The Pearlington Project

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.

More Pictures From Gary's Trip

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

Loving Neighbors

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...

L

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