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Sunday July 1st
The quote you see “Sending smart bombs in on dumb missions” comes from Rev Lowery a civil rights movement veteran.
I see those solutions every day. The “Katrina Cottage” now called the “Mississippi Cottage” is one of them. The name change came about because the original name infringed on the copyrights of a large national chain that designs and markets a cottage of the same name – lack of proper prior planning on the part of the proponents of this canned housing solution.
The temporary Mississippi cottage itself costs more than a similar model we are building everyday as a permanent housing solution. I raised my hand at a State meeting back last year and told them to give us, on the ground, the money they were proposing for this “temporary” home and we would build a permanent solution twice over. Several of the Gulf Coast Mayors have expressed similar sentiments – publicly and privately.
The recovery process keeps pouring in funds via a convoluted grant process – but no paid contractor help. The recovery is dependent on a volunteer work force for which there is no national recruiting or marketing plan. All I need to plow forward is about two good “paid” carpenter foremen who could line up this army of unskilled volunteers that continue to march into the region – albeit at a reduced pace. These jobsite foremen can point towards quality control and teach these volunteers a few skills that will move them forward to work as part of the team that is needed to build a home. I had a volunteer shop teacher come down with his class of juniors. They constructed, in a week, a perfect porch on a home in Shoreline. He directed – they followed. With more time – they could have built an Elkview home for me. The skill set they had was the same. Willing hands – expert director.
And how does the rest of the process go here. Well, great week with Needam Cares, Ma; John Sabo and gang from Illinois, and a team from New York City. What a cross section of the country. And all came with different skill sets.
It is interesting juggling the cultures and expectations of the volunteers with the culture and needs of the residents requesting assistance. I have run into some interesting situations as residents show their personal interests in life by raising game fighting cocks, dogs for hog fighting, collecting guns, marital status of the home owners, displaying the Confederate flags, collecting Playboy or Playgirl by the room full along with other items associated with that platform, or the owner collects items from the Hitler era (in that case the owner was Jewish himself). What do you do when the volunteer group opts not to work on a site because the interests of the owner conflicts with the personal beliefs of the volunteer? How do you not offend the volunteer all-the-while not hurt the feelings of the resident? I never ask the religious or political preferences of the volunteer - I offer the same privacy to the resident. But, now and again, a problem arises in the field with some interesting outcomes. I pointed out to the women on the crew that came across the Playboys that they were, in actual fact, being asked to throw them away. No solution to them - they walked off the job quite miffed at me for assigning them the work order. Personally - I did not know the material was buried in the depths of the Katrina damaged home prior. The next crew relished in tossing the offensive material stored in that house and then burnt it all. Some of the other issues have not been solved so simply - but a broad minded crew pops up and makes the problem go away by just getting the job done despite their personal beliefs. I know I have had to do that. Game cock fighting and hog fighting turns my stomach and it has not been easy dealing with this local cultural pastime. They have since banned hog fighting and thank goodness for that. Volunteering sure has its challenges. I have decided its not about me, its about what we can do for others. So I quickly move the offended crews and move forward without judgment. Every volunteer is down here with a different agenda - there is no way we can avoid occasional cultural conflicts.
Blonde, the rambunctious hound, at her new home, fell out of a truck and is critically ill – they are probably going to need help to pay the veterinary bills. They are talking about removing her leg. So, so sad. She is living in Diamondhead. We will know more on Monday. I can get you the email address of the new owner if you are interested in assisting him.
The agreement is here for Kaboom – I am not sure if it is on the Agenda yet but it just arrived. Hopefully we will get that signed to move forward on Martin Luther King Park.
Else it is Sunday and I am trying to take the day off – excepting we are expecting a large crew this afternoon from Perryton Texas. We have much work to do before they get here.
And that’s our Sunday – how is yours?
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I can't top this story from the SeaCoast Echo - 
It was a gorgous summers day on Saturday and the community from Middletown showed up to work on the damage done by vandals at 
Yes, the 4th has been and gone but I did manage to get up the pictures inspite of the downing of our satellite - yes Clearwire has two satellite dish connections out - but they are on the way to the rescue. We are reduced to Bellsouth landline - a very painful process.
And the citizens were not happy with the failure of the City and the Utility contractor who is replacing their utility lines in the streets. Its not the "mess" as much as the failure to communicate the scope of the damage the project would cause on their street and on their personal property. But armchair quarterbacking achieves little - those that have seen the fiasco on Waveland and Sears Ave., now know what to expect when the project reaches their neighborhood. The issue of raw sewage in the street and on private property was not resolved - if not corrected that will have to be handled by Public Health officials.