300,000 was raised and the work continues to this day, with a September 1, 2006, completion date for all transitional units. Scores of individuals, organizations, and corporations have contributed volunteer hours and monetary funds to the “One House At A Time” project.

Challenges Ahead
A number of challenges remain in the effort to rebuild Pearlington, Mississippi. These are not
exclusive to One House At A Time, but are indicative of all relief efforts on the Gulf Coast:
o Infrastructure – Most of Pearlington still does not have permanent electricity. Permitting
is sporadic and the unincorporated town council has no real authority to demand further
assistance. The village was scheduled for a multi-million dollar sewer installation in the
autumn of 2005. After Katrina, the project was cancelled.
o Sickness – On more than one occasion the relief village of volunteers at the Pearlington
Elementary School has been cleared due to the outbreak of flu and sickness.
o Compassion Fatigue – The ongoing relief efforts have proved taxing to the people of
Mississippi and those trying to assist.
o Dwindling Volunteers – As a new hurricane season begins and attention is drawn to other
areas, the stream of volunteers first entering the relief areas has significantly declined.
o Lack of organizational support – Habitat for Humanity International has made the
decision not to build in the Pearlington area of Hancock County, leaving the efforts to
smaller, grass root movements.

The One House At A Time project was highlighted on CBS Evening News 2/23/06! Woooo! Ronnie Mc Brayer even got some face time.
The following is the transcript from the 5 day special report called, "Katrina + 6 Months".

Insect Control and Tolerance

2006-05-14T21:16:00.000-05:00

I just got my Campmor catalog this last week and thought I'd share some ideas that aren't so expensive to buy and just might save some peoples' sanity or skin. The only 3 things I'm going to recommend, and they don't have to come from this catalog, are: The packtowel - super light and dries fast. GREAT. The bug head cover. Bugs in your ears is the worst. Solar shower. The one I show is the largest in the catalog. Allows for more showers in a row than smaller ones. But with showers being a limited resource, this is NOT a bad thing to take along.

You can see them yourself at www.campmor.com. You can also look for them at www.sierratradingpost.com or www.rei.com. I just happen to have the campmor catalog in front of me is all.

First will be mosquito/bug clothing. It's all pretty cheap. Honest. Compared to the comfort you'll have, it's cheap.

Bug Pants. # 82171 $19.99
Bug Top # 82170 $19.99

Bug Socks # 82172 $9.99

Bug Head Cover # 81276 $4.99

Bug Repellants:

DEET Free 4 oz. # 82151 $6.99 (Left)

31% DEET 2.5 oz #84830 $8.95

Shower stuff

Solar Shower Bag # 22320 $24.99

PackTowel 27x50 #99623 $27.05

Loving Neighbors

2006-05-14T20:49:00.000-05:00

www.LovingNeighbors.Net

http://mgte.com/hhbc/

3/27

Prayer request:
One the pastors from Pearlington, Mississippi (Bro. Fred Fields) that our church, Hickory Hammock, and Doug have been working with had a family tragedy . His brother was killed in a car accident yesterday. Please pray for the family and his church.

11/11 - what some of them do on their "off time" at home:

Not a problem. Ok, here's the whole story less names etc... She (the lady in question) and her husband lived in St. Bernard Parish Louisiana. Not long before Katrina maybe 8 months, her husband was killed in a boating accident. She, her daughter, and mother were doing sort of ok until Katrina hit and then they lost EVERYTHING except, literally the cloths on their back.

Somehow they managed to get to Milton where she knew some friends who then sold (or gave at a very reduced rate) a house trailer.

New problems then arose, plumbing, leaks, the outside ramp for her mothers wheelchair was a problem, and the list goes on. She never asked for anything but when questioned how she was doing after joining the church we read between the lines and the rest is history. My neighbor who is a "carpenter/do it all projecteer" etc.. and a few others of us took action.

The problem was brought to us at our Bereans meeting and within a few days, the ramp was completely rebuilt, the toilet replaced, the bath tub re-mounted, and the second sink in her mothers bathroom repaired. All at no cost to her.

A few months ago a downed tree in her yard mysteriously sawed itself up and stacked itself neatly in a burn pile.Tomorrow a few of us will install a "divide" in the living-room for her mother. This divide will actually be a whole room division, i.e. making two rooms from one.

We do this NOT for glory or recognition but for the "anti-rust" fund. Yes, that's Biblical. Where? I'll let you figure that one out and tell you some time down the road.

Cruel, I know. You have to understand my "dark" humor. I, like Vincent Price, love to watch bug zappers doing their thing, vaporizing bugs.Take Care,Zeek

11/10

I haven't heard anything regarding their latest trip, but have put them in contact with a woman from a more northerly church who has pews to donate. Doug is looking to see what church they are working with can use them and will hopefully get back to me so I can update the site.

Will also let you know when their next trip is when I find out...

Just in from Zeek! 10/2

Oct. 7, 2006 will be our next trip. Quite a few folks going back to Pearlington to continue what we started nearly 1 year ago on our FIRST trip of Oct 14, 2005. HHBC is committed with labor on an ongoing basis and we WON'T leave until the job is done.

The 4 churches we started helping a year ago are coming along very well, not done but still a work-in-progress effort.

The pics I take are usually up on the web site about 2 weeks after the trip. Here's the URL just in case this memo is passed along or copied in some way:

http://www.mgte.com/hhbc

Just look for the dates on the buttons. I will be updating the page and archiving some of the old stuff. I will have a button to these files (archived) for anyone’s interest. All photos on my site are available for NON-COMMERICAL use only. i.e. church functions fund gathering for the Pearlington effort etc... Not required but if you want to give hhbc a credit line it's ok.

ALL monies we collect, gather, accumulate, go 100% to the rebuilding effort. I hope eventually we (hhbc) will release the company donors that have given so NON-SELFISHLY to the rebuilding in Pearlington.

Till next time, keep us in your prayers and thank you.

8/12

I spoke with Doug Pennington today and he gave me a great update on what's going on with the different missions of Loving Neigbors. The financial aspect is covered by a coalition of 16 churches, while the "boots on the ground" is covered by a couple of other church groups.

They have essentially completed the restoration of 2 churches. The first is Fellowship Hall, which serves and THE kitchen for residents and volunteers alike.

