I was kidnapped yesterday, thrown off the bow of the boat and had to walk to land. Yes, was a rough day. Well, the sea was rough between East Shipp and West Shipp, and falling off the bow of the boat while trying to tie up to Ship dock was not expected and its a long walk back to the beach from the end of the dock I might add - but it was an absolutely gorgeous day and I quite enjoyed the dip in the ocean. Ashley and I chased hermit crabs as we played in the shallows below the brick walls of the Fort. There is nothing like an excited seven year old discovering hermit crabs for the first time in their life. Oh to be that young and excited about life still.
Jason had come by the office around noon and kidnapped me as his daughter was in town and he was off boating again. Ashley was all wired up for the adventure and we headed to Gulfport to put in at the boat ramp there.
The dolphins played with us all day long as they romped in the warm ocean waters of the gulf teasing us with their ups and downs. It was a fun filled day - even the fall off the bow of the boat into the warm seas of Shipp island at the end of the dock. I can tell you we are getting a rope ladder before the next trip! Ashley thought the entire episode was a riot. I note she had the camera in hand as we headed into Gulfport where, again, I was on bow ready to tie up the boat to the dock. She managed to snap a couple of pics of me and my bet is that it was in anticipation of my repeating the escapade from earlier in the day. Sorry Miss Ashley - the seas inside the sea wall were quite calm in comparison. Yes I am grinning.
Sunday - I am going fishing! More to follow. The picture today of the ducks was taken at the boat launch in Gulfport at sunset - I would have brought them home but Jason said absolutely no darn ducks in his truck. Click here for the day in pics
Before leaving on the boat trip I did manage to load up a truck for Angie, La with furniture, new clothing and paint. They had come over to pay for some sheetrock - a semi load. Good for you Angie! Plus Laurie and I stopped by the Amish camp to chat with them about a house that they were working on. Even a day off has a work attachment.
And how is your weekend going?
Saturday May 13th, 2007.
Blonde was a Katrina block owned dog who needs a new home. The entire block had been taking care of her the last eighteen months. The bayou she was swimming in everyday now has a six foot aligator in there and they were afraid that Blonde was going to be breakfast for the aligator anytime soon.
Do you have room for Mr. Blonde? He needs to go in for heart worm treatment, treatment for cuts from a fight with a pit bull, and his other shots being paid for by the local Humane Society and also to be neutered - but Shhhhhhhhhh on that as we have not told him that yet. His appointment is 8am Monday. He will be available for adoption by the end of the week. In the meantime he will stay with us here at the house.
He is loving, friendly, and hogs the entire bed and will not share it at all! Loves to ride in the truck. And while the cats do not appreciate this new intruder - he seems to get along well with the cats. He loves to "talk" and will chat back and forth with you if you start a conversation. Very cute little trick.
Friday May 12th, 2007.
TGIF - Long, long, long week. But, a lot accomplished. Most importantly - the tool grant tools are all inventoried and in the warehouse. And, better yet, the warehouse and clean and organized. Thankyou to Gulf Coast Recovery volunteers! What a fabulous job guys and gals. Thankyou!
The sheetrock orders continue to pile on it. We start deliveries next week. The response has been most interesting. So many people without Case Managers. More interesting - most do not know what a Case Manager is. Now, its been going on two years since the storm and all these people have no clue what a Case Manager is? Someone is not doing their marketing. Whose job is that anyway? FEMA? The Long Term Recovery Committee? Both? This is ridiculous that after two years so many have no clue what a Case Manager is.
Its going to be a weekend "off" around here. I am tired and exhausted and I need to take a break for a couple of days.
Thursday May 11th, 2007.
Here Harold Gillum, after a long day at the City of Waveland, donates his time to work on pouring an 80' driveway for the food pantry on Herlihy St., Waveland. With 350,000 damaged or destroyed homes here in the Gulf Coast - the ultimate recovery is going to depend on the old system of barn building where the neighbors go across the street and help their neighbors first.
