Round 3 coming to a close

This week in New Orleans...
This week was a little different for River 10.  Monday was by far the best day ever.  We all got up for work and got ready, but it was POURING here.  Did the usual routine, put on my beautiful uniform, made some eggs, drank black coffee, you know the usual.  As we were all about to get into Scooter, our 15p, Beste told us that work was...get this...cancelled.  What this meant for us was we had a SNOW DAY!  We deemed this day as a snow day because it was exactly like watching the news and seeing your school scrolling down teh bottom of the screen.  So, Jamie, Chris, Sam, and I decided to brave the rain and head downtown.  Our mission on this day: eat our first beignets of our time in NOLA.  We went to Cafe de Monde and had coffee and beignets.  It was quite honestly the best Ameri-snow day ever.  On Monday afternoon we had 4^th round project reveal.  I can’t even believe it is 4^th round already.  We found out that we are going back to Virginia to Great Falls.  We are going to be working with Living Classrooms of the Nations Capital Region.  This non-profit provides a hands-on learning, job training, community service, and community development programs for students with diverse backgrounds with an emphasis on serving disadvantaged youth in at-risk environments.  We are going to be doing a number of things with LCNCR.  Our project consists of debris removal from the wind storms that hit Virginia in June which also includes trail upkeep on the site, bridge repair and invasive species removal, we will do indoor and outdoor repairs of the lodge at Camp Fraser where the Living Classrooms site is, we will do repairs to sleeping pavilions and outdoor classroom space, we will be creating a garden for educational usage, and last but not least we will be doing educational programming.  The educational programming is something I hope I can do well in since it is planning a spring break plan for 4^th/5^th grade students who come to the camp for their break.  We also get to create a park outreach program which brings students out into the park to do environmental education programs.  Right up my alley.  Although this wasn’t our first choice of projects, I am excited to be in Virginia for the fall.  I get to feel the fall weather that I am really missing these days.  It will be the little things that I will appreciate about round 4 since it is the last round of my service, can’t believe it. 

Tuesday and Wednesday we were back at it.  We spent the day at the distribution center handing out personal care bags to people who are still in need to supplies.  It is kind of mind blowing that even two months after that some individuals are still in need of cleaning supplies and food.  The distribution center has become kind of our second home in NOLA since the staff there now know all of us and we have been there so often that we can run the show.  It does get kind of boring, but hey, it beats Lake City!

Thursday five of us went into a home and did some mucking and gutting.  We had to tear down the ceiling and help clear the rest of the house out.  This house wasn't so bad since a crew had been in earlier in the week and did all of the walls.  We came in to finish the ceilings.  Pretty simple and easy day.

Our van had a little tire issue, so he has been out of commission all week.  Thank God for our tiny truck!  Due to this little mishap, 3 of us had to go work with River 6 for the day.  I enjoyed working with another team for a day.  We got to work with their sponsor organization on their homes.  I got to paint my fair share for the day.  After work, a group of us went to Magazine Street to shop.  Since I love shopping so much I purchased zero things.  I may leave New Orleans with a t-shirt or two since well, we all know my usual outfit consists of a t-shirt at some point.  I had a nice bowl of gumbo for dinner and we all literally came back to our housing and went to bed. 

Saturday a few of us from each team got together to do an ISP.  We spent the day working with Green Light New Orleans.  This unbelievably cool non-profit was started after Katrina hit by the founder because he was on tour with his band.  He came up with a pretty bright idea, if you ask me...har har...The concept behind the organization is to change incandescent light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Lights.  We got to canvas around to homes to ask each home owner if they wanted their light bulbs changed to the CLF bulbs.  Each bulb will help the residents of New Orleans to reduce their carbon foot print and reduce the amount of money they spend on their bills.  The bulbs also last for an extremely long time, much longer than the incandescent bulbs.  The concept of the whole non-profit is pretty amazing. I enjoyed a sweet nap after the day and did the usual on our last Saturday night here. 

I absolutely am in love with New Orleans.  I love everything about the entire city.  I am looking into non-profits down here for next year in hopes that maybe I can do another AmeriCorps program and live here for a bit.  Blazing my own trail as Dad-Z likes to say.  We will see...just a thought now.  Anyway, this is our last week here and we are mucking and gutting in a neighborhood that needs some serious help.  We are working with a Delta team that got sent here to help.  It should be a good week.  Friday we are back to Vicksburg for the start of transition for a week, then it is fall break.  Fall break means, relaxing on campus, my birthday and NASHVILLE with some of the best friends and the best sister in the world.  I can't wait.  Big happy birthday to Pauly wog and Dad this week! Miss you guys! Again, pictures are taking way too long for my attention span...Hope y'all have a good week!