Another is the New Hope Baptist Church, where a vacation bible school took place this summer and where the Volunteer Reunion is to be held in a few weeks. All that remains for this church is cosmetic work and it is completed!

http://pearlingtonrelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/volunteer-reunion.html

They are putting a roof on another church right now and in the process of tearing down to rebuild yet another. This one is a sad story since the building is over 130 years old and just can not be restored. The damage is too great.

He also told me of some branching out they are doing, working with Hope Force Interational, which I hope to have information on this coming week. This group is building Pre-Fab houses of about 1000 s.f. for about 15,000 each. WOW! How wonderful is that!

They also have several members who are working with this group to train for Grief/Trauma counciling, since this is an area of the recovery that is so greatly neglected.

He will be emailing me a needs list and more information this coming week, so will update as soon as I can!

Hickory Hammock Baptist Church (HHBC) is a growing church located in Milton Florida (Panhandle near Pensacola), with a heart for Missions. Our church's current Local Mission is supporting Pearlington, MS in the rebuilding of three churches.

Moe Emailed me some of the details and many pictures (thank you!) and while their main mission is to finish restoring these 3 churches by EASTER, they are also collecting items to make into "kits" for the residents of Pearlington.

LovingNeighbors is providing Home Starter Kits for families moving into small house trailers.

These kits include: kitchen goods, linens, cleaning supplies, and miscellaneous items. Generators are also needed. Please select which level you wish to support.

A gift of $500 provides a Home Starter Kit; with housewares, kitchenware, cleaning supplies, linens and bedding.
A gift of $125 provides one quarter of a kit.
A gift of any size is welcome!

Please send any gifts/donations to:

Christ Church of Oak Brook

ATTN: LovingNeighbors

31st St & York Rd

Oak Brook, IL 60523

Charles B. Murphy Elementary Needs

2006-05-14T20:26:00.000-05:00

10/22 From the USA Today - Make a Difference Day
350 parents, teachers, Rotary International members and KaBOOM! volunteers will build a playground for kids whose 2 schools were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The students, who now attend class in trailers, designed their new play space. This is KaBOOM!s 24th playground in the Gulf Region. At each project, volunteers are urged to "Play it Forward".

10/13 - From Jeanne
Hey! I'm got a lot to say and little time to say much (too many jobs to pay too many bills) but maybe this weekend I can get a minute to explain. In the meantime, can you put out a request for some help. IF anyone is going to be in this area the week of October 26-28th, Kaboom is putting in a badly needed playground at the "new" school site. We need bodies to help. You can give my email address and/or the school # 228 467-4655 for a contact. Thanks!! More when I get time!!
brooksjeanne AT hotmail DOT com

9/21
Hi Gang!! I'm up to my eyeballs in work (I guess that's good, but I'm sure beat at the end of the week) and I'm actually thinking ahead to Red Ribbon Week. By any chance do you have an old copy of one of the MCGruff the Crime Dog drug prevention videos you no longer want ? I had several but then we all know about that!! I've found some for sale but they're $80.00 and I just can't see spending that if someone has an extra they don't want that they're willing to part with. If so, I would be thrilled to get it. Let me know and I'll send you an address. Thanks for all you've ever done and continue to do!

Jeanne Brooks
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."(William Butler Yeats)

Again, from Jeanne - great resource!

Books -
http://www.hancock.k12.ms.us/Cbm/AcceleratedReaderQuizListCBM.htm

blank cd's and discs
play "kitchen" toys (like Little Tykes) for kindergarten
a sand table (kdg)
surge protectors (power strips)
books on tape/cd's (elementary) http://www.erckids.com/
computer software for elementary grades
funds to purchase activity tables for groupwork
childrens' sofas for library http://discountkidschairs.com/youth-furniture.html
physical education cart http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/
beanbags
listening centers/headsets

Gift cards to Wal mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Amazon.com, Office Depot
http://katrinanetworking.blogspot.com/2006/02/stores-to-buy-gift-cards-through.html

Landscape Photos

2006-05-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

These were taken 11/19/05 - so these aren't "The Day After The Night Before" kind of thing. This is what the area looks like STILL.

A boat that isn't where it ought to be. And probably won't be for quite a while, if ever. The money to put one that size BACK into the water - much less water deep enough.

The picture on the right is obviously one of debris that has been cleared from a road, awaiting removal. Peoples' lives are in that 12' high pile.

The trailer is a FEMA trailer in their yard until their house is repaired. Can you imagine fitting an entire family in those? That's why Walton County Habitat is working so hard to get these transitional houses built. They're still very small, but far more square footage than one of these, AND disabled/elderly/large families can negotiate the transitional housing much more easily.

Picture of the bunk houses being built on the athletic field in Pearlington - you can see the football uprights to the right of the picture. This is also the basic size of the transitional houses, just with fewer windows due to wall space for bunks.

Avoiding Heat Related Illness

2006-05-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone.

Since summer has set in on the Gulf, but spring has barely arrived up North, I figured I’d write a small missive about Heat Exhaustion, Heat Stroke and Dehydration. These are all things you will have to watch your volunteers for as they work. I am also attaching a poster you can place where the volunteers will see it.

My medical background includes having been a paramedic and in emergency medical services for 15 years as well as having a degree in Health Science and Exercise Physiology. I have also lived in Louisville, KY and Dallas, TX so am very familiar with working in very hot, humid conditions.

Most of your volunteers are what would be called unconditioned. They aren't athletes in any sense of the word, so their ability to deal with heat under physical stress is diminished. That's one strike. The next strike is if they have any underlying medical conditions, which I would guess about half have. If they have high blood pressure or heart conditions, they should do as little hard manual labor as possible. Any medications they are on are likely to diminish their ability to deal with heat even further.

So, since you're only working with one strike left, you've got to make the most of it.

Strongly urge that no caffeine be taken to the work sites. Caffeine in the AM and after work is finished is tolerable, but not during work.
Carbonated beverages are tolerable, but not optimal during work.
Take breaks every 15 minutes to drink. Suggest they take their pulse.
Seriously consider stopping work at 2PM.
Urge the volunteers to alternate water with their favorite beverage.

Caffeine increases body temperature, pulse, constricts blood vessels and draws water out of the body. None of these things are good in hot conditions. Hence, no caffeine at work sites.