And so the Food Pantry driveway is poured. We also got in two semi loads of new furniture with another load due in today or tomorrow. The load tomorrow is a different manifest. We will get pictures up as soon as we can.
We had orders come in today for over 2,000 sheets of sheetrock - we now have it going to New Orleans, St. Bernard, Angie in La, Jackson, Hancock and Harrison County. We have heard from every Long Term Recovery Committee almost except the Hancock County Long Term Recovery Committee - not exactly a surprise?
One thing we have noticed today is the number of people who have called for sheetrock who do not have Case Managers. One old lady said she had gone to the Long Term Recovery Center in Kiln who promised her they would find her a Case Manager - she says it never happened. So, she came in here today. And, we got her some sheetrock on the way. Its not that a Case Manager has to micro manage every case - just make sure that when opportunities arise that the citizens get what they need. And all she needed was a load of sheetrock at this time and, better yet, she is in our system so she can hear of other programs we maybe able to offer in the future. But the number of people without Case Managers did surprise me? Very interesting?
We had another pit bull chewed up dog come in today. A neat golden retriever. I called the Veterinary Clinic but they can not see him until 8am on Monday. I thought that a little different? The Humane Society is paying the bill and its the only Clinic that will work with them apparently. Even the sick and ailing animals of the storm have to "wait". This dog was a neighborhood dog without an owner and some Gulf Coast Recovery Workers have been taking care of him while working on a house over there. All the people in the street said the dog was just a neighborhood dog without any particular owner. So - once I get this dog sewed back up does anyone want a gorgeous Katrina dog?
I have a volunteer coming in Monday to work in the office full time. She is a local with a great attitude of "Can Do". That’s what we need around here!
Kaboom is coming on the 17th to meeting with us on Martin Luther King Park. They have asked to meet with the citizens and Pastors on that day. We are working on notifying everyone at this time. This is a very exciting development.
So, how was your day? Mine was fabulous!
And so it was at the Alderman's Meeting last night. Oops - there was FEMA funds to the approximate tune of $42,000. Information which had not been shared before. And, no one thought to ask. If there were FEMA funds for the Martin Luther King Park - what about the "rest" of City property that has not been repaired yet and "why not" if funds were there to restore it to pre-Katrina conditions?
As for the statement prior from the Mayor, that the playground equipment was "new" - well that was not quite true. It had been used prior and then given to the City. The Mayor contends no one played on the equipment. Truth in fact is that the playground was up for months and no one will say if the equipment was even new when the volunteers showed up with the equipment then and installed it. Sources I spoke to believe it was not new then. But, no one will confirm either way. But - when asked, specifically, whether it was new, used, or new and had got wet in the storm the Mayor emphatically answered at an Aldermans meeting two months ago that the equipment was "New". And thats where the problem started. Why not tell the story the way it was?
What the residents all said in different ways was that the Park on the south of the track got repaired in a timely fashion. But not the one in Middletown. And why not? Excuse after excuse. But truth in fact is that the City has dragged its feet on Martin Luther King Park and I personally have been there to witness that first hand. Getting purchase orders has been a tap dance to hell and there has never ever been a driving force to get the job done. Of course the Public Works Dept sending over their crew to mow over the 200 trees I had planted there never came up for discussion - but then I never told the citizens of Middletown that side of the story. What was the point?
And then there is the Head of Public Relations who is out of work as of last week. The Mayor showed up to point out, a week late, that the funds had run out for her job and, oh oops, you just worked a week for nothing. But if you work another three weeks, for nothing, I will try to get the Aldermen to put you on City staff. Now I am not sure who pays the Mayors bills - but the electric company, phone company, mortgage company, car finance company, etc., are not going to buy this labor of love. It is one thing to "volunteer" for a living. It is another to "work" for a living. But, then, this same exact scenario happened to her sister. And so the dynasty ends. When WIN employees become a political burden - the "out" is so easy for one but not the other.
So much for politics.