Disaster relief 65.25 hour week...no big deal

So since the last time I posted, it has been one crazy week.  We left Lake City, Florida and got to New Orleans last Saturday.  We got here and had a real brief orientation of the housing we are staying at.  We also learned that our project is all disaster relief in the parish's (a Parish how the city is split, not churches here people) that were most affected by Hurricane Isaac.  Mucking and gutting homes along with distribution of materials here and there.  We are working for a number of sponsors, but we are staying at Project Homecoming's volunteer housing.  Pretty cool, all the girls are back in a room together which we have been oh so longing for since we haven't been together since last spike.  Once we were situated we pretty much dropped our bags and got ready to go out.  It kind of felt like the first night out freshman year of college.  It is just nice to be in a city where we are not limited to Applebee's or a restaurant to go out to.  We sure went out.  NOLA is insane, but I love it.  We are staying at our housing with another team, River 6, which also is great since we haven't seen another team since we left campus AND Rachel and Margaret are on their team.  Pretty neat-o.  Sunday was used as a day off and pretty much a recovery day.  Much needed.

Monday was day one of work.  We went to a distribution center in a local Parish that was affected by Hurricane Isaac.  Our team put together personal care bags at a location where different churches come to give out to their parishioners.  We did over 300 bags for the day.  Jamie and I got to help a kitchen that was feeding volunteers clean out their area.  Their kitchen is called Mercy Chefs and they travel to disaster areas to make food to feed volunteers.  Debby, the head chef, told us that it is her duty to feed volunteers because without food for them, there essentially couldn't be any volunteers.  Never until this day did I once think of how volunteers and first responders to disasters eat.  Now I know.  Sam, Jamie, and I got to work with another kitchen, The Chow Train.  These people were the best.  We pulled chicken for them so they could make enchiladas the following day.  Once we had all of the chicken done, the whole team got in on the fun.  We made about 30 trays of food for the next day, leaving the chefs to do the other about 40.  Once we were done, they popped a tray of food for us in the oven.  We did some good work.  This lovely 12 hour day ended around 8ish.



Just me and the debris from the house.

 Tuesday was September 11th which is a National day of service.  We kind of got to work with River 6 for the day to do the national day of service together.  We went into Slidell another town in NOLA.  We worked on a house mucking and gutting the whole thing.  The homes were under water about 2 feet.  On Wednesday we got to go back to the same home to finish up cleaning the lovely mess we made.  It literally took all day to sweep, vac, and mop the drywall we took down.  Hopefully this helped the family who lives in the house to start the rebuild process.

Thursday and Friday we were back at a different distribution center.  This place hands out food, drinks, diapers, and cleaning supplies.  The line never ends.  It is open from 9-4 and cars are constantly coming.  Friday we actually counted that there were 317 cars that came from the late opening time of 12-4.  I really enjoyed working at these places because we got to meet some of the people that the food and supplies were going to.  Everyone is so thankful we are helping them and it makes me feel like the reason I signed up for the program is really coming full circle on this part of our project. 

Yesterday we traveled to a different Parish to do some mucking and gutting of a neighborhood that was really devastated by the hurricane.  The damage was unreal.  The home we worked on had water 3 feet high on the second floor.  That means the entire first floor was under water and up to 3 feet upstairs.  We had to gut the whole first floor from the ceiling to the floor.  We typically only do 2 feet above the water line on the drywall, but this house and neighborhood was that damaged.  The awesome part about this neighborhood was that they go from house to house everyday and help each other out.  They are rebuilding their neighborhood together and they all have an awesome sense of community.  It was nice to work with about 25 neighbors and really help them speed recovery process up.  We only worked a half day since it was our 6th day of work.  6th long day of work.  65.25 hours worth of work this week to be exact, no big deal though.  I earned my night last night that is for sure.  Let's hope my body can keep up with me this week!

Needless to say, River 10 is more than thrilled to be in NOLA.  I personally love the fact we are doing real disaster work because Florida was kind of a bust as far as the work load.  I signed up for AmeriCorps knowing the possibility of responding to a disaster would be high.  I am so glad that we are helping out here because they need it.  Talking to people while working and really hearing how happy we are that we are helping reassures me that even through some tough days, I am so glad I am doing this work.  We have another 2 weeks of disaster relief here in NOLA and I personally am thrilled.  The work days are long, but so worth it in the long run. 


That's all I have for this long 65.25 hour week! Really looking forward to hearing about what our 4th round project will be.  We should know today or tomorrow.  Can't believe it is 4th round already! More to come next week from me in NOLA! Pictures are taking way too long for my patience, maybe next week!

On the road again

Hello y'all...quick post for a nice little update on what is going on with River 10.  So this week we had the bare minimum work load.  Florida has been nothing but awesome for us.  We were living in a hotel, our sponsor bent over backwards for us, and we were in Florida, what more could you want?  This is all great, however, AmeriCorps is not just for cool hotels and awesome gifts from sponsors.  We are here to help others, and to be quite honest, we really weren't doing that much work here.  We were told that 20-30 homes needed to be mucked and gutted from Tropical Storm Debby, however, there really weren't many homes.  We did a total of 4, and that total is being generous.  We did a significant amount of work in these homes and it is work we are proud of.  Our disaster relief here in Florida was only supposed to be 30 days and today is the 30th day.  We stayed the time we were supposed to, which makes us feel better.  Yesterday we got word from campus that we have a new project assignment starting tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will get in the van and drive to New Orleans, Louisiana! I am SO excited.  We will be doing some disaster relief from Hurricane Isaac.  We really have no idea what we are doing while there except we know we are going to clear debris and muck and gut homes.  When I know more, I will fill y'all in.  I've only been to New Orleans for a weekend last round and the little taste of the city I got I loved.  I am really excited to spend the next 3 weeks in such an exciting place, however, my bank account probably isn't as excited as I am.  Let's see how that works out...