Carbonated beverages don't offer much more than sugar with a little water, so aren't of high value, but are certainly better than drinking nothing at all. Sports drinks are OK as well, as is Gatorade or Tang.

By taking breaks every 15 minutes to drink, this will help better assure hydration and will also keep Heat Exhaustion/Stroke at bay. Having them take their pulse during these breaks will also give a very quick evaluation of their status. If their heart rates are over 100 5 minutes into the break, they need to rest further. Heat Exhaustion is beginning.

The hottest part of the day actually begins after 2PM – generally around 3PM and continues well into the evening. In Dallas, temperatures would remain into the 90’s well after midnight. If you must, begin work early – say 630AM. This is generally the coolest time of the day.

Knowing that water can be very tedious, urge the volunteers to alternate their beverages with water. As I stated before, just about anything is acceptable, as long as water is included. The best test for full hydration is the color of the urine. Clear and almost colorless is perfect. If it's cloudy and dark, the person is NOT drinking enough. This will be included in the poster. Gatorade is good. Tang might be better. It is higher in potassium, which is more important than the sodium in Gatorade. Plus, people might drink more of it due to better taste. And it can be mixed to individual strengths.

No alcohol. Heat Exhaustion/Stroke can set in well after the work is complete. Alcohol has the best potential to throw a person's body into one of these long after the hot work is done.

Think about having things such as dill pickles and green olives available. After work in Dallas, I would eat at least a half dozen olives and then drink another gallon of water during the evening. Even with this, I would be dehydrated by the end of the week. 2 gallons of fluids each day is not unreasonable and very much favored. Expect the volunteers to be dehydrated by week's end and not be performing as well as they should. Accidents will be far more likely the last day of work due to the brain not working quite right without its water.

Signs of Heat Exhaustion:
The signs of heat exhaustion include paleness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fainting, and a moderately increased temperature (101-102 degrees F). They will also have excessive sweating. This means they will look like they've been hit with a fire hose of water. You'll know it if you see it.

If a person shows these signs, get them to a cool shady place that has a fan or breeze. Make them lie down and drink fluids as much as possible. If they are vomiting, they may need to seek emergency medical assistance as this can lead to Heat Stroke. They will NOT be able to work for the duration of their visit. Heat Exhaustion does not end in a day. It takes several days to weeks to fully recover.

Signs of Heat Stroke
Heat stroke is the most severe form of heat illness. It can occur even in people who are not exercising, if the weather is hot enough. These people have warm, flushed (red) skin, and do not sweat. Whether exercise-related or not, though, a person with heat stroke usually has a very high temperature (106 degrees F or higher), and may be delirious, unconscious, or having seizures. These people need to have their temperature reduced quickly, often with ice packs, and must also be given IV fluids for rehydration; they must be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible and may have to stay in the hospital for observation since many different body organs can fail in heat stroke.

Anyone suffering from Heat Stroke must not work in this type environment again for about a year and may never be able to again. Heat Stroke alters the body's ability to tolerate hot environments. Also – if anyone in the team does suffer Heat Stroke, assume all are suffering from Heat Exhaustion and stop all work.

I know it sounds serious. And it is. But with proper hydration listed at the beginning, there will be no problems. I just want you aware of what could happen so that you can take care of yourself and your volunteers.

If you are a long-term volunteer, seriously consider eating yogurt every day, significantly reducing your sugar intake, and even taking acidophyllus pills. These actions will significantly reduce your chances at athlete's foot, jock itch, yeast infection - which are all basically the same thing, just different areas of the body. Change all underclothing (socks too) twice a day in order to minimize your risk for these problems. This is knowledge gained from personal experience!

The Following is a poster I made for you to put where your volunteers will be able to read it and educate themselves:

Avoid Heat Related Illness!

No Caffeine While Working
Drink Fluids Every 15 Minutes While Working
Rest 5 Minutes Every 15 Minutes
Take Your Pulse Before Starting Work Again.

IF:
Your pulse is over 100, REST until it’s below 90.
You feel nauseous, STOP working.
You stop sweating, STOP working.
You feel dizzy, STOP working.

Find the coolest spot possible, lie down, and drink copious amounts of fluids. If, after 30 minutes you continue to feel ill or worse, seek medical attention NOW and alert your team leader. No work for the rest of the day.

After work, continue drinking every 15 minutes until your urine is clear and pale yellow. Dark and/or cloudy means you’re dehydrated. It’ll only get worse tomorrow if you don’t keep drinking.

If you don’t like water, alternate it with another fluid. NO ALCOHOL

The Reception

2006-05-14T19:28:00.000-05:00

The Ceremony

2006-05-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

Miss Suzie being walked down the aisle by Buster and an unknown Trooper. How stately!

The ceremony with Buster, Trooper (someone just emailed me and said the trooper might be Miss Suzie's Nephew Joel), Ronnie officiating and the couple.

Wedding Photos

2006-05-14T19:25:00.000-05:00

The front of the "Chapel/House". It was the first built. The middle post on the porch is the one the couple was clinging to for dear life during the last part of the storm. Since it coudl be salvaged, the building crew decided to put it on the porch as a constant reminder of the support it gave them to get through this whole 'adventure'.

A Pearlington Wedding

2006-05-14T19:24:00.000-05:00

ARTICLE FROM THE BILOXI SUN HERALD
Posted on Thu, Dec. 22, 2005

For Pearlington couple, it was now or never

Wedding takes place against all odds
By JUSTIN HOOKS

PEARLINGTON - Suzie Burton and Josh Ward were married Wednesday outside their new home, surrounded by more than 50 family members and friends. Neither would have believed this day would come after what they experienced during and after Hurricane Katrina.

The couple, in their 70s, lived in Suzie's family home with their pot-bellied pig, Sweet Pea. Like many other South Mississippi residents, they did not evacuate, thinking they would be safe.

The couple was forced to their back porch and held on to a wooden column for the duration of the storm as the water rose 12 feet in their neighborhood. Their house was ripped from the foundation and deposited several yards away. Bruised and beaten, the couple stayed in their home for three days until they were rescued and taken to separate hospitals hundreds of miles apart.

Weeks passed before the couple reunited; Suzie said she and Josh knew it was now or never.