As for "volunteer work". Going along like a house on fire here. The first three truck loads of sheetrock is being paid for by the Governors office in La for a little town in La called Angie. I have worked with Angie for a long time. The trucks will go direct to Angie - that will make it easier on us. A lot of calls and emails re sheetrock - good deal !
The first semi load of furniture arrived yesterday. Two more over the next two days. I will get that availability posted as soon as I get pictures. This is all new furniture.
The driveway for the Food Pantry should be poured today. What a deal ! And into the office, yesterday, walked a volunteer who has errected metal buildings for ten years. Guess who is going to be volunteering to put the tin up on the St. Rock Church. God works in strange ways. What a deal.
And the schedule for today is piling up already.
And that is how my week is going. How about yours?
Monday May 8th, 2007.
Its been a great weekend of weather - how could you not love it?
Our second load of sheetrock has arrived. At $4.00 per twelve foot sheet this will save a mile on the homes it is going to be directed towards. The intent is that the applicants be Case Managed cases and that they can not afford to obtain sheetrock by any other means. It is not meant to save "MDA", "SBA", or "insurance funds" leaving money on the table. That is not the intent of those funds.
We are bringing in upwards of 100,000 sheets of rock. 150 truck loads at 600 sheets per truck. They are coming in to Long Beach and Ocean Springs. Pickup will be by prior arrangement - and all pickups and inspections will be on a pre-arranged day and time.
We got our fork lifts moved and one of them running. The other, they tell me, has a minor problem and we will have that running soon.
We will be arranging other building supplies at these significant savings as time goes on. We had, prior, brought in a load of 5.8" rock x 12'.
It looks like rain today - either way. It is "cooled" down to say the least. It is amazing how quickly it moves from fire making weather to sultry heat here. No betwixt and between - its either or or !
The dogs are thriving in their surroundings here. The only time they discovered that the fence is not "complete" was the day it was thunder and lightening and they came screaming around to the front door. Big babies. Else they have remained in the yard. We really do need to get that fence at the back, where a tree fell on it, repaired sometime.
They did capture an 9.5 foot aligator about 3/4 of a mile from the house last week. And the locals report that the woods behind the house do house aligators as there is water back there. I would not mind seeing an aligator up close and personal sometime - but not in my back yard thankyou.
Well, its back to the grindstone. If you are thinking of volunteering down here - we sure need you!
Friday May 5th, 2007
It has been an absolutely fantastic week. Thank you Union Evangelical Church of Pennsylvania for an absolutely fabulous and productive week. You have made my day! You are the best! You are awesome!
We started three houses, a church and got ready to pour the driveway for the food pantry. We would have got it poured, but it poured today - all day it seems. I did get some good shots of this week’s progress.
The warehouse is organized, the tool grant tools are on their way here, the trucks should be back from the shops next week, and we will be getting serious about working on the Park next week.
The church project necessitated us getting a set of forms - something we will be able to use on multiple projects. Some good comes from every project - what can I say?
Middletown elders met with Mayor Longo, per his request, when he refused to answer their questions at the Alderman meeting on Tuesday. There is to be a special Alderman meeting on Monday so the questions can be addressed in front of the Board. The Mayor stated at the “private” meeting on Friday that the staff was sick that day and that he could not access the accounting records for monies spent at the park and that, also, he could not access the FEMA payments. He also started out the meeting stating that he thought there was animosity involved in this probe. Pastor Preston pointed out that this was not about animosity – it was all about business. Pastor Preston went on to further state that the City had had the monies for the Park for over a year – it was time the project was completed. All the questions will be addressed, once again, on Monday evening at 6.30pm at the City of Waveland City Hall.
And Joan Coleman (President of the Waveland Citizens Fund) - CONGRATULATIONS! Your artwork is going to be turned into bronze by the Mississippi Department of Transportation! This is awsome!
http://wavelandcitizensfund.org/JoanColemanAward.jpg
More paint arrived today with Dr. Carl - along with other goodies.
