The Ladies Head Out to Build

While we were in NOLA this summer, we worked with the St. Bernard Project (SBP) who is still helping to rebuild the city.  After Hurricane Sandy hit the New York area, volunteers were deployed to Rockaway Beach to help clean up and rebuild.  Some of the volunteers are associated with AmeriCorps and SBP, including one of our awesome riders Allison (another one is holding down the fort in NOLA). 

When Allison found out there would be a bunch of us hanging in New York for the week, she arranged for us to help with the relief efforts.  Originally there was supposed to be a whole score of us going, but unfortunately most of the crew came down with some form of the flu/awful cold (the irony was not lost on us that we could all survive the summer without getting each other sick, but when we get together for three days, most of the team is down for the count). 

As a result it was only Susan, Steph and myself who boarded the subway to get to the bus which would take us to our site (a two hour process).  I should also note that it was about 35/40 degrees out - a temperature WAY colder than what we were used to building in. 

Today we headed a few blocks away to help with some DEMO (demo was one of our favorite activities on the trip).  Armed with masks and some great jumpsuits, we were ready to pull up some flooring. 

The house belonged to a gentleman in his mid 80s.  The flood waters reached about two feet in the house and the home owner was floating on his couch/going to ride out the storm until his neighbor pulled him out (the same neighbor rescued several other elderly residents on the street too).  The home holds a lot of history for the family as they have owned it since 1914.  The homeowner's son, who just finished a round of chemo for throat cancer, has been working on the home since the flood waters receded.  He was very excited that we were all coming to help rip out the rest of his floors.  Once these were taken out he and the contractor hoped the humidity levels in the house would drop low enough for mold remediation. 

The day went by super quickly and we all had a great time (the outfits were definitely a plus).  We were also happy to be moving around because if we were painting walls we would have surely frozen to death.  We were also surprised with how similar NOLA and Rockaway Beach are - both were damaged by a hurricane/flood waters, the community is extremely close knit with many members being somehow related, there are many people who want to rebuild, but at the same time there are many who think that it will be too difficult and are thinking about moving. 

 

And just because it is so awesome, I figured I should post a copy of the dance video from today too!