"Their life came back to them again when they found each other," said Josh's sister Shirley Busby. "If they could survive that, they deserve to be together."

Suzie never looked twice at the destroyed house where she raised her children, lying only yards from her new home. She sparkled in her white dress and diamond earrings as she walked toward her husband, shouting greetings to her family.

"I'm just so excited," Suzie said later, between singing hymns and greeting family. "I got my man! Everybody can see how much I love him. When God was passing out blessings, He saved one just for me."

The good fortune of the happy couple is due in part to the South Walton Hurricane Helpers from Florida.

Relief worker Buster Woodruff found Pearlington en route to New Orleans following Katrina and realized the area was in dire need. He worked with the Walton County Habitat for Humanity and New Hope Construction of Hendersonville, Tenn., to build a home for the couple where their old house once stood. The front porch has three white columns. The center post is the very same that Suzie and Josh held onto during the storm.

"It's very inspirational," Woodruff said of the efforts to help the couple. "It's a feeling you can't get any other way. It's hard to put into words, but everything came together great."

And what plans do the newlyweds have for a honeymoon?

"Oh," Suzie said dismissively, "whatever my baby here wants to do. I got Jesus and I got Josh. That's enough for me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love Conquers All

A 75-year old couple who rode out Katrina together married December 21 on the front porch of their new home in Pearlington, Mississippi

“Everyone knows I’m always late for everything,” confesses Suzie Burton. “All my friends and family laugh that I’ll be late for my own funeral. But if the good Lord is willing, I’ll be on time for my wedding.” Willing or not, Miss Suzie was late for her wedding to Mr. Josh Ward on December 21.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an hour or so delay barely fazed the more than 50 friends and family who gathered in Pearlington, Mississippi to celebrate the start of a new life in a house built by scores of volunteers just in time for the wedding.

“Our corner of Northwest Florida didn’t experience the devastation of Mississippi and Louisiana,” says Buster Woodruff of Walton County, Florida, who helped build the house. “We were blessed and wanted to help others who were less fortunate.” Within days after Katrina, he packed his truck with supplies and headed west to New Orleans. He got as far as Pearlington when he found a community in dire need of help.

Sometimes the best way to solve a really big problem is to start with an attainable goal. With that philosophy, a grassroots coalition of volunteers from Walton County, Florida have started the One House at a Time Project. Working with their local Habitat for Humanity affiliate the group recently completed the first of many temporary houses in Pearlington.

A Deserving Couple has a New Home

Like many South Mississippi residents, Suzie Burton and Josh Ward had no idea what was ahead as they heard news of a hurricane called Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico.
Both are in their 70s, and each of their spouses had passed away. Over the past few years the two have forged a wonderful friendship. Suzie is the outgoing one, always talking, telling stories, laughing and singing. Mr. Josh is more of the strong silent type, not to mention a fabulous cook. “After his ‘Miss Mary’ passed I’d stopped by to help with things around his house,” recalls Suzie. “He always invited me to have something to eat. And it was always so delicious that I starting making sure my visits were around lunch time.”

Although the storm had intensified by Sunday afternoon, they decided to not to evacuate. Suzie was a long-time resident of Mississippi and her wood-framed house in Pearlington had witnessed many storms over the years. She had raised a family in that house. She owns the land. It was, and still is, home.

As they settled into Suzie’s home for the night, they watched a little television and soon went to sleep. It was raining and blowing, but they had no way of knowing what was ahead. About 6:30 in the morning, Josh awoke and swung his legs to the side of the bed to discover a few inches water on the floor. Within 30 minutes, the water was rising. And rising fast.

There was no where to go. There was no one to turn to for help. Josh has trouble getting around and needs a walker. As the water rose within the house, they looked for a pillar of support. Together they wrapped their arms around a porch column as the storm’s powerful tidal surge lifted the house off its foundation.

“He told me many times that he loved me, but I was never really sure how much I really loved him until that night,” recalls Suzie. “When the water got over our heads and we hung onto the porch for dear life I said ‘Please god, if you must take one of us, take me. Please don’t let it be Mr. Josh.’ I didn’t want him to drown in that deep dark water.”

The house floated more than 12 feet before it lodged in place. Everything was lost, including their beloved pot belly pig Sweet Pea, in the hours before the waters receded. As it rested in a most precarious position with no steps to get to down to solid ground, the couple waited for help. They sat in the living room of the ramshackled house on a wet sofa with no emergency supplies. It was nearly three days before family members found them.

Both Suzie and Josh suffered injuries during the storm. She was taken to a hospital in Louisiana. A military transport carried him to Northern Mississippi, where he slept in an aluminum lawn chair for two weeks. Amid the confusion, they had no way to communicate with each other. There was no news if the other one was even alive. They had lost their home and all their personal belonging and their beloved pot belly pig, Sweet Pea. And now they had lost each other.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, they both made it back to Pearlington where they reconnected. After the experience, they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their life together.

Soon after their reunion in Pearlington, they met Buster at the local relief center. “I offered to help Miss Suzie carry a load of laundry to her truck, and then she offered to tell me their story,” recalled Buster. “I knew then that we had to do something for them.”

Once the One House at a Time Project had started construction of their new home, Buster turned to planning the wedding and finding the perfect wedding dress for Miss Suzie. Complete with satin, silk, lace, pearls and a 12-foot train.

With Buster on one arm and her cousin Johnny on the other, Suzie glowed as she walked through the yard of her new home, the first newly constructed building in Pearlington, greeting guest and singing praises of thanks. Ronnie McBrayer, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Walton County and an ordained minister performed the ceremony amid shouts of hallelujah and praise the Lord.

The wedding cake had been cut and Suzie thought all her dreams had come true, when Buster presented the newlyweds with a baby pot belly pig named Angel. She let out a little cry, broke into song and repeated, “I am blessed, I am blessed.” They then spent their honeymoon in their new home which is in the same location as the home that had floated from this spot during the storm. The porch post that they clung to as the water rose is now the center column on their new front porch and provides a support for hope in the new year.