All, in all, it has been a fantastic week.
And how was your week? How was your progress measured in houses?
Wednesday May 2nd, 2007
This is what happens when you have 46,000 people, 20 case managers, five of them writing grants, and no catch all system for those that fall outside the platform because they are off the radar due to a myriad of issues including disabilities and emotional issues. There is no possible way for this system, here in the aftermath of Katrina, to work equitably. The Case Managers, for the post part, are unpaid volunteers. No wonder the recovery here in Hancock County is slow and inequitable. In order to broaden the response - the funnel opening has to be much broader, there has to be more Case Managers, an effective Long Term Recovery Committee - something we have been lacking, and there has to be a safety net to catch those not aligning with data pool at the onset - the needs assessment should have provided that but it was never completed in a timely fashion. In fact - it was never completed.
Interesting Alderman meeting last night. The Middletown representatives from the Park presented their plan for the Park and the Mayor is going to answer their questions regarding FEMA funds for the Park, an updated expenditure report on the Park relative to the Bechtel grant, and other matters. He chose not to answer the questions "on the record" last evening. What the representatives stated last night, after the meeting, was that if the Park was not completed by June 1st - they would picket City Hall. This community is empowered to help themselves - this Park will get done and done "right" !!!!!
The $2500 toilets the Mayor had personally commented on and charged off to Martin Luther King Park have, apparently, been moved to another account. That is a good thing as we sure had not seen any such equipment delivered to or installed at the Park.
I am sure the SeaCoast Echo will report on the rest as their reporter was there last evening. The room was packed - always good to see people interested in their community.
The two houses are progressing well and the church will be poured on Thursday at 7am.
After multiple discussions with other DRO's yesterday calling for assistance - it is obvious that the need for volunteers has become critical. And when is the county summit on this matter? We need to come together to market the disaster. No man is an island - this has to be a team effort.
How is your week progressing? Getting lots of houses built?
Sunday May 1st, 2007
Its been a hectic week. We are working on new starts for two houses and a church. Going up is an elkview, a 2,000sf home in Middletown, and St. Rock Church on Herlihy St.
There was a meeting at Herlihy Park this week regarding planning for the Park. In all - 42 people showed up for the meeting including two ministers from the community. A very successful meeting. See picture above.
Our tool grant arrives this week - Yahoo! So much to do, and so little time. They are making preparations in the Warehouse.
Else, both trucks in the shop this week - but they will be back better than new. Or so the mechanics tell us.
The Pastor Moore crew is working very hard - they are a miracle here for us for Kenneth and Evelyn. I cant thank them enough for the work they are doing.
Here Harold Gillum, after a long day at the City of Waveland, donates his time to work on pouring an 80' driveway for the food pantry on Herlihy St., Waveland. With 350,000 damaged or destroyed homes here in the Gulf Coast - the ultimate recovery is going to depend on the old system of barn building where the neighbors go across the street and help their neighbors first.
And so it was at the Alderman's Meeting last night. Oops - there was FEMA funds to the approximate tune of $42,000. Information which had not been shared before. And, no one thought to ask. If there were FEMA funds for the Martin Luther King Park - what about the "rest" of City property that has not been repaired yet and "why not" if funds were there to restore it to pre-Katrina conditions?
This is what happens when you have 46,000 people, 20 case managers, five of them writing grants, and no catch all system for those that fall outside the platform because they are off the radar due to a myriad of issues including disabilities and emotional issues. There is no possible way for this system, here in the aftermath of Katrina, to work equitably. The Case Managers, for the post part, are unpaid volunteers. No wonder the recovery here in Hancock County is slow and inequitable. In order to broaden the response - the funnel opening has to be much broader, there has to be more Case Managers, an effective Long Term Recovery Committee - something we have been lacking, and there has to be a safety net to catch those not aligning with data pool at the onset - the needs assessment should have provided that but it was never completed in a timely fashion. In fact - it was never completed.