So tomorrow we are on the road again and moving to a new location.  We have to keep reminding ourselves of the AmeriCorps F word frequently as we continue in this round, flexibility.  Just go where the wind blows us/campus calls us and tells us where to go.  Either way, we are leaving and excited for the next 3 weeks!  Enjoy your weekend!

Florida Living

Hey y'all.  We are still in Florida safe from the terrible storm that Isaac brought.  I am sure you all know how bad some of the parts of the south were hit by Isaac and if not, they were hit BAD.  New Orleans and Mississippi are where most of my friends got deployed to for disaster relief because of this storm.  They have been working pretty much 24 hours a day with occasional naps because they are helping Red Cross with shelter work.  I give them all the credit in the world for being where they are and helping out.  I've talked to a few of them from a few different teams and from the sounds of it, that part of the country is pretty bad.  Keep those people and my amerifriends down there in your thoughts and prayers. 

Anyway, back to our project.  We worked all last week at Miss Thompson's home.  We can say that it is about 98% finished.  We gave her a new ceiling that needs finishing touches to be finished, a new floor that we are waiting for the rug to be delivered, and new trim on her walls.  Her trailer is looking like somewhat of a home now.  One of the major accomplishments of last week was turning on the faucet one day.  Danny works daily with us and he had us look over as he turned the faucet.  Miss Thompson has not had running water for the past two maybe three years.  This was all before Debby hit Florida, but still, two or three whole years without an amenity we look at as a simple thing.  She cooks outside on a "stove" if she isn't eating canned goods.  She has made accommodations, but on this day, her faucet worked.  Danny connected some pipes and she now has running water.  We have been cleaning the sceptic piping for her and installed a washing machine.  Hopefully when the water becomes crystal clear, she will have clean water for the time being.  Pretty awesome to know that now she will have some sorce of water with a clean bathroom, a washing machine that works, and a faucet to clean and cook with.  We worked at her house today, too to do some finishing touches on her door.  We are now at a stand still with this home until the carpet that is being donated actually gets donated.



Ceiling work.




Drywall for ceiling




Putting together ceiling

  



Insulation for floor




Parts of finished room

Unfortunately, coming to Florida, we were under the impression that there was going to be endless work for us.  There is now an end in sight.  Somedays we do not have sufficient work to do, but we find projects around homes to get each home complete.  We are hoping that there are more homes (for work sake not their sake) that we can help fix.  Either way, Florida is awesome, just the work is kind of slow.

This past weekend was so relaxing.  Friday night a few teammates and hung out and did nothing.  Saturday was beautiful here.  I took advantage of the pool for the morning and then went down teh street to watch football for most of the day.  Sunday was the same routine.  I was at the pool all day with the sun, until some clouds came adn ruined my day.  We did some laundry then I concluded the weekend days by watching countless hours of mindless MTV "reality" TV, which I had been watching all weekend.  The Hills provided me with my dosage of drama and crazy girls for the next year.  It was an awesome 3 day marathon of such a really intelligent group of people.  Monday was Labor Day so we had the day off.  We traveled to Jacksonville to go to the beach and to meet David, our teammates, new baby.  Leyek is 10 weeks old and is SO CUTE.  David got to go home for 10 days to be with him and he lives in Jacksonville.  We got a nice meal cooked by his mother and step father after we went to Saint Augustine for the beach.  The town of Saint Augustine is awesome.  It is very old, the oldest town in the USA in fact, and has awesome beaches.  It ALSO has multiple Dunkin' Donuts! I got my fix of Pumpkin Spice that I thought I wasn't going to get.  Thank God, it was worth it.  We are thinking of going back to Jacksonville this Saturday to repeat what we did yesterday, beach, baby, and sun bathe.  

David and Leyek


We are hoping work speeds up this week for us.  Either way, I am still happy to be helping people.  I've been thinking of things to do after AmeriCorps and hopefully I will find a job somewhere and enjoy what I am doing.  Kind of stressful.  I am really looking forward to fall break where I will be staying on campus for a few days then traveling to Nashville for 3 nights and 4 days with some friends from AmeriCorps and a few from home.  Going to the birth place of my favorite genre of music to celebrate my 24th birthday that Friday!  I can't wait. 

That's all I have for now.  I hope everyone had a nice first day of school, especially my favorite permanent sub, my favorite 5th grade teacher, my favorite senior in college and my favorite 5th grader.  Crazy how time flies.  Oh yeah, and my new favorite college professor father.  I am sure the first day was good for you, too, Mom.  Hope all is well with y'all!