Safety Guidelines for Volunteers

2006-05-14T19:10:00.000-05:00

www.GulfCoastNews.com

Katrina Recovery Workers: Safety Gear is a Must - And Watch for Snakes
From FEMA Filed 5/12/06 GCN
http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/GCNnewsKatrinaSafetyGearMust.htm

BILOXI, Miss. – With the end of the school year approaching, hundreds of high school and college students are expected to help storm-damaged neighborhoods spring back to life. These volunteers are a great asset in the recovery efforts.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) safety officials remind everyone working around battered structures on overgrown sites to work smart and stay healthy, especially as the weather warms up.

“Inexperienced workers may not be aware of the serious trouble that threatens their feet, legs, arms, hands and heads on job sites, as well as potential hazards to their lungs and eyes when pulling walls apart,” said Jesse Munoz, acting director of the transitional recovery office for Hurricane Katrina. “We want them to be properly equipped and to work safely at all times.”
Snake strikes have been reported throughout the past month by workers at demolition and debris collection sites in the six southern-most counties of Mississippi. A strike is a hit on leather or protective fabric.

Safety officials suggest protective equipment from the ground up for people working around debris:

Sturdy work boots with sole protection against nails and glass;
Long pants to guard against cuts and varmints;
Leather work gloves to ward off cuts and bites and to minimize damage from smashing incidents;
N-95 face mask from a building supply store to protect lungs from fiberglass and other debilitating dust;
Safety goggles to keep particles and flying objects out of eyes;
Hard hat to guard against falling objects and sideways bumps from careless co-workers;
Be sure your tetanus shot is current;
Sunscreen;
and Insect repellant

The BRICK Layers

2006-05-14T08:40:00.000-05:00

www.pearlingtonms.com
http://www.al.com/living/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/living/1146226508242880.xml&coll=1In
1/15
I just went to the BRICK Layer's site and it looks fantastic! Not sure when it was overhauled, but it just gorgeous!
The following are links to photos of projects they've finished. Very inspiring!
http://www.pearlingtonms.com/Graphics_12_07_06/Project_1/
http://www.pearlingtonms.com/Graphics_12_07_06/Project_2/
http://www.pearlingtonms.com/Graphics_12_07_06/Project_3/
From any of these links, you can take a look at their ongoing projects.

11/10
Hey Leslie. I just sent my 16th mission team to Pearlington this weekend. I didn’t go with them this time, but my family and I will be spending Thanksgiving in Pearlington.

10/04
The BRICK Layers of Huntsville, AL will be traveling to Pearlington, MS for their 15th mission trip. Joining us this time will be Trinity Methodist Church from Huntsville, Flint River Baptist Church from Hazel Green, AL, and Bill and Colleen’s group from Livingston, TN. We will meet up with Larry’s group from Houston, TX. We will continue construction on over 20 homes as well as doing some landscaping. We hope to put the finishing touches on the Ladner house that we started building from the ground up in June.
We will also be landscaping the entrance to the Oak Harbor Subdivision in memory of Capt. Harry Bell. We also hope to have a special time of praise and worship on the beach to thank God for all that He has blessed us with this past year.
Jennifer Johnson
BRICK Layers (Believers Rebuilding In Christ's Kingdom)
Huntsville, AL
REBUILDING PEARLINGTON... one brick at a time
http://www.pearlingtonms.com/

July 23 Update

If you’ve been to Pearlington once, twice, or ten times, there is a distinct feeling that you can’t deny. It feels like coming home. And God is the co-pilot.

God.
I don’t think that I can accurately describe to you how I feel God’s presence as we plan for each trip and as we work in Pearlington. Warren Tidwell knows. He described his and his father’s first drive into Pearlington to deliver George and Margaret’s doors and windows as “magical.” There are so many tales to tell from the last 10 months, but some of the most obvious signs happened this past week. In my lifetime I have been a member of two different churches – Willowbrook Baptist and Latham Methodist, both from Huntsville, Alabama. While sitting in Café du Monde last Wednesday sipping coffee and eating beignets with my Willowbrook friends, I looked at the table right next to us. The man sitting at the table looked so familiar that I had to ask him where he was from. As I approached the table, I began to recognize more faces. It turns out that the youth group from Latham was doing mission work in Slidell and had chosen that day to come to New Orleans, to eat at Café du Monde, to sit at the table next to us. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

I have been on mission trips to two places this summer – Alaska and Pearlington. While in Alaska we worked at camp Laverne G. There was one other group working there – a small group from Florida. They were delightful. Our groups bonded instantly. While we were still at Laverne G, a group of 4 ladies walked in. I was curious about one lady wearing a New Orleans t-shirt, so I asked her. This group of ladies runs the Baptist Friendship House in New Orleans. They invited us to park at their facility when we visited New Orleans. So last Wednesday, we were reunited with these ladies that I had met in Alaska and parked in their parking lot. A while later, walking down the streets of New Orleans, a group had on “FBI” shirts. I was trying to read what FBI stood for….First Baptist I……I didn’t get to the last word before I saw the face. “You look so familiar. Where do I know you from?” My daughter Meg jumped in, “Yeah, I’ve seen you before…wait….Alaska….you were the group at Laverne Griffin.” It was true. They were the group from Florida on a mission trip in New Orleans. I’ve stopped believing in coincidences. In one day on the streets of New Orleans while doing His work, God placed us with the only two groups that we had met while doing His work at Laverne Griffin camp in Alaska. It is one way that God says to me, “Keep living in my will. Keep doing my work. Keep on keeping on.”

Family.
Coming to Pearlington doesn’t seem like mission work. It’s more like coming home. Harry and Nancy B were one of the first families to show us this. It was my birthday in November when I first met them. They treated me to the most amazing shrimp boil and birthday cake I have ever had…..and they did it all from their FEMA trailers. Once Harry and Nancy moved back into their house, if you went to visit, you better not knock. You better know that you just come on in….like family. And you better be hungry, because there was always food around and it was going to be offered to you, and you better say yes. This past week, we had to lay Harry’s body to rest. It was one of the hardest things to do because it was like losing one of my own family members. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harry’s soul is celebrating in heaven and that one day I will be there with him. And I better not knock. I better just walk right in. And I know that there will be plenty of food offered to me and I better say yes. And then there are the Ladner’s. If I could choose an additional set of grandparents for my children, it would be tough to choose from those that I have met in Pearlington, but George and Margaret would be at the top of the list. We share in their excitement as they watch their new home being built. And when one of them isn’t feeling well, we hurt with them just as their children do. When I met their daughter Claudia and her family for the first time this weekend, it was as if we had known each other all of our lives. All of the residents make us feel like this. We laugh with them. We cry with them. We celebrate with them. I guess that sleeping on someone’s concrete slab with exposed 2 x 4’s all around you, and eating jambalaya or red beans and rice surrounded with half finished construction projects has created a special bond that can’t be beat.

Pearlington.
So many things look different since my first visit to Pearlington when trees still blocked the streets and everything was brown. Brown with mud. Brown due to loss of vegetation. Now you can see new roofs, new construction, new sheetrock and new paint. The brown is slowly being replaced by green. New growth, a little grass. Many are moving back into their homes. The community is coming together like never before to rebuild. And yet, some things remain the same. There are still some houses that haven’t been touched. Still piles of debris on the side of the road. There is still so much to do.

So keep coming to Pearlington. Keep encouraging others to participate. But in the business of your preparations, don’t forget to take the time to be still and know that He is God. Don’t forget to take the time to ask Him what His will for your involvement is. And if you listen very carefully you will hear Him whisper, “Keep on keeping on.”

Jennifer Johnson
“Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23
BRICK Layers (Believers Rebuilding In Christ's Kingdom)
Huntsville, AL
REBUILDING PEARLINGTON... one brick at a time
http://www.pearlingtonms.com/

The History of The BRICK Layers

September when our church, Willowbrook Baptist, began ministering to the people who had evacuated to Huntsville because of Katrina, I became involved with some of the families there and those who had transferred into my daughters’ school, Huntsville Middle School. I began to use the skills that God gave me and the resources that I knew of in our church and community to help find housing, furniture and household goods for some of these families. What I found was that the residents of Huntsville were very open and willing to do whatever was needed to meet the needs of the evacuees. I was blessed to witness as the people of Huntsville gave from their hearts.

I work with the 8th grade girls at Willowbrook on Sunday nights. I asked them if they would like to do a mini extreme makeover in an apartment for the C family from Harvey, Louisiana. The 10th grade girls joined us and, with very little money and lots of donations, Courtney B (interior designer) and I guided this group of girls and some adults to completely create bedrooms for the son, Terry and the daughters, Zebreiona and Sasha. The children LOVED it.

But we still had one problem. The family had an apartment in Harvey, LA that still had some furniture in it. We knew that the upstairs bedrooms had been ruined when the roof of the apartment was partially blown off by the storm. That is why we did the bedrooms for the children. But we thought there might be some furniture to salvage downstairs. So I sent out an email asking if anyone had a truck to drive down to Harvey. Mark J answered my email. He and Ray M offered to drive down and pick up the furniture.As time got closer, I couldn’t stand them going without me, so on September 23, my husband dropped me off on Rideout Road with two men that I had never met before (Mark and Ray). But we trusted that God was going to take care of me. On the way to Harvey, LA, Mark said that he had some supplies that his church had collected for the tiny little forgotten town of Pearlington, Mississippi. When we drove into the town, we were detoured around the roads because so many were still blocked with debris and fallen trees.

When we turned the corner, the first building we saw was the First Southern Baptist Church. It broke our hearts to see the building stripped down to the studs and concrete flooring. We dropped off the supplies at Charles B. Murphy Elementary School, which had been turned into an Emergency Distribution Center. As we left town, I called one of the families that we were helping get placed in Huntsville.

Jeannie asked me, “Where have you been?”

“Oh, this tiny little town of Pearlington, MS.”

There was silence for a moment and Jeannie said, “That’s where I grew up. That’s where my mom, dad and sister live. Where did you go?”

I answered, “To the Distribution Center at Charles B. Murphy Elementary.”

Jeannie’s reply, “That’s where I went to school.”

We had no idea at that time that God was leading us on an incredible journey. Since then, 90 individuals from all over North Alabama have come together to help with the restoration efforts in Pearlington. We have had support from several churches, including Willowbrook Baptist, Whitesburg Baptist and Trinity. Rob P, John L and Ron L from the Madison Baptist Association have been very supportive of our efforts. Bonnie B is one of our volunteers. She teaches at Grissom High School. With the support of her faculty, she created “Hoops for Hancock” and with Grissom students playing a tournament of “hoops” was able to raise $4,000 for Hancock High School (where the Pearlington residents attend high school).

With our website, http://www.pearlingtonms.com/ we are getting letters and donations from many different states.

We call ourselves BRICK Layers (Believers Rebuilding In Christ’s Kingdom) and our motto is REBUILDING PEARLINGTON…one brick at a time. We get our inspiration from Nehemiah. When the walls of Jerusalem fell, Nehemiah began to rebuild the walls one brick at a time. The people told him to come down from the wall, that he was wasting his time. He said he could not, he would not come down for he was doing a great thing for the Lord.

At times we feel like our efforts are so small when compared to the amount of destruction that has been done. But when we think of Nehemiah, each supply drive, each mission trip, each plea for help that we make becomes one more brick of hope as we REBUILDING PEARLINGTON…one brick at a time.

So far we have made 10 mission trips to Pearlington. We have our next 5 trips planned through October. Each time we go to Pearlington, we take each family one step closer to living a normal life in a normal home. We work with the other volunteer organizations there. What we have found is that it is the volunteers from faith based organizations who are making the most progress on the Gulf Coast. But what we have found most true is that we go down to the Gulf Coast to bless the people who live there, but we find is that they bless us tenfold.

This has been a life changing experience for many of us and our families…an experience that we wouldn’t change for anything. Our biggest dream will come true June 24 when a team from Pennsylvania led by John Long will frame a house for George and Margaret L, who have grown very dear to our hearts. You can read about George and Margaret on our website http://www.pearlingtonms.com/ . The students of Whitesburg Academy are currently purchasing lumber for the framing of George and Margaret’s home. The children will write words of encouragement and scriptures on the lumber.

If anyone would like to make tax deductible donations that will go directly to the rebuilding of Pearlington, checks made out to the Madison Baptist Association can be sent to their office, 2318 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, AL 35801. This money does not go for administrative costs. It goes directly to buying building supplies for the people of Pearlington. Pearlington is always in need of skilled workers such as plumbers, electricians, sheetrock hangers, roofers. If you or your group would like to take a group of skilled workers to Pearlington, please search our website for more information.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.” 1John 3:18

Won’t you join us in our efforts to REBUILDING PEARLINGTON…one brick at a time?

Charles B Murphy Elementary update

2006-05-13T18:38:00.000-05:00

Kids making Christmas Ornaments in the library. It has its own building now! Woohoo!

A Christmas Tree donated by Saddleback Valley Christian School, Oak Park in Lansdale, Pa and a scout group from Ca

Decorations bought by the librarian to help spruce the place up a bit!

This picture is of a pillowcase the kids made to help them remember being part of Charles B Murphy Elementary. They also put their handprints on each one so they would all have each other around and never be alone.

12/29
Actually building-wise, I'm far better than last year. When they combined the 2 schools, they had a portable brought in to be used as a 'dining hall".
It just didn't work - was just as far as the cafeteria, wouldn't hold enough kids, carpeted, etc. BUT - it did make a great library!I was still at CBM working out of no space (ok, the gifted teacher in a mad moment gave me part of her room and I took it!) Gulfview took a 4th grade teacher who was library certified but had never been in a library and gave her their library. She basically was overwhelmed by it all, so when they combined the schools, she went back to 4th grade and I became queen of the books.
It's not bad at all. I 'm still in the "giving away" stages so kids don't check books out but believe me, they don't miss a thing!! And since I now have several big grants, I have to weed out what I don't have space for (nearly all of the books are paperback) and the kids are the better for it.
I decorate it to the nine's so it doesn't look like the same boring FEMA trailer they see all the time and it's been worth every penny to have the kids and adults comment as they come in. The oohs and aahs for the Christmas tree alone was worth it!!

5/22
From Jeanne:
http://peaksdeck.blogspot.com/2006/04/pearlington-mississippi.html

Oh wow! I only WISH I was all this says!! I'm flattered to say the least! I DO wish, though, that I was not wearing 2 sweaters and a man's borrowed jacket....I look more and more like the Pillsbury Doughboy's sister!! Oh well, beauty's only skin deep...but ugly's all the way through!!

4/17 - My aunt brought over a dozen more brand new which are being mailed down this week with another 7 dozen tennis balls. We need another couple dozen. Can you help?

4/6 - I have acquired 37 ish pillow cases from a local laundry service - Bates Troy. I'll be sending them down for the school to get just after their Spring Break. They could still use another 30 or so if you're willing to make this art project for the entire school!

Normally, I don't post stuff like this because I don't want the school to be inundated with items. BUT - I'm making an exception.

Jeanne has put in a request for Plain, solid colored - preferably white - Pillow Cases.

She needs 30 - 70 would be grand. But 30 is a minimum. It's for an upbeat art project for the kids - I have no clue after that.

If you want to help, send them to:

Charles B. Murphy Elementary School
Attn. Jeanne Brooks
7050 Stennis Airport Rd.
Kiln, MS 39556

Well - the project has been completed and here are the results! The love and compassion these teachers have for their students just jumps off the page at me. Please look carefully at the pictures to see exactly how tight the space is to teach these kids.

I remain amazed at how resourceful these teachers are compared to the local teachers and their work conditions. They all deserve a HUGE thank you and a standing ovation. Truly amazing!

Notice how tight the work space is - an office desk with a woman working at it directly behind the pillow case project, another teacher working with another student in the background.

And the finish product drying for the kids to take home! How cool is that? What a great idea!

The pillow cases are from Bates Troy in Binghamton, NY, along with a dozen from Judy H of Endicott NY.

The tennis balls on the feet of the chairs are from The Binghamton Tennis Center and Binghamton University.

Pearlington Gulfview School

2006-05-13T18:32:00.000-05:00

11/5
New school on high ground - Site work will begin soon
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine@sunherald.com
HANCOCK COUNTY - Construction could begin sometime in the spring on a new elementary school for students in Lakeshore and Pearlington, according to district officials.
School Board President Morgan Ladner said site preparation for the new school will soon begin at the old Gulfview Elementary location at the corner of Lower Bay Road and Lakeshore Drive. The board voted this week on the location.
Gulfview Elementary and Charles B. Murphy Elementary were demolished after Hurricane Katrina struck last year. Since the storm, students have been forced to drive more than 12 miles to classes on the high school campus near Stennis International Airport.
"This is good news for the people in the southern portion of the county," Ladner said. "We plan to have a state-of-the-art facility, the best on the Coast, for the students of Pearlington and Lakeshore."
In order to use federal funds to help build the school, the district has to meet FEMA's flood guidelines, which means rebuilding on high ground.
District officials recently narrowed a list of potential sites for the new school to two properties: The Gulfview campus and property along Lower Bay Road near U.S. 90.
Ladner said the Gulfview campus is higher above the flood plain than the other property and the district would not have to purchase any land.
"The deciding factor was that this was the highest of the two," he said.
Ladner said parents and students will likely come up with a list of suggested names for the new school and then the school board will select one. In addition, students may determine a mascot and the school colors.

Added 8/4
Time running out on 2 elementary schools
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine@sunherald.com
HANCOCK COUNTY - More than four months after they were bulldozed, the future of two elementary schools here still is uncertain and education leaders are running out of options.
Gulfview Elementary and Charles B. Murphy Elementary spent decades tucked away in the county's tiniest communities, where it was still mostly safe to walk or ride a bike to school.
As last year in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, elementary children in Lakeshore and Pearlington next week will again be forced to drive more than 12 miles to classes on the high school campus near Stennis International Airport.
Hancock School District officials are running out of possible places to rebuild the Katrina-damaged schools to meet FEMA's flood guidelines.
According to education officials, in order to use federal funds to rebuild the schools, both campuses will need to move to higher ground, which is hard to find nowadays in Hancock County.
"We are looking at different options and nothing has been decided at this point," Hancock Superintendent David Kopf said. "FEMA says we can go up or out."
Kopf said the school district could look for land "out" of Pearlington and Lakeshore, or it can rebuild the schools at their original locations, but the buildings would have to go "up," meaning they would have to be high enough to meet FEMA's flood-elevation requirements.
Charles B. Murphy Elementary was built in the 1960s for children displaced from now-extinct communities such as Logtown, Gainsville and Napoleon, which were made to vanish when NASA established its Stennis buffer zone on more than 100,000 acres of county land.
Several generations passed through the halls of Gulfview Elementary, which survived hurricanes in 1947 and 1969. FEMA inspectors deemed the schools unsalvageable and they were destroyed, according to county education officials.
FEMA has used a 50 percent destruction standard to determine whether a building is salvageable. Under the rule, if FEMA inspectors believe it will cost more than 50 percent of a building's worth to restore it, the structure is considered destroyed.
Not everyone believes Gulfview was beyond repair.
Former county Supervisor Jerry Ladner is leading a charge of Lakeshore residents who want answers. They have requested copies of the engineer's report and photos that prove the school was beyond saving.
"All I want to see is the engineer's report from where (FEMA said) the school needed to be destroyed," Ladner said.
A school-district secretary confirmed she had seen requests from Ladner, but could not say whether the district had supplied the group with the report.
Kopf said Donnie Golston, assistant superintendent, has the engineer's reports and records regarding the two schools. Golston did not return messages left Thursday by the Sun Herald seeking copies of the report.
In addition to concerns the school may have been unnecessarily destroyed, some locals fear the county will sell the school land to help restore its budget.
Gulfview is located at a popular intersection along Lakeshore Road, at the end of which developers are set to build hundreds of luxury condo units and two casinos.
"I'm not ever going to vote to sell that land to Paradise Island or whatever it is," said School Board member Packer Ladner, referring to Paradise Properties, a development firm planning to build 14 separate projects valued at more than $5 billion in Hancock County.

Added 7/19
(Gulfview and Charles B Murphy are being merged)
From Lakeshore Baptist Church:
School Uniform Drive
The children of Lakeshore head back to school in mid-August after their summer break. While crews complete the demolition of storm damaged Gulfview Elementary School, kids return to the make-shift temporary buildings housed 25 miles north of their community. The long commute, loss of friends, mixed school district, unfamiliar surroundings, and homework in FEMA campers leave families and teachers yearning for a little normalcy. The reinstituted dress code should provide a small step in that direction.

Lakeshore Baptist Church plans to distribute school uniforms as a wonderful ministry opportunity. You can help by sending dress code approved items to Lakeshore Baptist Church, 6028 Lakeshore Road, Lakeshore MS 39558. Please label as “School Uniform Drive.”

Dress Code
SHIRTS/BLOUSES
All shirts must be solid colors, white, navy blue, royal blue, or red.
Students may wear button down (Oxford/pointed collar or Peter Pan/Rounded collar), knit polo (2 or 3 button closure), or turtlenecks.
Shirts may be long or short sleeve, with or without pockets.
Shirts must have plain fronts without trim, lace, ruffles, pleats, etc.
Crop tops, Midriff shirts, or tight fitting shirts are not allowed.
Shirts may not carry visible trademarks, brand logos, writing, etc.
PANTS/SLACKS/SHORTS
All pants, slacks, and shorts must be solid navy blue or khaki (tan, beige, or similar).
The length of shorts must be mid-thigh or longer.
Girls may wear caprise.
Pants, slacks, and shorts may be pleated or un pleated, cuffed or uncuffed, with or without elastic, but must be hemmed.
Wash-n-wear or permanent press fabric only; Denim, stretch material/spandex fabric, velour or fleece is not allowed.
Cargo or carpenter styles or bellbottoms are not allowed.
Very small trademark or logo is allowed.
JUMPERS/SKIRTS/CULOTTES/SKORTS
Jumpers, skirts, culottes, and skorts must be solid navy blue or khaki (tan, beige, or similar).
The length must not be higher than four (4) inches above the top of the knee.
Jumpers may be V-neck or round neck.
Skirt style must be box pleat, knife pleat, A-line, kilt style or flared style.
Wash-n-wear or permanent press fabric.
Denim, stretch material/spandex fabric, velour or fleece is not allowed.
Cargo style skirts are not allowed.
INSIDE WEAR
Students may wear sweaters, vests,sweatshirts, or fleece in either cardigan-button down, pullover-scoop, or V-neck or zip up styles.
Outerwear must be solid colors, white, navy blue, royal blue, or red.
Shirts may not carry visible trademarks, brand logos, writing, etc.
OUTSIDE WEAR
Coats and jackets may have hoods and may be any color.
Trademarks and logos are allowed.
Coat length is limited to mid-thigh,
Trench coats are not allowed.

From the Seacoast Echo :http://208.62.60.4/40/article_181.shtml

7/30 From WLOX http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=5214936 The combined Gulfview Charles B Murphy Elementary school wasn't built to be beautiful. "Well, the trailers were nasty, and it was pretty hard to learn and stuff," says 5th grader Sidney Klein. Thrown together after hurricane Katrina destroyed their schools, Gulfview and Charles Murphy students were facing another year in temporary classrooms on this bare vacant lot behind Hancock County Middle School. "It was extremely difficult both physically and emotionally," says principal Jan White. But volunteers from the tiny town of Barnard, Vermont are changing all that. "We raised the money about 10 thousand dollars," says Eric Tobiason of Barnard, Vermont. "We put together this building and the people to come down and do it. Teaming with parents, teachers and other relief workers, volunteers with the Barnard Helping Hands Katrina Relief Project are building an outdoor classroom, and landscaping the campus in just one weekend. "They saw how the trailers looked on the red clay," says principal White. "And they saw where the students had lived and where the schools were, and they decided then they were going to do something for us." "This will give them a place to be outside so they don't have to be crammed into a trailer," says Tobiason. "It'll be a pleasant place to be." Parent Pam Lafontaine defines it another way. "New and a more positive atmosphere," says Lafontaine. That's something parents, teachers and students alike say they're looking forward to from the 2006-2007 school year. "This was the motivator for us to move from survival into the astectic aspect," says White. "This is going to be a great year for us. That's our plan. And this is the beginning of it." by Don Culpepper

Relief Information For Pearlington, MS

2006-05-12T07:07:00.000-05:00

This blog will be used exclusively for Pearlington MS relief efforts. If you have anything you would like to have posted FOR Pearlington MS relief, please contact me at your earliest convenience at KatrinaCoalition@aol.com